Once again we are lucky enough to have WereBear to share her cat experience with us. Plus some cute kittie photos.
Cats are communists
Despite the myth of the aloof, solitary, cat, the original cat has a social structure. The African wildcat raises their kittens communally, and form alliances for hunting and patrolling duties. These same nurturing abilities are available to their humans.
Right now, we aren’t raising our new kittens alone. We have the services of Reverend Jim, our 12 year old Maine Coon Cat mix and resident Kitten Wrangler. Within days, he had moved into Kitten Country. He is rewarded with hero worship from Bud and Lou, and reliable second breakfasts from the humans. (We think RJ has a Hobbit heritage. Hairy toes.)
He’s like the famous Grandpa Mason, a stray who stole hearts with his devoted nurturing of the foster kittens in his care. RJ teaches manners, reassures them about new things, and appears when something falls over with a bit too much emphasis. His influence limits the amount of trouble they get into.
Now the kittens have a new plaything in Tristan, who comes for visits until his nerve fails and he asks to leave. But it is progress when he became able to take a nap with them. He find sleeping kittens are much more predictable.
Which brings up a request from last time: how do we get kittens to sleep through the night?
We create a ritual and a backup plan.
All of our cats will learn a bedtime routine when we include them in it. As part of our own preparations, we should build in a “wearing out the kitten” play session. This will encourage them to snuggle, too. They are more likely to want petting, once they’ve had their play. All cats cycle faster than their humans, running through many 3-4 hour cycles in the course of a day.
This is why a high-energy kitten will wake us up in the middle of the night. They are bored and lonely. At such times I suggest that if our kitten cannot amuse themselves, we get up long enough to turn on the battery operated toys we left in the living room for such an emergency. This will let us go back to bed.
Invitations from the kitten to get up and play should be met with a ploy I call Hug Monster. Oh, they are waking us up for hugs! No? Well, hugs are what they are getting. All other responses will mere encourage the kitten.
Yes, I leave the bedroom door open so they can come and go. Otherwise, the cat will annoy us, like walking on our heads, until we can’t stand it anymore and get up and open the door. Congratulations. You just trained the cat to walk on your head to get the door open.
Don’t do that.
The Way of Cats is available in paperback and on Kindle HERE
Visit the Way of Cats blog HERE
If you have questions for WereBear, she should be stopping by…
Meanwhile, share your pet stories.
Amir Khalid
The late great Grandpa Mason passed away in September. No one thought he’d live so long; he had been a feral cat but couldn’t be released to the wild because of a terminal kidney disease.
Cheryl Rofer
During the good weather, the kitties and I have gone out for their walks as soon as I finished breakfast and dressed. It is now too cold at that time, and too many shadows across the yard. So I am trying to move the going-out time to more like noon. It is difficult to explain this to them. I give them treats at the time we used to go out, which works as a signal that we are not going out on rainy or windy days. But we have had relentless sun for a while, and expect it to continue.
So we have meowing and kitty wrestling, sometimes complete with hissing. Both kitties have more little scabs than they have had. They’ve finally settled down after about two hours. We may make it through this.
ETA: The time change tomorrow will help with this. A little.
Faithful Lurker
We adopted a little cat from the Humane Society last Christmas. A grey, orange and white beauty brought here from a crowded shelter in CA. We named her the Diva Lucia Angelica la Goose. She answers to Div. I asked Werebear last Dec. whether cats could have PTSD, because Div reacted violently to sudden and loud noises. She, Werebear, assured me that it was possible and I’m glad to report that she, Div, seems to have recovered her balance or as much as a young cat can maintain. She has the tip of an ear clipped off to signal a feral rescue but she has perfect manners, so she’s been socialized at some point.
Anyway, I haven’t had a chance to thank Werebear for her advice.
Thanks, Werebear, for answering questions about cats.
Ixnay
Do the kitties jam on the keyboards?
Amir Khalid
If I may, a football report:
The top two teams in the English Premier League, Fucking Giants of Mentality* Liverpool and Manchester City, both came from behind to win 2-1 today: Liverpool away to Aston Villa and City at home to Southampton.
*That’s what Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp calls his team. Liverpool were behind 1-0 until the 87th minute to Villa, and found a stoppage-time winner wth the very last touch of the ball. Roy of The Rovers stuff, as the English say!
