maddoxpastelexuvia@cathode.church
Oct 20, 2026, 11:47 PMdear everyone who has a cat, please create a polygon of colorful tape on your floor and see what happens
(@mr.milothechonk)
![Milo the tabby and Poppy the black cat are sitting a little ways away from each other on a kitchen counter. "They say if you tape a square to the ground, your cat will come and sit in it," their owner writes. "I tried it out the other day and Poppy came and sat in it. She stayed there for a while...not blinking, of course [laugh-cry emoji]. Milo's turn next: He immediately went to the square. Wasn't sure if he was going to sit in it...and then he sat right down [laugh-cry emoji]. Over twenty minutes later, and Poppy came back over. I think she was ready for her turn again [laugh-cry emoji]. So I knew I was going to have to tape two squares to the ground [laugh-cry emoji]. I did that today, and Milo immediately went and sat in one. Shortly after, Poppy came and sat in the other [laugh-cry emoji], which for some reason, upset Milo. So he waited for her to leave, and then claimed her square. Poppy came and sat in the other [laugh-cry emoji]. They are currently both sitting in their squares and it's been over an hour [laugh-cry emoji]. Is this how they communicate with their mothership? [laugh-cry emoji]"](https://cdn.masto.host/socialtelemetrydeckcom/cache/media_attachments/files/117/476/219/993/795/300/small/71ca3ae294d0ffd7.png)
Replies
- maddoxpastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 20, 2026, 11:49 PM
@sinituulia would be very curious to see how your cats react to a single square
- maddoxpastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 12:05 AM
- maddoxpastelexuvia@cathode.churchOct 21, 2026, 12:17 AM
Milo the tabby and Poppy the black cat are sitting a little ways away from each other on a kitchen counter. "They say if you tape a square to the ground, your cat will come and sit in it," their owner writes. "I tried it out the other day and Poppy came and sat in it. She stayed there for a while...not blinking, of course [laugh-cry emoji]. Milo's turn next: He immediately went to the square. Wasn't sure if he was going to sit in it...and then he sat right down [laugh-cry emoji]. Over twenty minutes later, and Poppy came back over. I think she was ready for her turn again [laugh-cry emoji]. So I knew I was going to have to tape two squares to the ground [laugh-cry emoji]. I did that today, and Milo immediately went and sat in one. Shortly after, Poppy came and sat in the other [laugh-cry emoji], which for some reason, upset Milo. So he waited for her to leave, and then claimed her square. Poppy came and sat in the other [laugh-cry emoji]. They are currently both sitting in their squares and it's been over an hour [laugh-cry emoji]. Is this how they communicate with their mothership? [laugh-cry emoji]"
🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)alice@lgbtqia.spaceOct 21, 2026, 2:09 AM@pastelexuvia have tried; cat sat...for four hours.
Made a much smaller square; cat moved to it.
sentientspongesentientsponge@mastodon.socialOct 21, 2026, 2:25 AM@pastelexuvia holy shit, it works!
Patrick Georgipatrick@retro.socialOct 21, 2026, 6:12 AM@pastelexuvia Also works with negative space: https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/cats-sit-squares
ein kleines zkleines_z@queer.groupOct 21, 2026, 10:50 AM@patrick @pastelexuvia
It also reveals that only 9 of 30 cats chose to sit in a real or optical illusion square. So it does prove that cats can see the optical illusion, but it also shows that the majority of cats will do whatever they want while their humans wait for them to do that one thing they expect 😁
Helen Claytonhelenclayton@mas.toOct 21, 2026, 11:56 AM@pastelexuvia @purplepadma tried this with my last cat (also a tabby chonk). He was having none of it. I think I do have a photo of my husband sitting in the square but he won’t thank me for sharing 😂).
Charlotte Walkerpurplepadma@beige.partyOct 21, 2026, 12:20 PM@helenclayton @pastelexuvia Haha man trap
cybervegancybervegan@autistics.lifeOct 21, 2026, 12:29 PM@pastelexuvia Scrappy says "ooh I love tape!". He thinks it's a great game, getting take struck in his beard .
