My cat "gets" Wuthering Heights! The gap between feline and human has finally been bridged. My cat Cinnamon is a Wuthering Heights fan.→[More:]

As the old story goes, Ann Sullivan spelled "water" into Helen Keller's hand countless times before a particularly refreshing trickle of water made Helen realize what it meant. Similarly, our cats have been in the room with the TV countless times without acting as if it meant anything to them. Not even when there were birds or cats on the screen.

Tonight, however, when Heathcliff learned of Cathy's death and let out an agonized howl on our new high definition television set, that was it for Cinnamon. Her big eyes did not leave the screen for 15 minutes. If she had had popcorn, she would have been unconsciously dipping her paw into the bowl and putting it into her mouth. I could swear she knew exactly what was going on, drama-wise, the tone if not the actual subject. It was like watching someone watch the show who doesn't speak English but has a general understanding of what they're seeing. Even when the scene changed a couple of times, she was still riveted, especially by Heathcliff. She seemed to have a basic understanding of what she was looking at, taking in the different scenes but knowing that it was the same story and the same people. She only lost interest when the action and emotion quieted down.

Just more proof that cats are people too. All they needed was a HDTV screen and a little melodrama.