Schrodinger the Cat, in Multiple Boxes

It will come as no surprise to many that I love cats. I am a little bit cat-obsessed. I post way too many cat photos on Facebook. Look, I’m a new semi empty-nester, okay? So I pour all that excess love into the other creatures left in my house (with the exception of my husband. For some reason, his love-quota has remained very steady. I’m not saying this is fair. It is just a truth).

I have two cats, Emily Bronte and Erwin Schrodinger; they represent the writer and the scientist in my family, respectively. Emily is truly adorable, a little tortoise shell with a big attitude.  She’s also the one who, for the first two years we had her, would pee on things that were not meant to be peed on. Particularly guests’ shoes. Husband kept threatening to use the old Swedish method of “a bag and a stone, Susin.” (He didn’t really mean it. At least, I don’t think so). I’m happy to report that this behavior has stopped, because I finally succumbed to a product my vet was suggesting, a “feline pheromone” that is supposed to calm cats. “I wasn’t born yesterday,” I said, but then Husband started saying “a bag and a stone” in his sleep, so I tried the product and hot damn, she stopped peeing outside the D.L.B. (designated litter boxes). But now I’m terrified to stop using the product, so I pay $37/month for another plug-in. Yes, it is a like a very expensive Glade air freshener. But cute as she is, Emily is not really a “box” cat. Erwin Schrodinger, however, seems to want to live up to his namesake. Although he never gets into a box with a lid, so he’s never at risk of triggering a vial of poison. We honestly always know the answer to the question, “Is the cat alive, or dead?” Although sometimes when he’s lying on my lap, instead of in a box, it’s harder to tell.

Dead? Or Alive?

Over the holidays, I got things in boxes. And I just started experimenting to see how small a box Erwin would try to fit into. (For the absolute best viewing experience on this subject, might I suggest Maru, the Japanese Cat – plug it into YouTube. I will say in advance, “You’re Welcome.”) First there was a shoe box, which was a comfortable size, although his head looks rather uncomfortable.Next, I replaced the shoebox temporarily with a smaller Clementine box. To get the full effect here is another angle; you see how he is spilling out of the box (as my vet says super politely, “He’s a little bit fat.”). You can see his sister is turned away in disgust. Then, in my office one day, I emptied a box of my own books. It’s a box that fits ten small-ish hardcovers. It wasn’t part of my experiment, but Erwin Schrodinger could not resist the temptation. Back to my experiment, I removed the Clementine box and put out a small box from Amazon. I’d received one hardcover book in this box. This one took a little more effort. But he succeeded. Lastly, the other night I emptied one of their teeny-tiny food boxes. It’s barely a box. The sides are about one inch. But Erwin Schrodinger came. He saw. He conquered. If there is a point to this post – and clearly, there really is very little point – it’s that our pets can give us so much endless entertainment. Even if we’re the only ones who find it amusing. Oh, and I will say, Emily and Erwin (sister and brother) look awfully cute together on occasion, too.