Amir Khalid
Another thing about Grandpa Mason: if heaven keeps a place for all who live to give love and guidance, he will definitely be among the righteous.
TaMara (HFG)
Happy one year anniversary to Gabe, we sprung him from the humane society a year ago today. Here he is lounging outside.
Aleta
@Faithful Lurker: My little cat asleep actually had vocal nightmares her first few years here. (Had a rough start until 6 months old.) Each year she relaxed more and more. It’s been fun to discover, ‘oh another new level!’ After 13 years, to our surprise, yet another level of relaxation this year. Then, a month ago, she got out while we and the other cat n dog were away. Instead of going to pieces (as she once would have) she is still showering us with loud long purring sessions (purring used to last less than a minute) and cuddling up all night long (never lasted longer than 2-3 minutes before). I love the experience of their transitions.
Amir Khalid
@TaMara (HFG):
Gabe always looks like he’s reflecting on something. I wonder what’s on his mind today.
Cheryl Rofer
@TaMara (HFG): Gabe has such a darling face!
Faithful Lurker
@Aleta: I’m glad Div ended up with us. We’re an old quiet couple, children would have sent her around the bend. I’m looking forward to the transitions, too. She has just started to trust us enough to sleep on the bed with us, but only at the foot where she can exit at the first sign of movement.
Cheryl Rofer
@Faithful Lurker: Ric, whose first two and a half years I know nothing of, did not purr for his first year with me. Lately he is even trying out a big purr. He is still suspicious of men, and one of my friends is just too loud and active for him. I suspect there were some bad times.
Just One More Canuck
@Aleta: my wife has always wanted a lap cat – none of hers before we met had been that way, and our previous cat, the wonderful Scully, was very affectionate but just not a lap cat. When we got Elsa the wonder nut, she was hopeful that this was going to be the one. It didn’t seem like it was going to happen until Elsa was about 4. I was watching tv and Elsa hopped up on me, curled up and went to sleep- I had to text my wife to come downstairs and see it
Mnemosyne
Keaton has been waking poor G up at 4 am to insist he needs to be petted while he eats NAOW! We may need to try the Hug Monster.
What we suspect is going on is that Charlotte is laying in wait to pounce on him because she’s really bored now that her playmate Annie is gone. Still, the early morning wakeups are No Bueno and need to stop.
debbie
OMG, that kitten photo!
Eunicecycle
We are down to one cat now, rescued from our ditch about 3 years ago. Out of all of our cats (probably 6 over the years), this is the first one that doesn’t like me! We’ll, she likes my husband better. She allows me to pet her and give her scritches, but she always sits with my husband! I’m the one that gets up and feeds her, but she still likes him better. Harump!
dr. luba
My friend had a feral cat living in her yard last fall. She and her husband built her a shelter for the winter. This spring she gave birth to six kittens…..and kept them hidden until they were fairly grown. The kittens are all feral, too, and form a big happy family group with mom.
My friend is now feeding them and giving them water. She and her husband have built a bigger, warmer shelter for the family. And they had them all fixed this summer–a friend who works with feral cats helped them catch them, in two batches, and get them sterilized and vaccinated (at no cost to them).
germy
What is your opinion of Metacam ® Oral Suspension for Cats (meloxicam)?
It gave my cat a bad case of the runs last year, and when I googled it, I found warnings. But my vet says it’s okay; used in the UK and Canada.
khead
Working on adding #9 this weekend. Apparently 8 was not enough. A feral calico started showing up at our house around 6 months ago. Mrs Khead started feeding her… then she put the house out on the porch…. and now little Penelope lives on our porch. I guess she isn’t really all that feral anymore since she has been TNR’ed and is quite friendly to my wife (me not so much). Anyway, the first attempts to trap Penny and bring her inside have commenced this week. So far it’s been Penny 3, Trap 0.
J R in WV
We adopted two more dogs last month, they were about 7 months old, were from a litter of 9 born on friends’ goat dairy farm. Dad was 1/2 Great Pyrenees and 1/2 lab, mom was a local farm dog who was a ringer for Austrailan Cattle Dog. The puppies are 40-45 pounds, glossy black, tall and rangy near twins.
