Cat Lovers, I Need Your Help!

[Sub_Umbra]

oh yeah, almost forgot:

How to train your cat to do what ever you say:

Figure out what he is going to do next,
then tell him to do it.


...try it, works every time! :thumbsup:

I know that you were probably just trying to be funny (and it definately was ) but you also hit the nail on the head.

My friends are always amazed when I point my finger at the cat and pull the trigger -- and he falls and plays dead like a dog. It all started because I noticed that whenever I came home the cat was so glad to see me that he would flop down on his back. All I did was "...figure out what he is going to do next..." and then point my finger at him and pull the trigger.

That's why I gave that goofy yin and yan example in a previous post, because I don't teach my cat a trick -- he actually teaches me the trick and I just make it look like I taught him something. The cat is the rock and I am the water that must figure out a subtle way to make it move. With the direct approach the water may move the rock but it takes so much force that it usually shoots right past where I wanted it to go.

 

[TedTheLed]

: onehandclapping :

not just funny, Sub, but also serious, and instructive, all at once.
(part of the TedTheLed zen triad of enlightenment! )

my friend Lisa's cat Skeeter:
usually goes in and out through a sliding glass door. One day the glass door was open a few inches, but the sliding screen door was a bit narrow blocking Skeeter's exit. Skeeter's meows didn't explain the problem sufficiently for Lisa to realize that the screen door needed to be opened another inch to allow Skeeter to pass.. so Skeeter runs over to the bathroom door, pushes it wide open with her paw, then immediately hops back to the screen door and meows, holding up her paw. Lisa opened the door for Skeet. and they say animals can't talk!

(mine does, in plain English, he says "mee-oout!" -- can't figure out what he means by it though.. :shrug: )

 

[oldgrandpajack]

My poor buddy. Zorro is bummed out today. I finally picked up some tabasco sauce last night, and put it on the oxygen hose this morning. Turns out, Zorro was teasing me, and playing, at the same time. He's been depressed all day long. Got to find a replacement for the game he trained me to play with him. What a cat!

oldgrandpajack

 

[gadget_lover]

The pet store is full of toys. We have several cubic feet of them.

For some reason our female cat (Sammy) will attack and chase rubber bands. What's funny is that I don't need to shoot it. She'll sneak up on rubber bands laying innocently on the carpet and pounce. Then she'll bat it around for many minutes. We call them "the rubber band monster". She alos likes wadded up paper sheets.

Daniel

 

[carrot]

My cat loves those toy mice. Sometimes when he's playing with one he will hiss at anyone who approaches him. He also used to love foam peanuts, especially the squeaking noise.


Toddy and his toy mouse. (Click for larger)

 

[TedTheLed]

:kewlpics:

...btw if and when your cat gets tired of a toy, just withdraw it, hide it for week, then reintroduce it! --- woah hey meow where did this come from? ! hey gimme dat ! meow!

 

[Pydpiper]

So the tabasco worked?
My cat has a thing for marbles, which is fine until the sun goes down.. I have hardwood floors.

Perhaps Zorro enjoyed it so much because it was attached to you, what about a secondary hose, string, rope that isn't providing you with oxygen so he can still have the same effect.. Make sure you tell him "no" every now and then so he really enjoys playing with it..

 

[sunspot]

How about a buddy for Zorro?

Click for larger pic.

 

[Pydpiper]

Or a really big buddy..

 

[oldgrandpajack]

The tabasco sauce worked great!

I have white plastic bottle caps Zorro likes to play with, but they are all under the stove now. Have to wait for my son to visit and get them for me. I throw them, and Zorro brings them back, after chasing them around the house.

My son had Zorro, when he was a kitten. Bill tried to introduce a young female, as a buddy. Zorro almost killed her. Found her in the basement ceiling, hiding. Zorro is totally dominate.

The pic of the raccoon and cat is scary. Hate to think what would happen if the raccoon got angry, or really hungry. Is that a kitten? Looks awfully small, compared to the raccoon. My mother had a cat, rabbit, and dog, when she was a child. They all slept and ate together.

