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Help Please! Cat calls

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bernard Stacey
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Jennifer Stone said:
Had Ares for eighteen months and only found 1! I think he swallows them :p
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Carol Rose said:
Or head-butting the bedroom door at 2AM because they want in… then 10 minutes later they're scratching at it to get out…
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The guys get them in more often. Toby throws up if he manages to eat Izzy's adult broth, and Izzy if he manages to drink the faucet water too often. And if they hear you wake up during the night, they'll start NASCAR laps around the bedroom until we open the door and let them out. Their course includes charging over our stomachs and/or balls.
 
Jason Byrne said:
Same here. And I don't want to lose the warranty on the mattress and box spring. Izzy found out if he hides behind the headboard and claws at the mattress, all I can do is shriek at him and try to stick the end of the Swiffer in at him, so he'll just stare at me and keep doing it, because Katina won't let me pick up the headboard and throw it across the room to get to him.

That woman. Sometimes I just don't get it.
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You know he's hoping that Swiffer pokes you in the eye, right?
 
Jason Byrne said:
Same here. And I don't want to lose the warranty on the mattress and box spring. Izzy found out if he hides behind the headboard and claws at the mattress, all I can do is shriek at him and try to stick the end of the Swiffer in at him, so he'll just stare at me and keep doing it, because Katina won't let me pick up the headboard and throw it across the room to get to him.

That woman. Sometimes I just don't get it.
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Ares isn't allowed in the bedroom, unless one of us is watching him. He knocked my mint plant out of the window yesterday, I had to re-pot it. He's learned how to open the door and sneak in before we can stop him, then he dives under the bed where we can't grab him.
 
Chase Gamwell said:
I find them constantly, but both of my cats have medium/long hair. Anastacia sounds like she is regurgitating something huge each time she does it. It's so loud that Astrid and I wake up...-_-
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Kitty is constantly grooming herself and because she has long hair we brush her every day. No hairballs that way. :) She's a spoiled princess. LOL!!
 
Carol Rose said:
And let's not forget the obligatory monthly (or weekly) puke for no apparent reason, just to make sure you're paying attention. LOL!! And always where you step in it in the dark. Fun times.

Or trying to race you down the stairs, and they cut in front of you so you nearly trip down them.

Oh, and forget Christmas trees. Unless you build a cage around it. To the ceiling. Secured with big bolts.
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I'm on Christmas tree duty. Toby of course is the determined one, but he's finally learned "ALRIGHT THAT'S IT" means we're playing tag instead of eat the tree.
 
Jason Byrne said:
The guys get them in more often. Toby throws up if he manages to eat Izzy's adult broth, and Izzy if he manages to drink the faucet water too often. And if they hear you wake up during the night, they'll start NASCAR laps around the bedroom until we open the door and let them out. Their course includes charging over our stomachs and/or balls.
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Of course. They like our soft parts, you know. LOL!!
 
Jennifer Stone said:
Ares isn't allowed in the bedroom, unless one of us is watching him. He knocked my mint plant out of the window yesterday, I had to re-pot it. He's learned how to open the door and sneak in before we can stop him, then he dives under the bed where we can't grab him.
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Carol Rose said:
Amazing what they can do without opposable thumbs… :)
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Yeah! They're super-intelligent, temperamental, and can open doors...

VELOCIRAPTOR-JURASSIC-PARK.jpg
 
Chase Gamwell said:
Don't forget "tear open anything not in a hard container". Anastacia eviscerates any soft plastic bag or container that has something inside she finds interesting. The other day, she jumped up on the table and tried to carry a full treat bag away...
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Toby and Izzy are on a crusade to murder the little stuffed polar bear in Katina's **ground level** Christmas decorations.
 
Bernard Stacey said:
** looks at new carpet **
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The most important thing about the scratching is that you have to establish materials for the cats to scratch on. If you get a kitty post that is covered in carpet, they will scratch on the new carpet you have. If you establish that they can scratch on stuff like cardboard or something else that is decidedly NOT carpet, then they will get used to scratching on that instead. Just make sure that you have plenty of that kind of stuff around or they will decide to take their claws to the carpet.

Cats also respond well to squirt bottles filled with water and double sided tape. Double sided tape works wonders. I use it all the time to keep anastacia away from stuff I don't want her paws on...
 
