Westward, Ho!

The cats are obviously having some sort of
territory/dominance negotiation thing.  Not a
physically violent one, but some sort of pecking order
being contended for in signs I don't understand.  At
first I thought Sugar was clearly Alpha cat, b/c of
the way she aggressively face-marks everything and was
always coming up to me first for pets and nuzzles,
while Roxy hung back. 

But in the past 24 hrs something has changed.  Shug's
become much more reticent and Roxy much more forward.
Last night Sugar spent a lot of time in the bathtub.

Meanwhile Roxy curled up on my lap as I sat on the
sofa, then when I stretched out longwise on my side on
the sofa she curled up on my top side and slept there,
eventually moving to nestled between my feet and the
pillow.  We both slept on the sofa til I woke up at
about 1 am  and retired to my bedroom.

This morning Sugar wasn't around and I finally found
her--holed up in the litter box.  Not relieving
herself--just hanging out in there.  I called her out
and gave her some stroking, which she accepted. 

When she's not in the bathroom she's hiding under the
lawyers' bookcase, where Roxy can't get at her.
Obviously something Went Down yesterday while I was at
work.  Roxy, I think, just wants to romp and
play--playful bats, no hissing or back-arching.  Sugar
does not.

Roxy seems to like the open-metal-ball-w/ little mouse
and bell inside--I put that toy down and she batted it
around.  The pink plastic ball is less appealing.  The
little felt mouse has disappeared, only to emerge from
under/in something when I move out of the apt, I
suspect.  They both like chasing the suspended
feather, or the fluffy-mouse-on-a-string.

Dogs are much easier to figure out.