A Cat is Watching: A Look at the Way Cats See Us

In a cat's view, contends Caras ( A Celebration of Cats ), we have neither fur nor feathers; our skin tone registers as rather gray; and our everyday voices and movements prove far from diverting. Given the dullness apparently inherent in humans, it's a wonder cats haven't turned to another species for the gratification of their ``obvious desire to be the ultimate hedonistic materialist.'' How, then, have we managed to occupy the feline attention for 4000 years? Caras, a wildlife reporter for ABC and the proud owner of 10 cats, seeks the answer to this question in fascinating detail. Among the facts he unearths: cats like snuggling up to our faces and necks because the sound of the carotid artery pumping blood comforts them. But paradoxically, Caras points out, the neck ``is one of the places a cat would be likely to bite you if you were mouse-sized and it was hungry. Not wanting to bite you there as expressed by cuddling up and listening to the target may be a way of expressing friendship, and the human partner in the exercise may in fact be inadvertently expressing a measure of submission.'' BOMC alternate; QPBC alternate. (Oct.)