Does Your Cat . . . ?

[beargrowlz]

I'm a dog person personally. Not a dogperson, as in half dog, half person, I'd be more likely to be half bear than half dog. But that's besides the point.

Anyhoo...

I have this dog that's been with me a long, long time, 15 years now. He's on his last legs and all. But when he was younger, he found this little creature the size of a mouse - well turned out it was an abandoned newborn kitten.

Anyway, the dog brought the kitten in the house in its jaws, gently, I don't know how he didn't kill it, and we nursed the damn thing like a premie baby and bottle fed it and all - and now, years later - it's this huge Maine Coon Cat.

Well, it has two annoying habits (among many others) that drive me nuts - which I assume is precisely why he does them.

First, he climbs atop my desk and proceeds to knock everything down and all over the place. Which, while inconvenient, pales in comparison to his desire to lay down and fall asleep atop of whatever I happen to be working on. It's as if he thinks, "oh, there is a project there, its thick and its soft, how nice of you to make a bed for me on your desk".

Anyone else have a pet with such me-centric behavior?

[RedKingGold]

My girlfriend's cat slid off of the kitchen table off of a placemat that she mistakenly thought to be completely on the table. It did not land on its four feet.

I laughed.

[rkmsuf]

this is a simple solution to your problem

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by beargrowlz

I'm a dog person personally. Not a dogperson, as in half dog, half person, I'd be more likely to be half bear than half dog. But that's besides the point.

Anyhoo...

I have this dog that's been with me a long, long time, 15 years now. He's on his last legs and all. But when he was younger, he found this little creature the size of a mouse - well turned out it was an abandoned newborn kitten.

Anyway, the dog brought the kitten in the house in its jaws, gently, I don't know how he didn't kill it, and we nursed the damn thing like a premie baby and bottle fed it and all - and now, years later - it's this huge Maine Coon Cat.

Well, it has two annoying habits (among many others) that drive me nuts - which I assume is precisely why he does them.

First, he climbs atop my desk and proceeds to knock everything down and all over the place. Which, while inconvenient, pales in comparison to his desire to lay down and fall asleep atop of whatever I happen to be working on. It's as if he thinks, "oh, there is a project there, its thick and its soft, how nice of you to make a bed for me on your desk".

Anyone else have a pet with such me-centric behavior?

Dog person here too, but I couldn't fit a dog into the lifestyle at the moment. I have a condo and the wife and I are gone a majority of the day, so a puppy was too much to handle.

Anyways, we adopted 2 Cats from the shelter. The female does what you say above, in that she lies down on anything that I am working on and follows me around all the time. The male cat goes Kamikaze in the morning and runs full speed into our bedroom door at around 5-6am every morning because he is hungry. The reason he is out of the room is because, as you note above, when he was sleeping in our bedroom, he stood on the dressers, nightstands, etc and knocked everything over to get us up. If that didn't work, he Jimmy Super Fly Snooka'd off the top of the armoire onto the bed repeatedly until we woke up.

Also, the male cat growls so loud in the morning when he is going kamikaze on the door.

[Pumpy Tudors]

My wife's cat, Smudgey, does the exact same stuff as beargrowlz's. He only knocks over my stuff if my wife isn't around. If she's in the room and looking in that direction, he behaves. If she's looking the other way, he'll attack one small section of my table. If she's in another room, he'll take over about a quarter of the table. If she's not in the house, he's like the Tasmanian Devil all over my stuff.

[lordscarlet]

My cats does do not intentionally knock things over (well, one of them knocks over cups of water so he can drink the spilled water) but one of them does lay on everything, especially the keyboard. The other one always places himself between my eyes and a book if I am reading. I mentioned in another thread their various methods for waking me up (one paws at my face, slowly bringing out the claws if I don't wake up; the other licks my hair). I do, however, know friends cats that knock things over intentionally. Every cat has it's own personality, but dog owners are normally quite surprised at that.

[MizzouRah]

We have an indoor/outdoor cat and an indoor only cat.

