How much room can a cat occupy?

How much room can a cat use, or take up, or occupy?  The short short answer is, a cat can use, take up or occupy as much space it pleases.  No, honestly.  In the last few months Freddie has developed a smoochiness and proclivity to spread out and occupy as-of-right regardless of whatever else may be going on in the immediate vicinity.  For example, last night I was doing a crossword and Freddie left a perfectly good and warm spot on the top of the chair behind Judy to move to my chair and position himself in an impossible space on one leg and the arm of the chair.  It was an inpossible place for him to sit because he was going to inevitably slip off my leg.  No problem.  Cats have a remedy for such exigencies called claws. 

Claws are sharp devices made of the protein keratin and ususally when in the retracted position cause no harm.  In the extended position; different ballgame entirely.  I have a friend who to this day breaks out in a sweat at any mention of claws that once sank in awfully close to his family jewels!!  In my case, Freddie began to slide off my leg.  His auto-function response unfurled his claws which he (again, automatically) sank into my uncovered leg to arrest his sudden gravitationally induced slide to the floor. 

I yelped in pain.  It made no difference.  I could have howled like one of the Baskerville's watch dogs and it'd still have made no diference.  Once the slide was arrested Freddie was happy.  He nocholantly adjusted his perch and life (for him) just carried on.  I was rueful, Freddie was comfortable, end of story.

Here's another example.  This is the top step of the back door steps.  The top step is actually quite a large area and you can see that he takes up quite a bit of space.  Why would he chose to sit exactly slap bang in the middle of the available free space.  Probably for the same reason he spends so much time licking his bum.  Because he can.