7-2-I-Search-Maria

= What do cats do when no one is home? = by Maria

**Introduction**
Whenever I find something scattered on the floor when I come home, I always suspect that it was my cat that did it. Once, when no one was in the kitchen, there must have been a big roach crawling on the floor. My cat thinks that he should be the hero so he sets off after the roach. When he finally catches it, he would bring it to my mom when she was sitting on the edge of the bed and drop it at her feet. She would yelp and then call my dad. My cat would be so proud of himself because he caught the roach. He would have a face expression that sort of looked like he was smiling. He would then turn away with his tail high in the air (that shows that a cat is happy). My mom would have the face expression of someone really upset but someone happy at the same time. I sometimes find my cat buried in a pile of my cloths. He would look up at me and then just go right back to sleep. I think that it would be very interesting to find out what cats do when no one is home by filming him. I think that filming a cat without anyone around will be an interesting experience to watch because you don’t know what he will do and when he will do it. I think that cats are very mysterious because they like to keep to themselves most of the time. i know this because whenever someone tries to pick up my cat (except me), he would usually start to attack them by scratching. My cat would think that he is the "man" in the house. He would sniff anything that was new in the apartment. He would run away from anyone that he thinks is "evil" or a threat to him. My cat would even sometimes hiss and attack people when they do nothing to him. My cat would sometimes take my stuff and pull it into the living room. I thought that I could film him in the act. this is where I got my inspiration from.

**Body**
Sometimes I find my cat (who's name is Marquise) in a dark room when I come home. I can see that his eyes glow like 2 yellow lights. I didn’t know why cat’s eyes glowed in the dark. He would stare at me and then the eyes would just disappear. I read in a book that a cat’s eyes glow because the lens reflects the light onto the eye and a “glow” appears which helps cats see in the dark a little better. I would also wonder why my cat NEVER wants to get wet. I found out from a book that cats don’t have fur like dogs do so it takes longer for their fur to get back to their original state but some cats still enjoy to swim. (Kim Thornton: p. 7-9, 52-54) When I would come home, I would find that my blanket had a spot that was made into an oval just the right shape for Marquise. I would wonder how he got the blanket into the perfect oval. after reading something in a book about this, i knew that cats kneed things to make themselves comfortable. When cats kneed something, they are usually trying to live out their childhood. I could always see the kitten in my cat because he loves to look for adventure. I would always play with him by rolling something or even dragging something. My cat would love it when I dragged his favorite string. When I would leave the string out of its box, I would find it all torn up when I got home. My cat would love to chew on it and suck on it. In the book that I was reading, I read that cats like to suck on wool. I never thought that too many cats love doing that. The book said that cats may suck wool because it reminds them of drinking their mother’s milk. (Kim Thornton: p. 26-28, 32-34) Whenever my cat would want food, he would climb onto the couch and then climb onto my lap. He would then lay there until I moved or he heard something. He would then not go on my lap but he would start meowing until I get up and get him food. I also thought that all cats would love catnip but I was wrong. Marquise seems to be unaffected by the stuff. I would get a catnip ball and roll it to him but he would just look at it and then walk away. Whenever my cat would rub against my led of but his head with mine, I would think that he was saying thank you of I love you. I later found out that cats rub against people because they are marking the people as “their territory”. (Kim Thornton: p 29-31, 38-40) I recently interviewed a veterinarian in my town who is a cat expert. I asked her what she thinks cats do when no one is around. She answered to me saying, “Cats are very mysterious animals and they can do anything to their ability while their owner is away. They can rip up your stuff of make a mess in your room.” I then asked Dr. H what she thinks of cats. She said, “Cats are very loving and affectionate animals but they are no the ideal pet for me. I prefer dogs but cats are still very soft, and adorable. I then rapped up the interview with Dr. H wit ha final question, if you could guess what a cat would do when their owner was not home or no one was present, what do you think that they would do? Dr. H thought for a short time and then said this, “I think that a cat would try to explore the house in the places that they have not really explored before. They might also have a nap in a spot that the owner doesn’t let them rest in.” I then asked her why can cats slip under stuff and are so flexible. she said, "cats have no color bones so that allows them to bend in different ways and lets them slip into places that doesn't look physically possible. like cats can slip under the door if there is a little crack." From Dr. H, I learned that cats have no color bone which makes them so flexible. i also learned that cats need their whiskers to sense things in the dark or sense things around them. (Dr. Heckrim) I have thought that my cat would do many unbelievable things when I wasn’t around but according to Dr. H, Marquise is more mysterious than I might have suspected. I will never look at Marquise the same way. I never knew that different breeds of cats have different behaviors. I think that some cat breeds have mean behaviors and some cat breeds have good behaviors. Like Marquise is a Chinese breed and he is a cat with no temper but is very protective and possessive. some cats can be mean, nice, protective, and many other things. Marquise is a cat which acts like he owns the place. This is how he is possessive. Marquise is protective when he tries to protect me when somone makes me upset. (Sandra L. Toney: p 23-36) My cat would shred the carpet whenever ha wanted but now he stopped to in front of me or my family. Marquise would always shred the same spot. I saw in a book that cats shred carpet because they might like to dig or if something was spilled there previously. Marquise now doesn't scratch the carpet as much but does occasionally. (Sandra L. Toney: p 37-52)

Cats can be very mysterious pets and I love spending time studying them. Marquise would try to climb into my closet and go onto the top shelf i have there. If Marquise would want to get down from the shelf, he would wait until i get him but he wouldn't want me to pick him up from there. there would be no other way for him to get down. Marquise would also try to go on top of my door. he once hurt his ankle and couldn't jump for a week. we had to pick him up whenever he wanted to go up somewhere. i would have never thought that my cat would try to do things that he isn't supposed to when no one is home. Marquise is a very picky cat and is very precise to which people he lik,es and dislikes. Marquise is the best cat that I've ever had!!!! Marquise will always be my favorite pet no matter what he will do.
 * Conclusion**

**Works Cited**
Thornton, Kim. __Why Do Cats Do That?__ Irvine,California: BowTiy P, 1997. Toney, Sandra L. __Feline Behavior__. USA: T.F.H. Publications Inc. "Why Do Cats...?~Pawprints and Purrs. Inc." 9 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/whydo.html>.] Wilkins, Kelli A. __Cats__. Neptune City: Chritopher T. Reggio, 2007. Heckrim, Kelly. interviewed in person. April 5, 2008

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