Herd your cats here

[the_geneticist]

Izzy kitten has decided that my office chair is a favorite napping spot. 
Mornings now involve a bit of negotiation . . .
me: Hi Izzy, I need my chair
Izzy: [stares at me]
me: Come on kitty, kitty.  I don't want to sit on you.
Izzy: [stares even harder]
me: Do you want some ear scritches? [moves hand slightly towards cat]
Izzy: [looks horrified at the thought]

It ends with her bolting out of the chair and me feeling slightly guilty for disturbing her morning nap.

[mamselle]

That was just the first of 100,000 naps for the day.

Be comforted. She'll find another spot.

This kitty owns an otter as well as a human:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv7FdNAzgto

...and doesn't mind being groomed by the otter:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-YPGFDfKRc

Clearly, I've found a new distraction...

M.

[AmLitHist]

Little Cat has to go to the vet tomorrow--she has a bad tooth/cyst/who knows what in her mouth?  She's developed an Elvis sneer since Sunday night, and I'm not brave enough to put my fingers in there and aggravate her to find out.  It doesn't seem to hurt, and she's still eating, so we'll see.  This will be her first time to the vet--or even outside of the house--since she got spayed >12 years ago. (She's never been sick in her life.)  Getting her in the carrier and to the vet ought to be fun.  Not.

[FishProf]

Put the carrier out a and open overnight.   On more than one occasion I've found the patient-to-be asleep in there in the morning.

[the_geneticist]

Put the carrier out a and open overnight.   On more than one occasion I've found the patient-to-be asleep in there in the morning.

Put a towel and some treats inside it.  Makes it all the more enticing to explore.

[apl68]

Today I walked past a house and saw a handsome black cat sitting in the window looking out.   It had been a while since I'd seen a cat looking out a window.

[mamselle]

No humans for people-watching....

I wonder what they'll think/do whenever/if-ever things return to anything like "normal"?

M.

[smallcleanrat]

Got a series of excited texts and video clips from SO while I was at lab.

Maestro, for the first time in his life, spontaneously started a game of fetch. He did several fetches in a row with variations in technique: pushing the toy ahead of him with his paws, carrying the toy in his mouth, and carrying the toy in his mouth while jumping over obstacles. We never trained him to retrieve; this was his own idea.

SO has been Maestro's designated Toy Master since his kittenhood. Since SO works remotely from the living room, he had to frequently toss toys to distract Maestro away from pestering him. Maestro quickly learned that humans can make his toys more fun.

We leave a few toys out for him at a time and keep the rest in drawers or on shelves on a rotating basis. When Maestro wants a particular toy that's packed away, he will emit a tragic wailing meow in front of whatever shelf or drawer holds the treasure, while giving SO a pleading look. He does the same thing when he's accidentally kicked his toy somewhere irretrievable, like under the stove or into the closet (via the gap beneath the door).

SO said it was extremely satisfying to see Maestro fetch, as it made their play feel more like bonding time. "Our special thing."

[OneMoreYear]

Aww! I love fetching kitties, smallcleanrat!

Ricochet used to fetch as a kitten, and like Maestro, she'd initiate it by bringing us her micey. She was amazing at it, parkouring off the furniture and digging underneath things to find her treasure. She was persistent too; she would figure out how to get that micey, even if it required several steps. It was her primary method of feline-human interaction in her younger days. 

I hope Maestro and SO continue to bond with fetch-time.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Elder evil cat also used to fetch when he was a young'un. It's so cute when they do that.

In other cat news, Youngest evil cat spontaneously jumped 5 feet in the air a couple of times yesterday. We think she was playing with a sunbeam spot on the carpet.

[smallcleanrat]

Elder evil cat also used to fetch when he was a young'un. It's so cute when they do that.

In other cat news, Youngest evil cat spontaneously jumped 5 feet in the air a couple of times yesterday. We think she was playing with a sunbeam spot on the carpet.

That's adorable (and hilarious).

A frequent refrain in our household: "Cat, stop being cute for a while so we can get some work done!"

[mythbuster]

Stitch is also learning to fetch. His favorite toy is my Giant Microbe stuffed Listeria. So thing a fuzzy blue stuffed Rod shape with eyes. It's lost all the dangling flagella. But he will cart it around in his mouth and will go running once you toss it. Since it started out almost as big as he was, it's cute to see him getting bigger and able to really move it around.

Our dog is continuing to adapt to a world with cats. We think we have progressed from them causing stress to just being curious about them. She no longer shakes with the effort of controlling herself! We no longer have to keep the window into the "cats' room" covered, and she will go watch them and they come up to the window to look at her.
We have had numerous supervised interactions and it all goes well until someone runs and she wants to lunge/ chase after them. Stitch in particular lacks the sensible gene and keeps trying to pounce on the dogs tail!

Overall it's great to have cats back in the house.

[FishProf]

Zoom is catnip for Elektra.  I may as well not exist except when she can be on camera.

[the_geneticist]

None of our cats are interested in traditional fetch, but will play a game where I gather up a bunch of toys, toss them one at a time for the cats to chase, and then I have to gather them up for another round of tossing.

Lady Jane plays a game that I call "chasing the invisible ghost bug in the bathtub".  She will hop in the tub, do a crazy gymnastics routine of leaping and whirling and pouncing with a running commentary of mrrrp! mrrow! mrrew!
There is nothing in the tub.

[Harlow2]

I so miss having a cat that liked fetch.  Ulysses will bat an aluminum ball around a little, but fetch is beyond her interests.   Recommendations for fetchable toys?