Cat politics

Of our four cats, Duncan is the boss cat, but he is a (mostly) benevolent dictator. Fafhrd is a horrible bully, but he's smaller than the other two boys and Molly has her own apartment where she can get occasional visits from Gurney and otherwise be left alone. And Gurney is the diplomat. Everybody loves him, except Fafhrd, who is desperately trying to rise through the ranks by pushing Gurney around except Gurney's attitude is very much The Dude Abides/Solomon Todd Is Too Old For Your Drama, so when Fafhrd gets too pushy Gurney just leaves.

This works fine for everybody except on those rare occasions when there's a high-value perch and more than one cat wants it. My lap is a frequent site of contention, and so is the uppermost perch on the cat tree. (In winter, the radiator beds are very popular. And sunny window ledges.) Fafhrd often removes himself to the front room that the other two boys don't much care about, because it is sunny and warm and there is an orangy-brown pillow he can curl up on.

Well, today Gurney managed to claim the very tippy top spot on the cat tree, and he was curled up there very asleep until Duncan noticed that Somebody Else Was In His Spot.

At first, Duncan shook the cat tree back and forth, sinking his claws into the sisal and shaking the whole structure. When that didn't rouse Gurney, he clambered up to the ledge right underneath and began thumping on the platform Gurney was sleeping on.