Is this a good idea or a bad one? It is probably a bit of both but it seems a bit mean to me despite the ingenuity of the solution. Perhaps I am too soft and give way to my cat too much. What do you think? The comments on Reddit appear to be supportive of the idea. Although, personally, I am a bit queasy about ‘conning’ cats. Or am I anthropomorphizing?
Ziggy is a calico cat (tortie-and-white) and therefore female. She’s a committed lap cat. She loves to sit on the laps of her human guardians Rebecca and Alex May. They work at home. Ziggy clearly makes it difficult for them to work because she gets in the way when sitting on their laps. I am going to presume that they work on computers at home.
Alex dreamt up a clever solution. He built fake laps heated underneath with a heated pad. The picture shows the ingenious homemade product which has proved successful. Although Rebecca decided that a pair of legs inside some trouser legs with a cat on top was a bit scary so she only uses the fake lap when particularly busy.
Comment: The upside is clear. The couple can get on with work uninterrupted. And I can understand how a cat on the lap interferes with work at a computer. We all can. But at the same time the humans are forsaking the chance to be close to their cat and to feel her warmth and friendship. They are shunning the chance to build a closer bond. And also in denying her a true lap are they not denying her something better than a fake lap? Ziggy appears to accept the fake lap as it is well made and warm but we don’t know if she prefers the real thing. I suspect that she does. And ideally Rebecca and Alex should really enjoy Ziggy on their laps at any time that she demands it. But I get the difficulties.
My Compromise
Perhaps a compromise is the answer? They could get a day bed for their living room, which they could sit on with their legs outstretched. They’ll need a laptop support device like the one I have which is designed for working on a computer on your lap. They could them work on their computers while Ziggy is on their legs as the picture on this page shows. I do this all the time because my cat insists on joining me while I work. He knows when he can come on my lap and when he can’t. I have trained him to understand when he has to lie on my legs. Rather than a day bed I work in bed on a Tempur mattress.
LAP CATS…..
It’s creepy regardless how pragmatic they find it. I have no problem getting up if there’s a cat on my lap, and neither do the cats. If the people are up and down a lot, the cat will adapt, and perhaps to their chagrin, stop wanting their laps at all anymore or to be close to them at all. I agree with you Michael, it’s as much the cat’s home as it is ours’, and if the cat wants to sit on our laps, we should consider it a compliment, a chance to enjoy bonding, and a good (if sometimes inconvenient) part of life/living with a companion animal. Fake legs may not be an insult to the cat, and if it’s a workaround to be able to work, so be it… but it is creepy to see disembodied legs like that. I can’t even look at it again.
Nicely said.