So, apparently some cats can see cathode ray TV pictures and some can't. This is why some kitties will start swatting at the TV frantically when Animal Planet is on, and some will wonder why their parental guardians are just staring at this box instead of petting them.

My cat was of the latter variety until we got the new idiot box. Then I realized something while I was watching Equator on Discovery HD - my cat was flipping the fuck out.

I can't remember what animal it was, but to my cat it looked like a really really really big dog, it was running really fast, and that was enough. On my way to the kitchen I realized that her eyes were fixated on the TV, her heart was beating a thousand beats a minute, and she was panting as if she just ran a marathon.

After a few commercial breaks she seemed to realize no animals were going to go jumping out of the big box, so when the focus of the program turned to seagulls Larry decided to get a closer look. She sat right in front of the TV and watched the birds fly by. When they flew off the screen, she looked at the side of the room wondering where they went.

I often wonder what she thinks the TV actually is. My best guess is that she thinks it's a new window that's popped up out of nowhere. Whenever I watch a nature program now, I call Larry over to look at the animals with me, and try to figure out what on Earth my cat could be thinking.