Beware the Oscillating Menance of Litter Box Land

So my cat was being ridiculously nice and sociable last night/this morning. She spent much of the night in the bed and around us... something she hasn't done since she was tiny and we kept the bedroom door closed at night to keep her in.

This mornings "I don't want to get up" time was spent in bed in a sort of state of shock... She was actually physically lying in bed with us? And neither of us forced her into it?! I was, at this point, capaciously confounded. She's a great pet and she greets us when we come home, but she sure does like her space.

But anyway, I eventually got my ass out of bed and started my morning routine. While brushing my teeth, though, I noticed that she was looking through the little gap between my opened bedroom door and the doorjamb. She would look through, then hide behind the door, and repeat. This peeked my interest and upon investigation I learned that she was, in fact, stalking the floor standing fan we had in the room last night.

We got our cat, Java (named geekily after the programming language and my favorite beverage), last fall. Until last night it hasn't been warm enough to warrant the electricity drain of the AC or a fan, so this was her first experience with what she must think is some kind of strange mechanical nightmare. I kid you not, she was terrified.

When I got up I unplugged the fan so at this point it was no longer moving. I've never seen her "stalk" like this. Usually she only ever employs the "butt-wiggle and pounce" technique. This time, though, she was stalking so slowly it was hard to tell she was moving at all. Slowly but surely she got closer and closer to the fan. I grew impatient and carried her to the fan so she could smell it and see it better... but after a few sniffs, she wasn't having it and ran away.

Unfortunately, the only real place to put the fan in the bedroom that makes any sense is also directly adjacent to the doorway of her litter box. I moved the fan out of the bedroom, but she didn't know where it went and when we left she was still wary that it would return to its post at the litter box. I hope she can go to the bathroom without the fear of what I'm now calling "The Oscillating Menace of Litter Box Land."

I'm just glad we realized how frightened she was of it before we left. Otherwise, we may have come home to little presents all over the furniture.