What fascinates me is that my cat understands the difference between when I've left the house and when I've gone somewhere in the house that she can't follow.

What fascinates me is that my cat understands the difference between when I've left the house and when I've gone somewhere in the house that she can't follow. I got her in college, and the first few years when I would take her home to my parent's house my mom put up barriers limiting the cat to the ground floor of the house. If I went upstairs to take a shower she would sit at the bottom of the stairs crying the entire time, but if I went out to the store she'd curl up and nap or whatever without a care in the world. Likewise in my current house if I go out to get the mail she won't make a sound. If the windows are open she'll run to the open window and sit in it watching me, but won't cry. If I go into the basement, on the other hand... We actually came to a compromise on that, because the clothes washer & dryer are in the basement. If I'm just doing laundry I'll leave the basement door open so she can sit at the bottom of the stairs and watch me. Naturally if I'm busy in the basement for more than a few minutes she'll start to creep in, but a gentle rebuke will send her back to the door. Not once has she tried to run into the basement and hide or anything like that. This cat will also come to the door and greet me every day when I get home. I remember one day maybe three years ago when for some reason I came home during the middle of the day. I came inside and and nothing - silent house, no cat, so I came inside far enough to look down the hall towards the bedrooms where I figured the cat was sleeping. At the far end of the hall was a kitty face just barely peeking around the corner, and as soon as she recognized me she let out a machine gun burst of meows and came running at full speed.