The little girl has freckled front legs and hind feet, and a tiny white tip to her tail, and a white blaze on her chest and belly. Her brother just has the blaze on his chest and belly, a thinner streak than hers. They were pretty shy at first, afraid of the new world of no goats. Our older big white lab Alice was also leery of these new dogs, and then suddenly was growling and snapping at them.
This wasn’t actual anger, it was older dog trying to establish primacy, which she has done now. They all three wrestle and growl and eat each other up when bored. run off into the woods together, bark late at night. The little boy is named CooCoo for his father, and his sister we named BooBoo. CooCoo is inclined to bark at passing aircraft, looking up at the ceiling and growling and barking.
They eat shoes, clothes, newspapers, magazines, books, household tools like flashlights, brushes, cleaning implements like the toilet brush, dustmops, etc. They don’t appear to be swallowing all of this stuff, which was a worry when battery-powered tools were severely nibbled. Then I found the last battery. The mess is kind of incredible, and currently we’re both somewhat disabled, so we’re just letting it swirl behind the pups.
They really like wine corks! The real ones are the favs. Two hair brushes are le mort, but the toilet brush is just a worried handle, still functional.
I’ll send pics to someone soon, they are really adorable. Our bed is a queen, so not really big enough for 2 adult people and three good sized dogs, so I’m resisting letting the pups know that they could jump right up and snuggle, so far. We’ve allowed Alice in bed until lights out for some time, so the pups, no dummies, are well aware that they’re being shorted some cuddles. Alice is 75 pounds of white Lab muscle, also really sweet.
Adorable pups! And winter is coming, now we have 3 dogs for those cold winter nights!
zhena gogolia
@debbie:
Beautiful.
Sab
@J R in WV: Keep a journal of their daily wreckage, so that about a year from now when you have finally had enough you will realize how much their behavior has improved and decide to keep them forever.
My german shepherd adolescent ( whom I had not wanted) playfully ripped a 14 inch tear in my 18 oz denim jeans because I was ignoring her play overtures as I drank my weekend morning coffee. I had no idea a GSD had jaws and teeth that strong. I was so frustrated I almost burst into tears.
Then I looked back in my journal and realized that she hadn’t eaten the carpeting in a room for at least four months, and she hadn’t eaten half of a pair of shoes in at least six months. It had been at least two months since she had accidentally landed on top of the kitchen table while jumping around.
A year later I loved her utterly because she was mostly perfect. As an experienced dog owner you don’t need to be told that big dogs are idiotic puppies until they are two.
She was a perfect dog from age two for the rest of her life. I still miss her a lot. Also, she could really manage a dog pack. Almost Pelosian in her management skills.
Tokyokie
Our corpulent lilac-point Siamese is sort of a rescue, inasmuch as we got him at an event held by the local shelter. He was about 8 weeks old when I got him; the shelter operator theorizes that Marvin and his two brothers had wandered away from a local Siamese breeder’s home and quickly fell prey to the live trap. Anyway, since I returned home from the hospital after knee-replacement surgery a few days ago, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in bed in order to use the CPM machine. And Marvin has spent virtually all of that time lying next to me. The other two cats have been on the foot of the bed most of that time, but Marvin’s been next to my head, as if he senses I need extra loving. Even a dog barking outside, which usually causes him to sit on the window sill and look outside for a bit, now just disturbs him enough to alter his sleeping position while remaining next to my head.
Damn, I love this cat.
Sab
Werebear,
As always you are right. We have five cats, three of whom I like immensely, one of who I am okay with, and one of whom I have issues with.
The one am okay with is extremely shy. She and I deal with her prrsonality. It’s tiring but that is who she is.
The one I have issues with is as much my fault as hers. She is named Shadow aka to me Meankitty. She is a solid gray domestic shorthair, with some siamese, which gives her an extremely triangular more pretty for a girlu face than Mx4s Gandalf guy, and also a really obnoxious siamese wailing voice.
My stepson moved out a few years ago. Due to life’s domestic turmoils, I didn’t think about the cats unless they got fed and daily scritches. I certainly didn’t think about Shadow, since I didn’t think she liked me ( why would she, why should she?)
About two years later ( people are brighter than cats-NOT))- I realized she missed my step-son, who always played with her. When he lived here, and whenever he came to visit, he played with her. Bits of string with a lump of gaff/duct tape at the end. Her personal favorite, a shuttlecock made out of shredded magazine subscription postcards taped to a string.
