When we bought our 1908 house, we discovered a full-length mirror attached to the back of the original bathroom door. The mirror was heavy, with a wide beveled edge; it appears to have been original to the house. The door on which it was mounted had been damaged, but, save for some paint spatters, the mirror was in fine shape. We salvaged the mirror from the damaged door, and leaned it up against a wall in my office.
Until recently, Sasha seems not to have noticed – certainly not to have cared about – his reflection in the mirror. He has been too busy watching birds, or hunting his imaginary friend, or practicing his yoga to get worked up about another cat in the mirror. In the past few weeks, however, he has begun trying to get at that cat. Stretching to his full height on his hind paws, Sasha drums on the mirror with his big white forepaws, mewing a plaintive accompaniment. I have shown him that there is nothing and no one behind the mirror; this matters not. Sasha is bound and determined to get into that mirror. I hope it’s just a phase.
Visit the animals at the Friday Ark. Carnival of the Cats is up at IFOC, as there was a problem with the scheduled host.
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Scarlett does this to “closed doors” that she feels should be open. She has become quite the drummer. At our house only Rhett seems interested in “the cat in the mirror”. He seems to realize that the cat in the mirror is his own reflection. This results in much sink time checking his appearance. None of the others seem to care that much.
Maybe Sasha is more interested in exploring the other “room” he sees in the mirror.
I certainly hope he’s not successful! Once a cat makes it into a mirror, it’s almost impossible to get him out. (In the meantime, you’re stuck with an evil mirror image version of him on your side.)
Sashayoga!
Two of my cats will play “attack the cat” in the mirror. They can never seem to quite get to that cat that is so close yet oh so far away.
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