OT -- questions about QI

Hi Mary,

Sounds like you have a really lovely kitty there! She is a lucky girl that you took her in.

My cat, Charley, seems to rotate napping spots--but on his own schedule. Sometimes he'll ignore a once well-loved napping spot for months, and then return to it later. Sometimes the cycle is shorter than that. I have a feeling that some his favorite spots change depending on whether it's winter or summer, sunshine or not, etc.

I wonder if Adele can see the water level in Clara's bowl better than she can see it in her own. I've read in the pet section of the newspaper that water level is difficult for cats to determine. I've seen this with Charley. He actually sticks his paw in his water bowl a few times until he figures out where the water level is. Maybe Clara's bowl makes it easier for Adele to see this? Might also be why she licks up the slopped out water first.

My other thought is that maybe she just likes the way Clara's bowl smells. :-)

I don't know the answer to that one. Charley has worn "soft paws" (plastic caps) over his claws since he was 4 months old. I'll be interested to see if anyone else knows the answer to this one.

HA! I have no idea. How intriguing. :-)

Best regards, Michelle in Nevada

Yup! Then do the rounds again and find a whole new set...

No idea! Our two will only drink their 'proper' water if nothing else is on offer - like stagnant flowerpot, visiting dog bowl, something you spilt...

As long as it takes... You could try a few deterents such as this sticky film stuff, which is not so unsightly as foil:

or this spray:

No idea. Our previous cats liked certain tracks and would look at the speakers while we played. These two are not so bothered.

The first two points: the napping spot and the water bowl could describe any of my lot! I imagine Adele will just go on finding the spot she prefers whenever and wherever it is! Don't have a real answer for the scratching - except mine are quite good at stopping when hissed at. They also have lots of scratching posts and use them. . In message , Mary writes

My cats prefer to drink water drawn from the hot tap - i.e. it has come via the boiler. I think this may be because the effect of the chlorination treatment dissipates faster. One will also lick the shower tray when it is still wet. Another likes to pull the water bowl (heavy weight pottery) across the kitchen floor to just where he wants it to be. As long as there is always clean fresh water on offer you can almost guarantee that a cat will ignore it for some that is much less savoury in our eyes! As Kate says water out in the garden is always tastier.

Lizzy

I don't have a kitty, but did once long ago and think they're either extremely complicated souls doing penance before going on to their big reward or are some sort of demon sent to try our humanity so we can move on to our great reward. From what I've seen, that nap thing is just kitty-ness, and I would guess that whoever said she can see the water in the doggy's dish better is probably right. Music? Who knows? Jo loves "Happy Birthday". No other song interests him in the least, but let anyone (including on the television screen) start singing Happy Birthday and he goes wild, barking and jumping and having happy dog fits. I think it's the music, not the words. Whatever it is, he's happy so we sing happy birthday after dinner a couple times a week just to see his eyes light up. (Hmmmmmmm, that might actually beg the question of which one is 'weird' -- dog or human.)

My husband always had kitties before me and my allergies and really would like to have a kitty again someday. I asked him about your questions and he had this to say: "Cats are quirky beasts. They're basically wild and tolerate us living near them because we feed them. I mean, they basically like us, but if we were the size of mice, they'd eat us." I disagree with him on that last point. But then I'm an optimist.

The scratching thing was never a deal with my kitty (I had him 3 years.) -- he just didn't do it. I think it was because the first time I saw him lift a kitty paw to the sofa leg I sort of screeched. He didn't come out from under the sofa for a day or so, but never scratched anything again. My MIL swears by a squirt bottle with water in it. My best friend swears by a squirt bottle with water and a bit of vinegar in it. I think the screech was easier.

I'm glad you took the kitty in. I am one of those people who is always finding animals. I swear, they come to me. Animal Control wherever I live always knows me by name. I have found more homes for more strays than I can count. Including a kitty that my sis had tried to catch for months outside her house. She was feeding it and leaving water (neighbors had abandoned the poor baby) and I walked outside one day and the little thing walked up to me and jumped on my lap. As it turned out the kitty became my sister's baby's constant companion. A perfect fit. I see animals as a big test for us all. How do we treat them? It's gonna count some day, I'm pretty sure. I sure wouldn't want to stand at the Judgment Day (whatever that means) and be the one who abandoned a pet beside the road or in a back yard or ..... anywhere.

Sunny would love to see pics of your pets. They sound really cute.

On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:48:03 -0700 (PDT), Mary wrote:

I have four at present. Anything I can tell you will probably be disproven by yours in short order.

Sure. The sun is better in the spot between the piano bench and the window in the late afternoon, the floor is warmer next to the basement door, scrunched in between the end table and the couch feels safe, see she is checking out the locale and determining what spots are best for what. After she has the place sorted she will choose her nap spots according to mood. Of course if you have a quilt or afghan in a suitable or potentially suitable nappy spot that may trump all, especially if you are trying to work on it.

Oh that is easy, she is using Clara as a poison tester. (G)

No clue. All of my cats mock my scratch prevention attempts.

