Cat thread

[Lantyssa]

Go team Seat Down!

[rattran]

Oscar was trained to use the toilet, but Random never got the idea and just kept falling in, so the lid at home stays down.

[Mazakiel]

Seat stays down here too due to the cats, but it's more to prevent them from dropping stuff in than anything else.  I got tired of fishing mice and drinking straws out of it every day. 

[Sjofn]

I tried to "Like" your post.  Dammit.  Anyway, this.  Even my father wouldn't dare incur the wrath of my mom with a seat left up.  Of course, he was the only man in our house.

I have a brother, but it was still a woman-dominated house, as I also have two sisters. 


Jack's really the only reason we keep the lid down, Lizzie never seemed interested in the toilet. She really loves sitting in the shower after someone is done with it for some reason, though. And then, once she has absorbed all the water into her big, furry butt, sitting on my lap. ><

[Genev]

Hobbes the three-legged cat says hi!
He had a car accident, but adjusted just fine and as far as i'm aware, is pretty happy (and obviously fat :p)

We've never had cats who checked out the toilets o.O Though what our current one does do is throw his weight against the bathroom door if anyone is inside and he's feeling lonely. He's big enough to have it open if you didnt close it properly, and then he just goes and sits next to you, or stretches out on the bathroom mat (while you're frantically closing the door)

[Sjofn]

I want to rub Hobbes' tummy.

Jack is also one to invade the bathroom, it's super annoying. Especially since we have doorknobs he has figured out how to work. I assume cats think you're having a super awesome party in there and you didn't invite them how dare you.

[Genev]

Hah, if that picture makes you want to rub his tummy, check out the second picture i added! :D

And Hobbes is more like "...Hey, where did everybody go? I want love, I want company, and you're going to give it to me regardless of where you are!"
We also ahve a living room which is more or less split into 2 parts, one part which is more office-like with desks and computers, and 1 part which is the seating area with the tv. If he's in a couch and we're all at the pcs, he comes to us and joins us on a nearby chair.... Company addict :p

[Sjofn]

Aw, that second picture. 

Our Jack also is big on company, it's pretty rare for him to not have at least one of us in his line of sight for more than a few minutes. Lizzie can take us or leave us, although when the mood strikes she goes into Hyper Affection Mode and it is adorable.

[Lantyssa]

Dancer has a 10' rule.  If she isn't outside or in one of her designated sleep spots, she sticks within 10' of me.  This includes trips to the bathroom, getting ready for bed, going downstairs for food, and working in the yard.

Her outside time never strays far from the house either.  She went 15' outside the fence yesterday and I joked she was running away from home.

[MuffinMan]

A couple nights ago when I went to bed, Smeagol didn't follow me for some reason like he does every night. I was in bed for about five minutes before I went back into the living room to say "come on buddy it's time for us to go to sleep." Yep, I'm a crazy catguy.

[Sky]

Bart's a vicinity guy, too. He's got his designated sleep spots, his designated lookout spots, the rest of the time he's got to be in my vicinity. It's reciprocal, when I'm working on something, I let him sniff stuff so he feels like he's involved.

And laundry. He will come bounding out of anywhere to lay on fresh laundry when I put it out on the bed. Makes folding difficult with 22lbs of cat on stuff.

[Mrbloodworth]

So, perhaps getting a 2 year old was a bad idea. Mango will not leave springer alone. Any time springer moves, Mango attacks him. I suspect its just playing, but springer really doesn't think so.

Right now, it seems Mango only cares about a few things. Food, attacking springer, and the cat mat we have.

He's big enough to have it open if you didnt close it properly, and then he just goes and sits next to you, or stretches out on the bathroom mat (while you're frantically closing the door)

This is a hard thing to Explain to guests!

[Signe]

Don't explain it to them.  If your guests don't close the fucking door properly then they deserve to have a cat watching them pee.  And if they don't close the door properly after the cat goes in, then everyone in the house should watch them pee.  It's only right.

[Sky]

So, perhaps getting a 2 year old was a bad idea. Mango will not leave springer alone. Any time springer moves, Mango attacks him. I suspect its just playing, but springer really doesn't think so.

Right now, it seems Mango only cares about a few things. Food, attacking springer, and the cat mat we have.

In related news, I'm thinking of changing my name from Cash Wiley to Zebulon Galaxy. I am not joking (and Cash Wiley isn't the name my parents gave me, anyway).

[Mrbloodworth]

I have no idea who that is, or how its cat related.

[Sky]

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/my-cat-from-hell/

He's pretty awesome. I've raised cats from litters since I was a kid and I've learned a lot from his show (beyond the fact that it's generally My Humans From Hell most of the time).

[Signe]

Did we have this yet?

[Hawkbit]

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/my-cat-from-hell/

He's pretty awesome. I've raised cats from litters since I was a kid and I've learned a lot from his show (beyond the fact that it's generally My Humans From Hell most of the time).

His shows have taught me quite a bit about cat behavior, too.  It's simple things he does, he tries to mimic cat behavior. 

I started using his trick about holding his glasses out to cats so they can smell the oils from your body first, and that works pretty amazingly for settling cats down.

