A couple of weeks ago I disassembled my bed, in anticipation of needing to fit it into a van. As I wasn’t ready to put everything straight into a van at the time (largely on account of not having a van), I stacked the bed parts in the corner of the room, and put the mattress back down where the bed had been. Shortly afterwards my cats arrived on the scene, and were utterly flabbergasted. On-top-of-the-bed was where it had always been, but under-the-bed had vanished! They poked their noses around the bottom of the mattress looking for the trick, but I don’t think they ever figured it out.
Today I have put under-the-bed back where it goes, but they don’t seem all that impressed. Perhaps it doesn’t seem so significant a development in the tactical landscape of their endless games of territory control, for they have many other matters to contend with: new doors, stairs, rooms, sofas, and a backyard that overlaps with the territories of other neighbourhood cats. Fortunately, they know the new playing field rather well, as it was their home ground up until about a year ago.