Cats and windows!

Jennifer Vanderau
Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter

(3/2022) I’m worried about my cats. Not for a medical reason. They appear to be healthy. I’m worried they may be too smart.

Like other cats, they love looking out the windows. They see things even I don’t realize are out there. It can be more than a little creepy from time to time.

I’ve been known to say to them, "How did you even see that?"

One of my youngest, Chirper (named for the sounds she makes when she wants your attention) has taken to jumping to the window behind the television. She has to move curtains to be able to see out and she does this, pretty much every day.

I tell her if she ever knocks the TV over, we’re going to have serious problems — so far, so good, but if you hear a strange scream one day, you might want to add this possibility to the list. I’m just saying. I don’t even care where you live. You’ll hear it. Trust me.

I like to think when my cats sit at the window and stare at the world outside it’s akin to me watching television. This could be a product of my overactive imagination or it could possibly be because of my addiction to television. Either way, I think of them being incredibly entertained by nature and all the goings-on in the backyard.

Just the other day, Chirper hopped up in her favorite spot and I could see her tail below the curtains swishing away, telltale trilling accompanying the swaying. She had obviously spied a critter or bird.

Then she did something I’m fairly certain her brother, Loki, taught her.

She jumped off the windowsill and scurried to the kitchen and out into the other room to get to the window where she could follow the progress of whatever was outside.

So Loki does the exact same thing. He will follow whatever is outside from window to window. It freaked me out then and it continues to freak me out. I’m really starting to wonder how much cats not only think, but understand our world.

Here’s the thing. If windows really are televisions to cats, then they would think they were watching a screen and would likely remain in place, knowing that all they could possibly witness is what’s happening within their eyesight — because that’s how televisions work. We all know they’re not actually a part of reality (yes, even I get that, Mother!).

Although, true story if I may digress for a minute. I worked in the Wax Museum in Gettysburg when I was a kid going through college. We showed Gettysburg, the movie on a small TV in one of the rooms in the building in an effort to sell the (then) VCR tapes of the film.

I’ll never forget the day a young boy came in with his family. I don’t think the group owned a television because that little boy looked at that TV like it was something out of the Twilight Zone. When his father picked him up to get a better view, he reached a little hand out and touched the screen — almost as though he expected the tiny people to be inside the box — like a puppet show or something.

I was reminded of that little boy watching my cats run around to follow whatever creature was on the sidewalk – they figured something real was in their "television."

Taking this creepy experience with my felines one step further, you get that this means my cats in some way, shape or form have to understand they are inside the house and what they’re seeing outside the window actually surrounds said house, right?

Because in order to know enough that whatever is moving up the sidewalk will also be able to be seen in a window in the front room, they need to somehow realize the house is the boundary for the outside. In other words, the window isn’t just a television screen. In fact, it’s a transparent view to things beyond the walls of our home and all that exists outside those dividers.

And they need to understand that something does, indeed, exist beyond our dwelling.

That takes some level of actual rational thought, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t it worry me — maybe more than a little — that my cats are capable of that? I mean observing the world and maybe reacting to what you see is one thing, but recognizing the dimensions of your existence could be a step further than they should be capable of, right?

I mean, can you imagine if they could actually speak? Or write? Or type? Or have opposable thumbs?

The reality shows alone would be worth millions!

It makes me second guess the motives of Loki when he sat on top of me the other day and hovered, quite vulture-like (I’m not going to lie), and seemed to stare me down. Maybe the reason they’re not capable of the aforementioned abilities is because the world is simply not able to withstand that kind of power in such an overwhelmingly conniving being.

Could there be a universe in the quantum realm (thank you, Avengers) that is ruled by cats? And if there is, would we really want to go there? Could we hope to be anything other than participants in human slave colonies?

Life with cats. If there’s one thing I've learned over the years…it’s never dull and they will always surprise you – especially those in my feline group.

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Jennifer Vanderau is the Publications and Promotions Consultant for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and can be reached at cvascomm@cvas-pets.org. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, call the shelter at 717-263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. CVAS also operates a thrift store in Chambersburg, Pa. Help support the animals at the shelter by donating to or shopping at the store.