The i/o cat eats like he's never eaten before, I'm talking 2 full cans of wet food per day and in like 30 seconds. He'll also do things like knock the trashcan over in the kitchen when he's hungry, chase the indoor cat around the house when he wants outside or scare the crap out of us jumping on our bedroom window screen when he wants in.

A few months ago I bought some of that slick "cat screen" from home depot and redid a few screens around the house. About a week later I hear this scratch, and a thud as he tried to jump onto our screen without being able to grab on. It was quite funny.

The indoor cat thinks she and I are married and likes to sleep right next to me length wise with her head by mine. In fact, when me and the Mrs do the do, we have to kick the cat out of the bedroom and close the door!

[rkmsuf]

couple of swats and perhaps a dropkick makes them amazingly well behaved

[Terps]

My girlfriend's cat is annoying. He hides in the bathroom on the sink waiting for someone to walk in to attack them, or hides in between the shower liner and shower curtain to do the same thing, he stalks around corners and stuff and jumps up and bites people, if you read the newspaper he tries to sleep on it, we made cookies before Christmas and he ran in the kitchen jumped up on the table swatted at the cookies that were sitting there and then ran away.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

couple of swats and perhaps a dropkick makes them amazingly well behaved

This is true. After that one rainy night in the summer of 1981, my mother never complained about my behavior again.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

My cats does do not intentionally knock things over (well, one of them knocks over cups of water so he can drink the spilled water) but one of them does lay on everything, especially the keyboard. The other one always places himself between my eyes and a book if I am reading. I mentioned in another thread their various methods for waking me up (one paws at my face, slowly bringing out the claws if I don't wake up; the other licks my hair). I do, however, know friends cats that knock things over intentionally. Every cat has it's own personality, but dog owners are normally quite surprised at that.

And some cats think they can walk through fire.

[Fidatelo]

I like that animals don't disguise their feelings at all. "OK Jack-ass, you've slept there for 8 hours and I'm bored out of my mind. WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!!"

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by beargrowlz

First, he climbs atop my desk and proceeds to knock everything down and all over the place. Which, while inconvenient, pales in comparison to his desire to lay down and fall asleep atop of whatever I happen to be working on. It's as if he thinks, "oh, there is a project there, its thick and its soft, how nice of you to make a bed for me on your desk".

This is pretty normal cat behavior - both things you note are behaviors that fall into the "you're not paying enough attention to me" category. Your cat wants to be around you and wants some attention.

Have you tried moving your cat to your lap when he lays down on your project? If he doesn't object to that and you periodically pet him while he's on your lap, that could end up a workable compromise.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

This is pretty normal cat behavior - both things you note are behaviors that fall into the "you're not paying enough attention to me" category. Your cat wants to be around you and wants some attention.

Have you tried moving your cat to your lap when he lays down on your project? If he doesn't object to that and you periodically pet him while he's on your lap, that could end up a workable compromise.

are you shitting me? a workable compromise?

the cats are winning.

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

are you shitting me? a workable compromise?

the cats are winning.

hahahhahahaa, soon you will pooping in the sandbox.

[beargrowlz]

Have you tried moving your cat to your lap when he lays down on your project? If he doesn't object to that and you periodically pet him while he's on your lap, that could end up a workable compromise

Yeah, that's what usually happens. He just wants the attention - and when he was very young and we didn't know if he would make it, I used to bottle feed him and he'd fall asleep on my chest or stomach and lap, so I guess in a lot of ways now that he's grown he probably misses that kind of intense attention as well.

He's a trip, that's for sure.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's called the fine art of hindering (also referred to as hampering) mostly part & parcel of being a cat.

6. Supervising (a.k.a. Hampering)
It is well known that humans are incapable of performing even the simplest of tasks without feline supervision and/or assistance. This supervision is absurdly known by the humans as "hampering". If one of your humans is engaged in some close activity and any others are idle, stay with the busy one. It would take a large book to describe all of the activities which need to be supervised, so only a condensed list is presented below.

* When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.

* For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the book itself.

