a late-developing skill

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at Tamanya’s abilities to judge safe jumping distances, and to use the litter box easily.

But it’s also interesting to note a couple of skills that are less advanced than I would have expected. I’m not sure if it’s this way for all kitttens.

One is that she was initially very bad at licking anything from a plate. I suppose it makes sense that this would be acquired slightly later, once nursing is complete. But she’s getting a bit better at it now.

Another underdeveloped skill, however, is spatiality. A few times when I’ve removed the bottle after she’s gotten too crazily aggressive, and simply moved the bottle a foot or two away, she seems unable to track where the bottle went as I move it.

In similar fashion, she doesn’t quite seem to have a crystal-clear map of where the food dishes are. When she jumps off the bed and goes toward them, it’s like an explorer staggering in a blizzard in the generally correct direction, not like someone who knows exactly what they’re doing. (And no, I’ve noticed no problem with her eyesight. As long as something is immediately in her field of vision, she seems to see it perfectly).

I’m not sure what the exact term for this is, but she doesn’t yet seem to have the best sense of the overall connectivity of space. We’ll see how that develops.