1. Cats do like to climb and I and think it’s a good exercise for them, whereas they might get very little in our sterile, do-nothing world, especially indoors. I’ve been thinking lately of just what kind of exercise I could provide for them, and something like this looks ideal (I’ve never climbed one of these walls but I believe they are on a forward angle, which makes it easier. I think if a human can do it, a cat should be able to and this one looks as though it’s having fun at the challenge. It isn’t looking down which is a sign of distress at the height. Cats are also remarkably cool when it comes to acrobatics despite the chance of falling. I’ll consider building such a wall for my cats. For exercise there’s also the circular treadmill; if I can figure a way to build it myself I’ll try that too. I think domestic cats really don’t get enough exercise.

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2. Yes, cats are almost exclusively forward moving, especially when it comes to climbing. And yes I learned it’s because of the way the claws and perhaps their whole body evolved. Every ounce of ability toward survival was put into forward-ness. I’ve rarely seen cats move backwards; they do but are not good at it, which come to think of it is counter-intuitive for such a natural acrobat. Another animal, or fish actually that comes to mind that can’t move backwards well is the shark but obviously for a different reason. Michael you’re brilliant at all of these observations.

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