* For knitting projects or paperwork, lie on the work in the most appropriate manner so as to obscure the maximum amount, or at least the most important part. Pretend to doze, but every so often reach out and slap the pencil or knitting needles. The worker may try to distract you; ignore it. Remember, the aim is to hamper work. Embroidery and needlepoint projects make great hammocks in spite of what the humans may tell you.

* For people paying bills (monthly activity) or working on income taxes or Christmas cards (annual activity), keep in mind the aim: to hamper! First, sit on the paper being worked on. When dislodged, watch sadly from the side of the table. When activity proceeds nicely, roll around on the papers, scattering them to the best of your ability. After being removed for the second time, push pens, pencils, and erasers off the table, one at a time.

* When a human is holding the newspaper in front of him/her, be sure to jump at the back of the paper. They love surprises.

* As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of the human, especially: on stairs; when they have something in their arms; in the dark; and when they first get up in the morning. This will help their coordination skills.

* Always sleep on the human at night so s/he cannot move around.

* When a human is attempting to "make the bed", hop on it and curl up in the middle, or pounce on the sheet the human is trying to rearrange. If the human tries to ignore you by covering you with the sheets, move around and try to mess things up. Protest loudly when you're evicted.

* Laundry presents many opportunities to hamper (hence the other name for the laundry basket, the laundry hamper). Laundry fresh from the dryer is a perfect bed, since it is warm and soft. As soon as it is put on the bed for sorting, arrange yourself for a nap. If the human removes you, keep returning until the laundry isn't warm anymore. Now it's play time. Pounce on anything the human tries to move around for folding, especially socks and nylons. For added fun, grab a sock and hide under the bed.

* When a human is working at a computer, s/he isn't paying attention to you. Fortunately, this problem is easy to remedy. You can easily obstruct the human's view of the screen with your beautiful tail, or if it's low enough, with your even more beautiful body. Trampling on the keyboard is always good for some attention as well. Pay special attention to the keys marked "Esc", "Del", and "Brk". If you need to nap while supervising your human, good places are the keyboard, on top of the plastic thing with the cord that the humans laughably call a "mouse", or on the human's arms. If the human insists on removing you from these choice locations, there's always the lap. If possible, while in the lap try to drape yourself on one of the human's arms.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by beargrowlz

Yeah, that's what usually happens. He just wants the attention - and when he was very young and we didn't know if he would make it, I used to bottle feed him and he'd fall asleep on my chest or stomach and lap, so I guess in a lot of ways now that he's grown he probably misses that kind of intense attention as well.

He's a trip, that's for sure.

Well, Maine Coon Cats are known as being particularly intelligent and somewhat dog-like, so you probably get more uninvited attention from your cat that most cat owners.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by wade moore

And some cats think they can walk through fire.

And apparently he was correct.

Originally Posted by dawgfan

This is pretty normal cat behavior - both things you note are behaviors that fall into the "you're not paying enough attention to me" category. Your cat wants to be around you and wants some attention.

Have you tried moving your cat to your lap when he lays down on your project? If he doesn't object to that and you periodically pet him while he's on your lap, that could end up a workable compromise.

This does not work for me.

[LloydLungs]

My family once had a cat that would wake us up by knocking items off the dresser one at a time, gradually increasing from small/quiet to large/loud objects until we finally got up and fed her. Absolutely diabolical.

[gottimd]

I find what shuts cats up or stops them is a simple water bottle spray. I have never seen an animal dislike water more than a cat. Its like acid to them. And not the kind of Acid you are thinking of.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by gottimd

I find what shuts cats up or stops them is a simple water bottle spray. I have never seen an animal dislike water more than a cat. Its like acid to them. And not the kind of Acid you are thinking of.

Whereas my cat will happily plop his ass in the shower whenever the water it running.

Yes. He's insane.

[rkmsuf]

what better cat talk or parody thread

thanks

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

what better cat talk or parody thread

thanks

What happened to Bill Parcells?

