The second-best seat in the house

Like any house with pets where care-and-feeding extends somewhat farther than tossing a handful of kibble on the front porch, it holds several specially-crafted sitting areas. The thinking cup sits by the front window for any cat wishing to watch the people and dogs go by. The lounging fleece is the perfect vantage from which to spy on Big Red and his orange-tabby minions. The ugly yet comfortable chair catches the sun as well as glimpses of Big Red, and then there is the corner of the bed, soft, cozy, private.

That's four spots for two cats, a very excellent ratio. So adding a fifth sitting area, which we did last week with the purchase of a loveseat, should just make the rotation between areas move quicker, right?

Riiiight. The loveseat sits along the wall near the floor heater, and the end of the loveseat nearest the heat has a folded-up blanket. The first day it sat in the living room, the cats watched us use it, trying to figure out what this strange item was best for. (Yeah, it's Gina and Vivani's first experience with couchage. What can I say? We live like hobos.) On the loveseat's second day in the house that blanket became the best seat in the house.

Last night it was pretty cold so competition for the best seat in the house was fierce. Lots of grappling and cat-bat going on all evening. Gina usually wins those contests because of her size relative to Vivi, so at times both of them were crammed onto the fuzzy square of blanket. But what princess likes to share? So the fight would be on again, with the same predictable results. Finally Vivani had had enough and came over to sit on my lap while I read.