Ask any driver who the best passenger is, and you will get many answers. A friend with good music taste. A navigator with a steady voice. A kid who knows every song on the radio. Very few people will answer a golden Bengal cat the size of a small leopard. This clip may change their minds.
The setting was a big black jeep, parked in a glowing city night, with leather seats, a tall dashboard and a tiny screen that no one was looking at. Behind the wheel sat a blonde woman in a sparkling silver dress, smiling and perfectly calm. Next to her, or rather on her, on the dashboard, over the armrest and sometimes across her lap, moved the real driver of the evening: a Bengal cat with spots like a map of tiny islands.
The cat had views about the seating arrangement. First it sat on the woman’s shoulder. Then it slid down her arm. Then it walked across the dashboard with the self-assured stride of an airline captain checking the cabin.
What made the scene so funny was the contrast between the two characters. The woman kept her eyes politely on the road, one hand on the steering wheel, the other gently trying to steer a cat who did not believe in steering. Every time she said a quiet word, the cat answered with a flick of the tail, which brushed across her face like a feather duster.
At one point the cat stretched across the whole center console, long and lean, and looked at the camera as if to say: yes, this seat is mine, and yes, you are welcome to your small corner. The driver laughed, shook her head and adjusted her sleeve with the patience of a saint.
Bengal cats are famous for their curiosity and energy, and a car at night is a wonderland of buttons, lights and shiny things. Every glow on the dashboard is a toy. Every turn of the wheel is a game. Safe driving habits are important, of course, so a good tip for any cat parent is to use a proper travel carrier. Cats may be co-pilots in spirit, but the seat belt is still a human thing.
Still, we have to admit that this co-pilot has style. The spots, the stripes, the confident walk across the dash all belong on a catwalk, not in a cabin.
So can a Bengal cat really take over the co-pilot seat? In spirit, absolutely. In practice, it takes a very patient human, a very big car and a very good sense of humor.
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