Lately, we've often been lighting candles on the dinner table. Our cat, Jake, almost always sits on the table while we eat dinner. He doesn't eat our food; he just sits there. A lot of times, he'll reach a paw out towards one of the candles, then pulling back as he realizes that candles are, in fact, hot.
Not this time, though. While we were both watching him, he struck at the base of the flame with his paw and immediately pulled his paw back -- after snuffing out the flame. I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.
I guess he doesn't like candles as much as we do.
A Google search brought me here ... Just wanted to let you know that my cat Abigail does the exact same thing. The moment a match is struck, she's instantly awake and looking for the source of the flame. If a candle is lit, she'll frown at it and after a while screw up the courage to bat it out, oftentimes getting wax on her paw.
I'm not quite sure if she's trying to play with the dancing flame or if fire just bothers her (she was a stray, so it's possible she's had a bad association with it) but she simply will not allow us to have lit candles in the house. Bright halogen lamps also make her deeply suspicious.
Strange, strange.
Posted by: Mike Beltzner on November 9, 2004 10:01 PM