Herd your cats here

[AmLitHist]

EPW, they seem to be buttheads, IME.  What's stupid here is that the Big Cat is twice the size of Little Cat, yet LC is ballsy enough for them both.  They sit and do The Stare for awhile, and in every case, it's LC that starts the fight.  Sometimes Big Cat will try to be nice and wash Little Cat's head, but nope. Usually the big one takes off once the fight starts--she might give a head slap or two, but that's it.  I don't know if she's scared she'll hurt the little one or get in trouble or what. That's what made it so funny when she actually did take LC down and sit on her.

These two will chase (though not fetch--are you kidding?) the milk jug rings and balls of aluminum foil. 

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Hilarious and interesting. Youngest evil cat likes to start a lot of crap here and she will tackle Elder evil cat who is a lot bigger than her. He just hisses and shakes it off. Unfortunately, he will also go after Eldest evil cat (who is tiny- the smallest cat we have) and they will have huge fights. He's become more of an ass around her.

Youngest evil cat is extremely territorial when it comes to Eldest evil cat, or maybe she's just protective of her Daddy- who knows? She will chase Eldest evil cat out of the room if she gets near him. It's just weird.

[Puget]

Funny! I also have a big and little cat, but luckily they have stayed best buds. The big one does sometimes forget his size and play too rough, causing the little one to hiss at him and me to yell "play nice!". Sometimes works.

They have just been released from the bedroom, where they were exiled while I taught a webinar because the Panther Boy can't be trusted not to meow loudly while knocking things over, and tends to meow piteously if he is separated from Little Calico. So Little Calico unfairly got exiled too to babysit him. Three whole hours without petting was apparently very difficult-- wonder what they'll do when I'm back on campus for longer stretches?

[OneMoreYear]

Ninja is about 5 pounds heavier than Ricochet, who tops out at 7 pounds.  They mostly ignore each other, but occasionally will have a wrestling skirmish--Ricochet has no problems holding her own.

Today, Ricochet reminded me how high she can jump. I was dangling string above her and she was leaping to bat at it.  A couple minutes into the game, instead of swatting at the dangling string, she jumped high enough to sink her claw into my finger. I dropped the string and she immediately pounced on her prey, highly pleased with her kill.

[smallcleanrat]

Looking for opinions on whether or not cats care if they are a "good kitty."

When I do clicker training with Maestro, he gets a treat and some variation of "good kitty!" or "good boy!" Now, we know the treat is motivating, but we've been ambivalent about whether he cares about our opinions regarding his "goodness." He perks up visibly when a treat is offered, but there is no such obvious reaction to our verbal expressions of admiration.

We've sometimes observed that if we make too big a deal out of Maestro doing something spontaneously adorable or being especially well-behaved (e.g. scratching the cat scratcher instead of the couch), he will look at us with wide eyes, back away from whatever activity we were so happy about, and it may be some time before we see a repeat performance. SO calls it "performance anxiety" but we don't really know what's happening in his little cat brain.

Dogs certainly respond to praise, but cats....does anyone know?

Side note - Maestro's fetch items of choice: Milk jug caps and small springs. These and his stuffed fish are the only items he regularly carries around; I guess they are the easiest toys to pick up.

He's never fetched the fish, but I'll probably make a separate post about this. That fish has become his best buddy, and the development of their relationship over the time of Maestro's maturation is a story in itself. Sometimes I wonder whether it would make a good kid's book; it's so similar to the relationship a young child has with a teddy bear or security blanket.

[spork]

I find that cats respond to tone and volume when a human expresses dissatisfaction with their behavior. And I've had cats that have come when called with a particular pitch, but only if they are in the mood.

Does anyone have a recommendation on a reasonably priced wet food that is majority animal protein? If I'm doing the calculation correctly, the two brands I currently feed our cats are ~ 35% protein, 55% fat, and 10% carbs by caloric composition. I want more protein, less fat, and less carbs.

[the_geneticist]

I think that cats do respond to praise.  Probably more the tone and singsong nature than the what you are saying.
Coupling the "good kitty!" praise with a treat will likely make him respond to the verbal praise after a while.  If nothing else, his little cat brain will associate the noise with a tasty snack.

[Volhiker78]

I don't think either of our cats care about being "good kitty."  If they are hiding, no cajoling will tempt them out of their caves.  Sometimes, but not always, shaking the food dispenser will get them out. We have also been unsuccessful in getting our big Tuxedo to stop stalking the smaller one or to get our smaller one to quit taunting the big one.  They are just lovable buttheads, I guess. 

[mamselle]

For a cat to be worried about human approval, the cat would first have to be convinced that the human deserved higher esteem in the universal scope of things than the cat.

This is heterodoxy to many cats, if not all--it may even be a basic tenet of cathood to be suspicious of any creature's virtue as higher than their own.

Treats and a gracious inclination to briefly condescend to the human condition may temporarily alter behavior, but I doubt if it really affects their basic belief in themselves as superior to all other creatures.