[Bearcat729]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

couple of swats and perhaps a dropkick makes them amazingly well behaved

[Ryche]

When my cat decides she is hungry and I'm at the computer, she will start walking laps around me, starting at the railing next to my desk, then either in front of or on top of my monitor, then up the arm of my chair to the back before returning to the railing. Or she'll just sit right in front of the monitor.

We used to let the cats sleep in the bedroom, but they started getting loud and stupid too often, so we kicked them out. So the same cat will latch her front paws under the bedroom door and kick the door with her hind feet over her head while meowing very loudly. Once that starts, I have to throw her in the other bedroom for the night.

I've tried spraying her with water too. Doesn't work very well on a Bengal.

[Logan]

My girlfriend's dog is the biggest cockblock you've ever met in your life.

[Fidatelo]

There seem to be a lot of "when my cat wants food it pisses me off by doing act X" comments here. Why don't you guys just feed your cats instead of letting them get that hungry?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

There seem to be a lot of "when my cat wants food it pisses me off by doing act X" comments here. Why don't you guys just feed your cats instead of letting them get that hungry?

Wouldn't make much difference, if any, in the behavior.

My cats have always had available food, 24-7-365. But sometimes, if they have dry they want tuna, or if they have canned, they want the dry refilled (even though the bowls are over half full).

It isn't about actual hunger, it's about attention.

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

There seem to be a lot of "when my cat wants food it pisses me off by doing act X" comments here. Why don't you guys just feed your cats instead of letting them get that hungry?

One of my cats has a never ending pit and shovels the food into his mouth. I'll watch him eat and I will leave the room. A few minutes later he'll come to the living room and lay down like he just ate Thanksgiving Dinner and pass out. If I get up and go to the kitchen, its Round 2, no matter how stuffed he is apparently.

Plus, More food = More requently filled litter box.

I give them 1 cup dry food in the morning and 1 cup dry food in the evening now.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

There seem to be a lot of "when my cat wants food it pisses me off by doing act X" comments here. Why don't you guys just feed your cats instead of letting them get that hungry?

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by gottimd

hahahhahahaa, soon you will pooping in the sandbox.

QOTM.

[Passacaglia]

My cats love to sit on notebooks, so if we're studying, they're all up in our grill. Funny thing is, one of them is always interested in property and casualty material, and the other one likes life more. Pretty weird.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

There seem to be a lot of "when my cat wants food it pisses me off by doing act X" comments here. Why don't you guys just feed your cats instead of letting them get that hungry?

With one of my cats, it's not about hunger. Their food dish can be 50% full, and she still acts the same way. It's about attention.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

There seem to be a lot of "when my cat wants food it pisses me off by doing act X" comments here. Why don't you guys just feed your cats instead of letting them get that hungry?

I know people addressed this, particularly a relevant picture by Wade, but the answer is because we want our pets to live healthy, long lives. I see kids on Jerry Springer that are treated the way you mention; I don't plan on my pets or children being one of them.

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

There seem to be a lot of "when my cat wants food it pisses me off by doing act X" comments here. Why don't you guys just feed your cats instead of letting them get that hungry?

If I fed them as often as they think they should be fed, they'd look like that cat above.

[terpkristin]

as i type, my laptop is in my lap and my cat is half sitting on it/half on me
it might not be so bad if i weren;t typing one-handed

i too have had my cat from a very young age (~4 weeks, he was found abandoned) and he definitely sees me as mommy. he'll be 4 in may.

/tk

[Wolfpack]

Fortunately, only on occasion have I had our cats be disruptive about wanting food and I think it's because we habituated them when they were kittens to a certain schedule, which is two scoops of food in the morning (1 cup total) and then one scoop right before bedtime. There will still be the occasional time when they're yelling their heads off for food in the morning, though, which sometimes happens if they blow through the food they had from the night before. But, by and large we've stuck to that feeding schedule and always kept them out at night and we've had relative peace during the sleeping hours.

