My cat Kasha has a similar fetish. She likes to sit on the ironing board which we keep in our bedroom near a window. I can’t remember how it all started, but a ritual developed whereby I give her 60 strokes in one direction and 60 in the other. It’s hard to believe she can actually count to 60, but if I shortchange her she lets me know … LOUDLY. Every morning and evening, or after I’ve returned from an outing, and frequently during the day (depending on how stressed she’s feeling) she insists on having her ‘rub’ (she knows the word too). Often she spends the day on the bed so she can catch me when I go into the room. I try to sneak in without her noticing me, but, like all cats, she’s psychic. No other place will do either… it has to be on the ironing board. I don’t mean she won’t accept being stroked in other locales, but these are considered ‘as well as’ rather than ‘instead of’.

Luckily, I had the sense not to accompany the ritual with a song