One of my cats keeps sleeping on the amplifier, causing it to get hot, and when it jumps off it, it always knocks stuff off my desk. So I glued carpet grippers on top of it. I've never seen a cat make such a fuss. There was a loud yelp and it jumped off sideways.
You glued carpet grippers on top your cat?
Yes, it stops it sleeping upside down.
IMHO, they are all that breed, even if not on that chart. ;-)
If I had a dog that tried to get up on a surface where I prepared food or climb all over my HiFi / PC / mantelpiece it would be taken down the vet for a long sleep sharpish. [1]
The good thing of course is I've never had a dog do anything like that (or crap in other peoples gardens) so never had the need for that long walk.
A 'pet' cat is like having a loose pet hawk and it's only yours just because / whilst you feed it now and again (when it's not feeding itself (or just murdering for the fun of it) off the local wildlife).
Cheers, T i m
[1] It's as if you have to have a lobotomy when you take on a cat that then allows you to consider their wanton vandalism and violent ways 'cute'.'Awww look, Tiddles just knocked a full cup of tea over my brand new Apple laptop ... what is he like ...'
(The answer was already and accurately provided by your chart of course). ;-)
Cats don't dribble saliva everywhere they go, and tend to have clean paws.
The only reason they don't crap in other people's gardens is that you take the for a walk and tell them where to do it. It's not the type of animal that matters, it's the instruction.
Not if you teach it to leave birds alone. They can be taught as easily as dogs.
They are usually quite careful.
Nor did any of our dogs.
As did our dogs?
Quite, just as it should be in polite society don't you think?
Possibly, however I bet there are far fewer 'well trained' cats than dogs out there, especially when it comes to when they do when 'under control'.
Really? I don't disbelieve what you say but I can't say I've ever seen it in practice? In fact I can't say I've ever seen a cat reliably (if ever) respond to any command, unless it involved food.
'Tiddles, come here ... ' (cat saunters off in the opposite direction).
How easy is it to train them to be 'guide cats for the blind', or 'drug / money / cancer sniffer cats' or 'helper cats around the home'?
Still more often found 'up on stuff' than most dogs ...
I can't remember ever asking for advice re how to stop any of my dogs getting up on my stereo. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
Most dogs do.
Really? You take them for a walk and they come back home with magically clean paws?
Why are the needs of a human greater than that of a cat?
Cats shit in flower beds and fertilise them, dogs shit on pavements so you stand in it. I've never stood in cat shit.
There you go then, you reward it with food, or more food, or nicer food, when it behaves. And do the opposite when it misbehaves. Yelling at or kicking the cat would also be effective.
Sniffing for drugs I do not consider to be useful.
If a dog was up on stuff, it would knock everything over every time.
I didn't ask for advice, I gave a simple method to stop it.
Not the dogs I've mixed with. The breeds that do dribble are often heavily crossbred (and not my idea of a 'good dog' either).
They come back in with paws as clean as our feet or a cats paws for the same surfaces (and often wash them if not clean in any case).
Because that is the order of such things. That's why the human owner would have action taken against them if they allowed their pet to make antisocial levels of noise, or fouling or anything that affected other humans.
I don't have a flower bed. I had a veg patch and do have gravel round my outbuildings and that's often covered in other peoples pets faeces.
Not if they are trained not to (or you clean up after them). If any of the owners(?) of the cats that use my garden as a toilet knocked on my door asking to clean their 'pet's' mess up I'd gladly let them.
You have been very very lucky then. I don't do it so often (in my own back garden, even though I don't own a cat) since I fitted the passive IR water blaster. ;-)
I wonder if there could be a 'cat tax' and these sorts of things could be paid for out of that?
Quite. Not having(?) one in the first place would be more so. ;-)
Of course not (see the bit on lobotomies).
Sorry, I must have missed the bit where they fetch the mail, turn on the light or pick up the dropped keys (or warn of a fire, or the phone ringing ...). ;-)
Correct, and why most 'aren't allowed' to do that, should they ever want / try to in the first place.
True. Still, the sentiment still applies. You were telling us what steps you had to do to prevent your (own) cat from doing things that most dogs don't.
Just like the neighbours who put spikes or grease on the tops of their fences, nets over their ponds or make sure they put bird feeders well away from where cats would get good access to them. WTF should *they* have to go though all that bother to protect their property from other peoples pets?
I really hope they push to now get all cats chipped and their DNA recorded. That way, when I find (yet more) cat cr*p in my back garden I can get it tested, the owner found and fined. Maybe that might make them think twice about letting *their* pet cr*p on *other peoples* property?
You are a reasonable guy and have trained your cat to only use your garden as a toilet so you would be up for that yes? ;-)
Anyway, I understand why you would (try to) defend your position so can we leave it at 'Horses for courses'. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
Does not exactly look that good though, does it? Unfortunately cats seem to be liking to be warm to almost the charring of fur extent for some reason. When we had an open fire when i was young one used to wedge itself on the mantle piece but occasionally its tail dropped off right in front of the fire. Usually there was a smell of burned fur after a few seconds, the cat woke up gave everyone in the room an accusing look and sloped off to sleep as close to the airing cupboard as possible. Brian
Yes, proper (vegetarian - horse) manure not cat s*1t that may contain Toxocara.
Cheers, T i m
Toxocara clearly isn't a problem since I've never seen it in the news.
Why not be a vegetarian yourself and shit in the garden?
My cats are vegetarians, they eat fish and vegetables only.
I'm not a perfectionist. A few spikes on the top of the amp isn't a problem. I prefer function over form.
Cats have no intelligence at all.
We trained the cat to wait in the kitchen until his paws were clean and dry with the cat's towel.
I can't speak for other cats or their owners of course.
Owain
Is it female, or has it been crawling underneath an electricians van to acquire those black smudges ?.
Just because *you* haven't seen anything of it means nothing (obviously).
"Toxoplasmosis is considered to be a leading cause of death attributed to food borne illness in the United States."
(for example)
Think on all that when your cat (unlikely to be your dog) walks across all the surfaces where *you* prepare food after it's carefully buried it's cr*p in someone else's garden.
You are welcome. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
I see plenty of news articles about deaths, and not one was of that disease. Quote a *UK* stat of a percentage of deaths caused by the disease.
Yes it's female. Do males not have black patches?
For some reason mud is not traipsed into my house from cats. I assume they clean them themselves.
It's not all about deaths, it's ALL about the health risks to humans and the common causes (cats):
Cheers, T i m
Yes. I'd never even heard of that disease.
If you don't die, there was no problem.
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