Pet Lovers

[Still Raining]

The title of the thread made me smile.  All of my cats always perfected the "You talking to ME?" look and tail swish. 

[Jacie]

I got rid of all but one  houseplant, only have one orchid in the house now.

I work off that old adage that the cats own the house I just pay the mortgage!

[Plaid Pants2]

My cats used to drink out of the toilet, which never bothered me, but I did get them a pet water fountain, which they love.

 This is the one that I got them off of Amazon.

[birkin baby]

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@Jacie wrote:

I got rid of all but one  houseplant, only have one orchid in the house now.

I work off that old adage that the cats own the house I just pay the mortgage!

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                 Years ago  I used to have a gorgeous orchids but one of my cats  speed in it and it killed the orchid. My cat ,however lived a long and happy life. I just figured he didn't prefer orchids.

[Sooner]

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

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@Sooner wrote:

Why are you assuming this person is beating their cat with a fly swatter?  Maybe she is tapping him on the behind and not hurting or terrifying him.  So we automatically assume the very worst of anyone?  

My mom stopped the cat from tering up the sofa by shaking and rattling the newspaper at him.  Was that cat abuse?  Or should she have let him tear up the only sofa we had?  The cat did not seem to be abused or harmed by the sound the paper made, but he was "afraid" of the noise and stopped tearing up the sofa. . . Cat was happy, mom was happy, cat lived with us happily for 17 years. 

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If that were the case, the cat wouldn't be frightened at just the sight of a flyswatter.

Besides, she didn't say that she "gently tapped", she specifically used the word "hit".

And yes, that IS abuse.

Shaking newspaper doesn't inflict pain.

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Our cat ran for the hills everiy time I got the broom out although I NEVER hit it or swung at it with the broom.  He just associated that motion with get out.  He was also afraid of the ceiling fan and would crouch to the floor and slink around the edge of the room everyi time we were at my moms and the celing fan was on.  She built this new house and he'd never seen a ceiling fan--so we referred to it as the "cat grinder" afterward.  Funny that so far up on the ceiling he was afraid. It always moved in slow/mo, so maybe he got that idea.  I don't know.  Cats are weird about what they are afraid of.

Oh and one we had would ALWAYS follow you to the bathroom and sit there and watch.  Finally he learned on his own to tinkle in the toilet.  He would durifully scratch around the edge of the seat when finished, but never learned to flush.  Or, oddly, to unroll the paper.  He also would sit on the tub at my bath time. and swish his tail in the water and put a paw in occasionally.  I always expected him to jump in but he never did!

[happycat]

Sooner, what an intelligent cat, using the toilet! That is the coolest thing!

When the weather is bad and I am out with my dogs, I always wish they could use the toilet. Maybe there is hope.

[chihuahuamom]

I'd like to know the answer to that!  Our cat is about 18 months old and a loving animal, but he has a bit of mischief to him as well.  I have a grand piano that I absolutely refuse to allow him to jump up on.  Well, I have done everything I can think of to keep him off (including a water spray bottle altho I am careful not to spray on the piano lid).  He KNOWS he isn't supposed to get on it, but that just draws him like a magnet.  He jumps up there and looks at me as if to say now, what are you going to do about it??????? Like a naughty child. If I didn't react to his jumping on it, he might forget about i!  He does it over and over.  I read somewhere to make a loud, scary noise if they do something they shouldn't, and thought about buying a bicycle horn.

Sorry didn't mean to click on the spoiler alert! lol

Spoiler

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[candys mine]

Agree with all the others.  Discipline and cats don't mix.You have to make it not worth the cats while to do a behavior.  And making the cat think the new acceptable behavior was all their idea  as well is even better.  Kitty came from outdoors.  Pooped in dirt.  Plants have dirt.  Dirt is for pooping.  Kitty doesn't see a problem.   Try criss crossing the planters with double sided tape.  Kittys paws will get stuck on the tape and she will have a barrier to get through to stand in the planter.  Litterbox may be her best option then.  Her Idea.  That type of thing.  and Yes Jackson Galaxy has some great insight.   Check it out.

[dooBdoo]

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happycat wrote:

Thank you all for your replies. I am glad that there are so many animal lovers out there, it makes my heart happy.

I have an appointment with the vet in a week and a half to get her shots, and get her spayed. That was the quickest they could do it, said they were booked.

I am not sure where she came from. When she first came in the house, I got the feeling she had been an inside kitty before, just the way she walked around checking everything out. But, I have no idea.

We did have another kitty, but I had had to have her put to sleep about a month ago. She an aggressive for of cancer. Had a tumor come up about 5 months ago on her side. The vet removed it, sent it to figure out what it was. I can't remember the long name, but the vet told me it was a very aggressive form and there really wasn't alot we could do. The tumor had gotten large again, we could tell our Ms. Kitty wasn't feeling well, and I hated it with everything in me, but I knew it was the right thing to do. So, I had her put to sleep. We had Ms. Kitty for at least 16 years old. She had been a stray also. She followed us home from a walk one morning.

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       @happycat, I'm sorry about your Ms. Kitty.  I know you miss her.  Thanks, again, for providing a loving home for this new family member.  Adding another wee heartbeat to the home is a grand thing.

[dooBdoo]

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pianomama wrote:

I'd like to know the answer to that!  Our cat is about 18 months old and a loving animal, but he has a bit of mischief to him as well.  I have a grand piano that I absolutely refuse to allow him to jump up on.  Well, I have done everything I can think of to keep him off (including a water spray bottle altho I am careful not to spray on the piano lid).  He KNOWS he isn't supposed to get on it, but that just draws him like a magnet.  He jumps up there and looks at me as if to say now, what are you going to do about it??????? Like a naughty child. If I didn't react to his jumping on it, he might forget about i!  He does it over and over.  I read somewhere to make a loud, scary noise if they do something they shouldn't, and thought about buying a bicycle horn.

Sorry didn't mean to click on the spoiler alert! lol

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         @chihuahuamom, Something really  useful I learned from Jackson Galaxy:  most cats are either what he calls "tree dwellers" or "bush dwellers."  Meaning that most cats have a clear preference for, and comfort level in, either high places or low places.   It's a part of their nature, so it can't be changed.   What he advises is to accommodate that with ample other places so the "high place" like your piano won't be the only one or the most readily available -- add cat trees, or shelves, that sort of thing.   Sometimes we have to sacrifice our decor aesthetics in order to accommodate our sweet kitties.

        If you need to try and teach your cat to avoid a certain spot, as part of the process, though, sometimes he recommends a little device that ejects a puff of air (be sure to get one that's specifically a cat deterrent, not an "air horn") and there's also a small device that sounds an alarm ("CatScram" is one of them)  imperceptible to the human ear but noticeable to the cat's ears.   You might try placing one of those on the piano for a short time,  after adding other high places for kitty to jump onto, to convince him the piano isn't a great choice.    These are much preferred to squirting a cat with water because: 

1.  They work whether you are there or not and

2.  They're not "attached" to the human so the kitty won't associate the negative sensation with you, their guardian.

         I think it helps (for me, anyway) to remember that cats aren't spiteful and they aren't people...  so in watching Jackson Galaxy I realized the first thing to do is examine the behavior, then try to understand why it happens, and then find a compassionate way to solve the underlying issue or redirect the cat's activities.

hth!