They may even be right--we wouldn't know, would we?

M.

[Puget]

I know for certain that Panther Boy does not care that I don't want him jumping on the table or counters. He cares for about 3 seconds if I squirt him with the spray bottle and hiss at him for doing so. Then he either forgets or decides it's worth it and does it again. WHY these surfaces should be so much more attractive than all things he is allowed, even encouraged, to climb on is a mystery known only to him. It's a good thing he's cute and soft (he is currently angelically sleeping snuggled up against me).

Little Calico on the other hand seems to care, or at least not want to get sprayed-- on the rare occasions I catch her on the forbidden surfaces all it takes a saying her name in a stern voice and she jumps down and looks guilty (or what I perceive probably incorrectly as guilty).

[OneMoreYear]

I think the adage is "People train dogs; cats train people."

As a kid, my family went to a "cat circus," and we asked the trainer how they trained the cats to do the tricks.  He said they just figured out what each cat wanted to do, and that was the cat's part in the show.

I don't think Ricochet is clear on the concept of "good kitty." We figure out what makes her happy and participate in it.

[mamselle]

He's never fetched the fish, but I'll probably make a separate post about this. That fish has become his best buddy, and the development of their relationship over the time of Maestro's maturation is a story in itself. Sometimes I wonder whether it would make a good kid's book; it's so similar to the relationship a young child has with a teddy bear or security blanket.

Oh, definitely, do the book.

That would be so cool!

M.

[nebo113]

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.

How is Little Cat?

Ah, thanks for asking.  (Been up to my eyeballs in grading and am just now back to the Fora as I sneak a bite of lunch!)

She did well in the carrier/car, though she did meow periodically on the trip. Thank goodness it's only about 3 miles to the vet!  They did an exam, and she has a loose lower left canine tooth.  She's scheduled for their earliest dental appt. next Thursday morning.  She still isn't acting like anything hurts. There's no cyst or infection, which I'd been worried about. She is snaggle-toothed, though, and looks uncomfortable.

The really good news is that all her other teeth are good, and she seems to be in great shape otherwise:  clear eyes, good heart and lung sounds, good weight, and overall in excellent health for a 14-year-old kitty.

We're still trying to figure out why only this one tooth came up loose, out of the blue. My money is on a knock-down-drag-out with her big gray housemate.  Usually the big cat is the one who gets jumped and just walks away, although one time this past winter she had had enough of LC's bullshit and threw LC against the closet door and sat on her.

Glad it's nothing worse!  Old Shebah had dental surgery in December and came through quite well.  As for the possible cause of the tooth: darn big cat!!

[the_geneticist]

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.

How is Little Cat?

Ah, thanks for asking.  (Been up to my eyeballs in grading and am just now back to the Fora as I sneak a bite of lunch!)

She did well in the carrier/car, though she did meow periodically on the trip. Thank goodness it's only about 3 miles to the vet!  They did an exam, and she has a loose lower left canine tooth.  She's scheduled for their earliest dental appt. next Thursday morning.  She still isn't acting like anything hurts. There's no cyst or infection, which I'd been worried about. She is snaggle-toothed, though, and looks uncomfortable.

The really good news is that all her other teeth are good, and she seems to be in great shape otherwise:  clear eyes, good heart and lung sounds, good weight, and overall in excellent health for a 14-year-old kitty.

We're still trying to figure out why only this one tooth came up loose, out of the blue. My money is on a knock-down-drag-out with her big gray housemate.  Usually the big cat is the one who gets jumped and just walks away, although one time this past winter she had had enough of LC's bullshit and threw LC against the closet door and sat on her.

Glad it's nothing worse!  Old Shebah had dental surgery in December and came through quite well.  As for the possible cause of the tooth: darn big cat!!

Buddycat managed to knock out a fang by tripping over his own feet, falling off the back of a wooden chair and bonking his head on the seat.  It might have just been an unlucky landing for your kitty as well.

[AmLitHist]

Little Cat is safely home, zonked out in my office by the space heater.  She was not happy about going out at 8 yesterday morning or again at 9 today in 10-degree weather, but even at that, she didn't say all that much.  She is a Good Kitty. 

After having that lower canine tooth pulled, she's on pain meds for a couple more days and antibiotics for a week, and no crunchy treats (O, the horror of that!) and soft food for two weeks.

She came out of the carrier when I got her home, did a wobbly tour of the house, and then spent the next 30 minutes making clear how happy she was to see and be with me in her place again.  There was much head butting, rubbing of my leg, circling and meowing, and betting her back scratched.  Then she played out and has slept off and on since.

Fela, her housemate, was worried sick this morning--no Other Cat was here, and that Other Cat is ALWAYS here.  She finally buried herself under covers on our bed and went to sleep.  She'll be surprised to see that Other Cat this evening when she comes out for supper, I think!

I'm looking forward to lots of quality time with her over the weekend.