Chase Gamwell said:
Don't forget "tear open anything not in a hard container". Anastacia eviscerates any soft plastic bag or container that has something inside she finds interesting. The other day, she jumped up on the table and tried to carry a full treat bag away...
Click to expand...

We left a full box of crunchie treats, Whiskers Temptations I think, on the table, Ares knocked it off and spent the next half an hour chewing into the box. We left him to it, just to see how long it would take. He didn't cut his mouth or anything, we kept an eye on him.
 
Next Christmas I'll make Ares a tree out of catnip to distract him. When I have a house and can put up decorations.
 
Carol Rose said:
They won't fetch or roll over on command,
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Mine does!!

I have a Maine Coon mix and he's pretty temperamental, nor does he let me cuddle him much. But I have a tabby that LOVES it. I have been told tabbies are some of the sweetest cats. Plus mine plays fetch and comes when I call him (mostly)! I want to second what Carol said about shelters--Oreo was found in a box and Cookie, we got from a no kill shelter. It's pretty unlikely we'd go to a "store" to buy animals. Rescues and shelters are wonderful places and the No kill shelters are the best.

A note about the gender: though females are just as cool as males, if you do not spay them, they have periods. So be prepared to deal with that.

Couple of warnings (I think most of these are covered above, but just to be sure):
1) Cats scratch everything. Do NOT declaw them; it's cruel and extremely painful. Instead, use a squirt bottle (or other effective technique) to keep them from scratching on your furniture and on you. We have a scratching post and two scratching rugs around the apartment and that pretty much keeps them off everything else.
2) Cats get into everything. I mean, everything. Hubby and I have accepted this and there are only a few areas they're not allowed and they know it. They're also ridiculously good jumpers.

However, cats are awesome. You can leave them alone for eight hours a day, and we never leave ours alone for more than a day. They need food, water, and interaction (since they're strictly inside cats). Also, if you get one, bring home either a box or a bag for them to play in. Cats freakin love that stuff. Mine is currently sitting in my laundry basket. They are fun to play with (get a laser pointer and 9 times out of 10, they're going to play; also catnip is FREAKIN HILARIOUS), and they can be just as cute and cuddly as a dog... as long as they want to be near you. :)
 
Nicole Wilson said:
Mine does!!
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That's awesome! :)

I have a Maine Coon mix and he's pretty temperamental, nor does he let me cuddle him much. But I have a tabby that LOVES it. I have been told tabbies are some of the sweetest cats. Plus mine plays fetch and comes when I call him (mostly)! I want to second what Carol said about shelters--Oreo was found in a box and Cookie, we got from a no kill shelter. It's pretty unlikely we'd go to a "store" to buy animals. Rescues and shelters are wonderful places and the No kill shelters are the best.

A note about the gender: though females are just as cool as males, if you do not spay them, they have periods. So be prepared to deal with that.

Couple of warnings (I think most of these are covered above, but just to be sure):
1) Cats scratch everything. Do NOT declaw them; it's cruel and extremely painful. Instead, use a squirt bottle (or other effective technique) to keep them from scratching on your furniture and on you. We have a scratching post and two scratching rugs around the apartment and that pretty much keeps them off everything else.
2) Cats get into everything. I mean, everything. Hubby and I have accepted this and there are only a few areas they're not allowed and they know it. They're also ridiculously good jumpers.

However, cats are awesome. You can leave them alone for eight hours a day, and we never leave ours alone for more than a day. They need food, water, and interaction (since they're strictly inside cats). Also, if you get one, bring home either a box or a bag for them to play in. Cats freakin love that stuff. Mine is currently sitting in my laundry basket. They are fun to play with (get a laser pointer and 9 times out of 10, they're going to play; also catnip is FREAKIN HILARIOUS), and they can be just as cute and cuddly as a dog... as long as they want to be near you. :)
Click to expand...

Yep. Forgot about the reproductive stuff. Get the cat spayed/neutered for sure. :)
 
Jason Byrne said:
Good looking-out, there. We don't have our de-clawed, either. The veterinary staff were aghast at the scratches I got when we brought them in for check-ups, from playing with them, but it was all in good fun. We put cardboard on the floor under the bedroom door, for while we're at work, because they like to try to dig their way to freedom and cardboard is cheaper to replace than carpeting. And while we keep their nails trimmed, and they do scratch the scratching posts, I still had to make my peace with writing-off the leather headboard. But it's better than pulling their fingers off of their hands.
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