I mostly didn’t care about Shadow, because she so obviously did not care about or even like me.
Then I thought about her point of view. 4 cats. Then a new cat that all the humans love. She and I always avoided each other, but my spouse had a new lap cat.
So I started to be nicer to Shadow. Let her sniff my finger in passing. Gave her treats. Scratched her head if she let me. Made sure she had her own wet catfood breakfast bowl.
Then I realized she had always had stepson playing with her and then we thought ( yay he grew up) but she thought ( the only human who ever played with me is gone) so she has been bored and lonely despite four other cats.
So I started playing with her. It didn’t take a long period. 15 minutes of playing with a stupid string, and now she is my friend,
The secret to cats is that they are mostly bored or afraid, unless you fix it. Easier to fix boredom.
All cats are sociopaths. Probably yes. They are, after all, cats. I.e. no conscience, a moral and emotional defect in humans. Just being a cat in cats.
Mike in Oly
Our two cats are very much enjoying the sunshine coming in the windows from low angles now, giving them plenty of sunny patches on the floor to lounge in. A small consolation to it being cold outside and cutting down on outdoor time. Miss Pearl is getting more and more comfortable with us as the years go on. It has been wonderful to see her relax more and more as time goes on. Same for Oliver. He had some stressful years at previous residences. Nice to see what loving stability is doing for his personality. Oliver is going back to the vet Monday for a blood draw just to check things out. He’s been on a restricted diet for months trying to slim him down a bit, but has gained more since his last weigh-in. He’s not being overfed, and isn’t even food oriented. Baffling to me why he is gaining. I understand why he is not losing any – he is simply the laziest cat I have ever seen. But he should at least be holding steady on what little he is eating. It seems he has never played in his life. He has no interest in toys, he will perk up for Da Bird, but is baffled what to do with it and just wants to watch. I can occasionally get him to play with ribbon, but he shows no interest in other string type toys, and even then the play only lasts a minute or two and he is done. All of the things cats are usually interested in just seem to confuse him. He’s a big sweet derp, and we love him. Any thoughts or suggestions on ways to get him to be active would be so appreciated.
Kay (not the front-pager)
Rats, I forgot about this being today. And now I have to try to try to type with 20+ lbs of cat trying to sleep cantilevered off my knees.
My 2 cats were adopted 8 years ago at 2 and 3 months old. They were very tightly bonded, even though they have very different personalities (or maybe because they do). The behavior I want to comment on is one I don’t think I’ve seen or heard of before. They have a special language for play. When one of them decides he wants to play, he starts calling, loudly, using a variety of vowels, tones, and notes. It sounds like a song. Reilly, the large part-Maine Coon, sometimes also uses this call when he needs help opening a door or getting a basket off the shelf, or when he’s just bored or lonely, but Loki always comes running to help him with whatever he needs. Loki is ca little more energetic than Reilly, so sometimes he has to work a little harder to entice Reilly to play. Sometimes he has to add running past and patting Reilly, or doing other annoying things. But usually the song works.
Has anyone else had cats who sing to start play?
JustRuss
I’ve been catsitting for my ex while she recovers from surgery. They were our cats before the divorce, so it’s nice to have them around again. Will miss them when they’re gone, but probably won’t be getting my own any time soon. I don’t spend a lot of time at home, and I’d feel guilty leaving a pet alone all the time.
WereBear
@germy: NSAIDS are tricky in cats. Famous for digestive issues because dosing can be highly variable.
Is it for arthritis? I do better with my own dose of dry gelatin in their food (link). Got my 15 year old cat leaping from bureau to bed again! Without side effects.
WereBear
The answer is, he’s a big sweet derp. So he doesn’t want to be active, and that’s okay. He sounds (mentally, at least) like a Gamma Cat Type. They are happy with low amounts of activity. Any sign of longhair/Persian heritage? That can contribute.
WereBear
@Mike in Oly: Food-wise, my slimming philosophy is NO GRAINS. Check all the labels. Works without stress for any of us!
WereBear
My new kittens, pair-bonded, sing to each other in chirps and trills. But then, slow-motion wrestling and racecar races are going to happen all the time, anyway…
But yes, it’s like they have a twin language.