Even so, we'd still occasionally like to do unpleasant things to our Bengal because that cat is just a noise machine. Meows constantly and it's not the polite little meows that most cats make, but rather a braying "MEEOOOWWW!" that unfortunately tends to wake small children and babies. He also has those spastic "freak-out" moments where he recklessly tears through the house, banging and crashing into things. Good cat, but a little insane, methinks. It's a startling contrast to his slightly older brother, a Maine Coon who is very docile and has only a very quiet, trilling little meow that belies his massive size. Only drawback to him is that as a longhair, he's quite prone to hairballs (had to clean up one tonight, as a matter of fact).

[st.cronin]

I have one cat that I honestly think has mental problems. He'll be sitting on your lap purring contentedly, and then suddenly he'll get up, wander into the next room and start mewing at the top of his lungs. You'll get up and wander in to see what's wrong, and he'll just be sitting there waiting for you. It's as though he's mad that you left, even though he's the one who left.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Ryche

If I fed them as often as they think they should be fed, they'd look like that cat above.

Perhaps this is where cats and dogs differ then. We just leave a bowl of food out for the dog and she eats when she wants. A few treats here and there as rewards for good behaviour and she never bugs us for food. Now, attention, that she will bug as for, although I'm always happy to oblige that

EDIT: Should note that she is not fat at all, and as a kid we had a dog that we always free-fed and she was underweight if anything. My theory is that if food is available from the time they are little it has no 'special' connotation to it and they just eat what they need. I'm sure if I left a bucket of milkbones on the floor she'd eat 'till she puked.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Perhaps this is where cats and dogs differ then. We just leave a bowl of food out for the dog and she eats when she wants.

We used to do that with my Lab, until the vet decided that because he's a lazy fat-ass, he needed to go on a diet.

So now he'll go into the bathroom and bark at his food dish if he doesn't think there's a satisfactory amount of food in there.

It's not like we're starving him, either. It's just that he gets his food twice a day instead of all at once.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Perhaps this is where cats and dogs differ then. We just leave a bowl of food out for the dog and she eats when she wants. A few treats here and there as rewards for good behaviour and she never bugs us for food. Now, attention, that she will bug as for, although I'm always happy to oblige that

EDIT: Should note that she is not fat at all, and as a kid we had a dog that we always free-fed and she was underweight if anything. My theory is that if food is available from the time they are little it has no 'special' connotation to it and they just eat what they need. I'm sure if I left a bucket of milkbones on the floor she'd eat 'till she puked.

That's actually exactly the opposite of normal dog behavior and what you should do with dogs. Read just about any dog behavior book, you should not just leave food out for dogs and usually it turns into overweight dogs.

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

Even so, we'd still occasionally like to do unpleasant things to our Bengal because that cat is just a noise machine. Meows constantly and it's not the polite little meows that most cats make, but rather a braying "MEEOOOWWW!" that unfortunately tends to wake small children and babies. He also has those spastic "freak-out" moments where he recklessly tears through the house, banging and crashing into things. Good cat, but a little insane, methinks. It's a startling contrast to his slightly older brother, a Maine Coon who is very docile and has only a very quiet, trilling little meow that belies his massive size. Only drawback to him is that as a longhair, he's quite prone to hairballs (had to clean up one tonight, as a matter of fact).

Must be a Bengal thing, ours can be ridiculously loud at times. She also use to have those freak out moments, but now that we have a dog that is more than happy to chase her when she does that, they seem to be limited to dashes up the stairs.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Perhaps this is where cats and dogs differ then. We just leave a bowl of food out for the dog and she eats when she wants. A few treats here and there as rewards for good behaviour and she never bugs us for food. Now, attention, that she will bug as for, although I'm always happy to oblige that

EDIT: Should note that she is not fat at all, and as a kid we had a dog that we always free-fed and she was underweight if anything. My theory is that if food is available from the time they are little it has no 'special' connotation to it and they just eat what they need. I'm sure if I left a bucket of milkbones on the floor she'd eat 'till she puked.

As Wade said, this is very abnormal. In particular I can leave enough food for 3 days for my cats and they will spread it out over the weekend. A dog (particularly beagles) will eat it within the first day most likely.