[apocrypha]

Did we have this yet?

Oh god, way too much cute :p

[Sir T]

Did we have this yet?

Reminds me of a dog that we used to have that used to get phantom pregnancies all the time. it used to upset her when she never got puppies, and one year she let the cats Kittens drink the milk from her nipples. It was quite cute actually, but I never could get a picture. :(

[Sky]

It's simple things he does, he tries to mimic cat behavior. 

My fiancee doesn't understand the relationship I have with my cat, but it's because I've been around cats my entire life, I learned to think like a cat, or at least more or less understand them, pick up on their communication. And another big thing is playing, if your cat sits in the window while you're at work watching chipmunks dart in and out of bushes, recreate that in play and you'll have a happy cat. Have a bird feeder? Get Da Bird (aka the best cat toy known to man that all cat owners should have). Etc.

[Nebu]

Get Da Bird (aka the best cat toy known to man that all cat owners should have). Etc.

Interesting aside.  My cats love this toy if it has feathers on it.  If you replace the feathers with something more artificial LIKE THIS, the cats won't go near it.

[Hawkbit]

It's the noises that Da Bird makes that gets mine crazy, it actually sounds like a bird in the air a little bit.  Without question Da Bird has been the best toy for getting them up off the couch.

[Sky]

This is Bart's current favorite. The end of the sofa is right by the french doors to the backyard and I have his cat tree set up in front of the door, it's a multi-level dealy. So while we're watching tv, I can sit and run him up and down and around that thing for hours with that toy. When he tires of the fuzzy/feathered end, I flip it around and use the plastic wand to poke him (gently, just to make him aware of where it is) or peek at him (with the wand end) from under the main level of the tree, so he can bat down around underneath the platform for the hidden 'prey'.

[Signe]

For some reason the Cat Dancer has always been both my kitties fav toy, even over sticks with feathers.  I got 4 for $5 once on Amazon or somewhere.  Magenta especially goes nuts for it.  It's just some rolled up cardboard paper on a length of wire. 

http://www.madcats.co.uk/products.php?itemCategory=Cat+Dancers

[01101010]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k38bfE3ubrs

Two cats for the price of one!

[Ingmar]

Jack will chase the feather things, but Lizzie prefers a plain, unadorned stick for some reason. Brain damage maybe.

[Lantyssa]

Dancer will pounce her catnip mouse once or twice a month.  She completely ignores the laser pointer.  She's old and above such play.

My great little hunter will ignore doves landing five feet from her though.  Apparently her sister is the same way.  Mom was apparently too good a hunter, so the kids ended up lazy.

[01101010]

My 'dog' cat, Spy - would play fetch with the plastic rings found around 1gal milk jugs. One day when he was about 10 months, he was in the kitchen with me and one of those rings popped off the counter and rolled onto the floor...and that was that. Every time I'd grab the milk, he'd sit there waiting patiently. I'd fling it and he'd bring it back and drop it "around" me somewhere. Never gave a shit about any toys I got him aside from a few jingly balls (which he would ignore until about 3am  ).

My other cat, Wish... he loved straws for some reason. At first I thought it was because they has some flavor since the one he would go after were always from a drink I had sat on the coffee table; however, upon further review, he liked straws right out of the box just as well. Nothing funnier then Wish fleeing the room with his straw hanging out of his mouth from one end or the other - never in the middle. Of course as soon as he'd start putting holes in it I'd have to confiscate it... which always got a sad face mixed with the revenge eye.

[Ingmar]

Yeah milk rings are very popular here as well.

[Bunk]

I've bought Harmony many a different cat toy - and she ignores most of them. Her favorite toy at the moment by far: a six foot length of string with a nub of duct tape on the end. Simple pleasures.

[Sky]

Bart's second favorite after Da Bird is the bit of plastic and cardboard that comes off when you unzip an Amazon box. He just sees one and loses his mind, runs in circles and meows.

[Sjofn]

Jack will play with just about anything, really, but I think that's partly because he's still clinging to his kitten-y youth (he's two now). He likes to play fetch with those pizza saver things you get (you know, the little plastic table looking thing they put in the middle), although he'll play fetch with just about anything if he's in the mood, including the cat fishing pole (which Lizzie likes, because she'll pounce on the stick part while Jack drags the thing back to me).

[kaid]

I want to rub Hobbes' tummy.

Jack is also one to invade the bathroom, it's super annoying. Especially since we have doorknobs he has figured out how to work. I assume cats think you're having a super awesome party in there and you didn't invite them how dare you.

Hehe we had old crappy locks in my old house that if you applied force below the handle it would just spring open. So when you went to the bathroom you had to leave the door open enough for the cat to sneak in. If you did not the cat would body slam the door and fling it open all the way. To this day when I am at home even though the kitty has long go to her maker I cannot bring myself to shut the bathroom door fully.

[Hawkbit]

Last xmas I bought them a battery operated laser pointer that moves all around and has a 20min timer.  It was awesome for a week or two, till the dumbasses knocked it over and broke it.  Great in concept, but if I buy one again I'll mount it to a weight.