Zorro follows me all around the house. He doesn't like to be out of my sight. Right now, he's on the back of the couch, about 6 inches from my head. He has a lot of hiding spots, which he used when I was defending the hose with the squirt bottle. I know he loved the running around. It was like dodgeball for him. He taunt me by hitting the hose first, with his paws. Then, when he knew I was looking, he'd pick the hose up to his mouth, and bite it. I'd reach for the bottle, and he'd fly across the room to one of his hiding spots. Then he would criss cross the room several times. He was way too fast for me. At least the squirting brought up the humidity level some. When he was tired, he'd come over for some lovin. Zorro is a great cat. I'm trully bessed to have him here with me.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Glad to hear that the tabasco sauce worked!

So Zorro actually "fetches" the bottle caps? That's so sweet! Ok, so he bats them around first, but still that's very unusual for a cat! He must think very highly of you.

 

[TedTheLed]

Just like Peanut!

I'm glad to see Zorro has come through his changes so obviously untraumatized

I wonder does his name have anything to do with the claw marks he leaves??

:touche: Z!

 

[Pydpiper]

It is a small cat, but not a kitten.
The coon, Chuckeleena, was an orphan I pulled out of a chimney after the mother was killed on the road, she was the last living survivor of a litter of six. Our intentions were to feed it through an eye dropper, but my female rottweiler took over and nursed it, that was quite a site. We raised her until she was about 45 lbs, had full run of the house, used the front door and came and went as she chose.
One day I came home from work and up went her back, about as high as my knees. She decided as she was in heat that she did't want a male in *her* house. She would never hurt anyone, or anything. She still comes home to have her litters, as do her pups.
Raccoon chew toy?

The tabasco sauce worked great!


The pic of the raccoon and cat is scary. Hate to think what would happen if the raccoon got angry, or really hungry. Is that a kitten? Looks awfully small, compared to the raccoon. My mother had a cat, rabbit, and dog, when she was a child. They all slept and ate together.

 

[sunspot]

oldgrandpajack
Is it possible for you to post a picture of Zorro?

 

[oldgrandpajack]

oldgrandpajack
Is it possible for you to post a picture of Zorro?

Just took a pic of Zorro, with my son's digital camera. I don't know how to change the settings, and it's a little over 2 megs. If you give me your email address, I'll see if I can send it to you. My email has a 2 meg limit though, and it may not work. If you do receive it, you're welcome to post it here, if you can. I'm not set up with a pic server.

oldgrandpajack

EDIT: Just took another pic, and it's just under 2 megs, so I should be able to send it.

 

[oldgrandpajack]

SWEET? Not Zorro! You wouldn't want to say that in front of him. Zorro is all male. Very pushy and aggressive. Spoiled rotten too.

It's just me and Zorro here, and the only one that gets traumatized is me! Zorro doesn't do it intentionally, but he is so fast and aggressive, I get cut up all the time. Keep having to go to the doctor's for antibiotics for my legs. Just finished a course of antibiotics this weekend. When Zorro breaks the skin, he senses it immediately, and tries to apologize in his own way. Lots of snuggling is involved. Maybe, when he gets older, he'll calm down some. Zorro turned 4, last month.

He likes to kiss me (puts his forehead against my forehead), when I come up the steps from the cellar. Couldn't ask for a better companion. Don't know what I'd do if he ever got out. He is trying a lot now, since I've slowed down. The door is open too long, when I'm schlepping the oxygen bottle(s) outdoors. He got out once, but it was terrible outside, and he was trying to claw a hole in the storm door, before long, trying to get back in.

oldgrandpajack

 

[Pellidon]

If you don't feel comfy playing with a laser pointer use an Inova X1. The round spot should almost be as entertaining as a small dot. Don't use a Mag85 though.

 

[flashlight]

Hi Jack,

Glad to hear that Zorro is easing up a bit on the oxygen hose now. Perhaps you need to get some plastic protective wrap or tabasco sauce on your pants legs too!

Take care.

Best regards,
Cyril

 

[sunspot]

oldgrandpajack
PM sent with email address

 

[LowBat]

The definition of a cat: Stop anything that moves!

I was thinking you could run the air hose through some PVC pipe, but you probably need the flexibility. There must be some sort of metal mesh out there that could protect the hose.