My cat circles the coffee table counter-clockwise...

For at least a few months now, my beautiful, loving, aging white cat has developed a new peculiarity. In my home, the main daytime living area aside from my workspace is a medium to large sized rectangular room divided into two by function. Approximately one half of the room (the south) is dedicated to the kitchen and the other half of the room (the north) is dedicated to the living room. It is in the north half of that room where you will find in my home a blue loveseat that was passed on to me from family who no longer needed it, and a few feet in front of that, a solid wood coffee table (I think it is oak) that was also passed along.

Sadie, my cat, has had many favourite lounging places over the months and years. These seem to change like seasons with old ones fading and new ones coming into view. (This, to me, is similar to some of my own preferences and habits that stay for a while, then fade, with new ones inevitably emerging.) Lying on a cushion on the loveseat or on the back of it, on either the north or south side, has been among those favoured places in Sadie's repertoire over time. Currently, it is the back of the loveseat that draws her interest more than the seat. Why she prefers this, I do not fully understand, since it is cooler up top, being right beside the west facing window against which the winter winds routinely blow. (In contrast, my own preference is to largely avoid sitting on the loveseat for leisure during winter as I find I often feel chilled while sitting there.)

Sadie's current preference for the back of the couch, however, is not the peculiarity. It is the method that has evolved for her getting there. Before making an ascent from the hardwood floor, she circles the coffee table counter-clockwise...several times. She saunters around the table's perimeter and when she arrives at the south side of the loveseat she pauses and looks up toward the seat or the back. I am not sure what happens internally at that point but most often she continues on her walking way, circling the coffee table's perimeter again, then pauses and looks up, then circles again. My observations have not been astute enough to determine if she circles the table the same number of times each time before jumping onto the loveseat or if the number varies.

What this routine is about, I have no idea, though I am intensely curious. Is she assessing when it is the right time to jump? Has she set a goal to get more exercise and these are some of her strategies to do so, something like baby steps in the implementation of the total goal? Is it a feline method of paying homage to... to what?

What are your thoughts? I invite you to share your own hypothesis or explanation for this. All creative, funny, moving, and scientific ideas are welcome.

January greetings!