She is clearly a cat of discriminating tastes. Cats do like music. My TV does not fit in the TV hole on the entertainment center, so the space is a nice little cat cave. The stereo speakers are on either side of it, and we have figured out what some of our cat's (how do you indicate the possesive of a plural like that?) favorite music is by watching who claims the cave when what is playing. Thorncat likes classical vocal pieces, if I play a Bach cantata she is always in there. Missy likes Kiss and metal bands, Spike is more fond of TV (yes he is a Buffy fan), but if we put on old blues he is right in there sharing the spot with Jiji who like blues as well as Leon Russell and old B horror films. Curiously enough all four of them seem to be fans of True Blood. Go figure. So far as live music, if anybody is playing flute or recorder, Missy is fascinated. She is the only one with that interest. Jiji is our keyboard cat, he has great curiosity about them and will "play" often. It can be frustrating when he tries to play at the same time you are. All of them are hypnotized by string instruments. Jiji is the only one that tries to play strings regularly, though Spike will occasionally extend a paw. We have had to take to keeping the Oud (egyptian lute) in the bedroom with the door locked because Jiji keeps trying to claw the case open. The household joke is that Jiji is the reincarnation of Mozart. He is a hedonist even by cat standards, and he keeps trying to play all the musical instruments.

NightMist

My answer to all of these questions is "because she's a cat!" A cat loves to keep you guessing. They'll change habits for no good reason. Their main goal is to keep you off balance!! I speak from long experience. :)

Carole D. - Retired and loving it in the foothills of NW Georgia

My quilts, crafts, QIs, and more -

Please describe how you install the masking tape, Edna?

One of my daughters has a tuxedo cat, Beverly, I love her! She's a great cat. Right now I have three cats living in my home. I've had up to seven, three not being mine. I've always had cats in my life, from birth. My mom had Snowball from the time she was a kitten and would sneak her in to the show aka movie theater. As an adult after I was born she would sleep on the window sill by my crib. She attacked several people when she thought they were hurting me. They were just playing with me.

She could just be trying places out. Each one of our cats have their favorite spots. They aren't all the same. Sadie loves to sleep on the back of the sofa, facing the wall. One of Samantha's is on for floor in front of my husbands chest of drawers. Max likes sleeping under the table next to my bed. Sometimes you can find all three of them on the sectional with Sophie, our maltese! Some nights though when I go to bed both my cats want to be next to me! My oldest cat Max likes to head butt me at about 2 a.m. Or lay with his fur right in my face! It is VERY annoying! Samantha likes to chew on my hair at any given time during the night or morning. Thank goodness they don't do this every day/night.

I agree with the other poster on what she can see best. Or any other reason people gave to this. Sadie always puts her paw in to see where the water level is.

Once I got large scratching posts, the couches got to take a rest. The bigger ones gave them room to stretch and reach while scratching. Samantha does like to claw the carpeting still. But after this many years with cats, really, it's up to them when they stop or not.

Yeah, cats are quirky!

My Chloe likes REALLY HIGH PITCHED instruments. The sopranino recorder brings her running to roll around rubbing herself against my toes in ecstasy.

See the pictures of Splodge here:

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

****** I killfile Google posts - email me if you want to be whitelisted ******

What marvellous pictures, Jack. Thank you for the smiles. . In message , Jack Campin

- bogus address writes

They are gorgeous! Who needs lolcats when you have that bunch in the house!

Did those two ever redecorate the dolls house? ;)

That's it, Bobbie. I would just add that I like to use very long loops for this purpose, to well and truly tangle up the cat.

EP

Hi Mary and all, Enjoy your kitty, Mary.

I have three cats.... I have a very large bowl that all my animals drink out of, haven't had any complaints so far. ;-) Years ago I had a cat who refused to drink from a bowl. She'd meow to get my attention and then run to the sink and meow until I turned on the faucet, she'd have her fill and then jump down. She also like to climb up onto the bathtub and visit with me when I'd bath. She behaved more like a dog then a cat I'd say. I have tried the double stick tape without success to attempt a detour from my tables, counters, etc. I haven't tried to double back the duck tape though...I'm going to give that a shot. I do have a climbing tree for my kitties, along with a couple of scratching card board things that sit on the floor. They do use them and haven't had too many issues with them clawing up my other furniture.

One of my kitties is giving me problems with wetting/spraying on top of my blankets (where I tuck my chin over the top.) She doesn't do it everyday. I don't know why she'd doing this. I do my best to clean out the cat boxes everyday, started giving her a teaspoon of wet food to help with urinary health. It is just awful to climb into bed to find that my blankets are wet. I have three dogs too, two of them sleep with me...one sleeps beside the bed.

I have started shutting my bedroom door to keep her out! Any other suggestions?

Enjoyed all of your kitty pics, but I must admit Splodge's handlebar mustache is really unique!

Best regards, Michelle in Nevada

Thanks Bobbie and Edna, I will try this, starting with maybe medium loops.... just as soon as we get their fleas under controll, they have too much stress now. One of the reasons we never let them outdoors, and they still managed to pick up the darn pests!

Mickie

It really is easier and better for the cats to keep them indoors. The parasite exposure, disease exposure, poison exposure, traffic exposure, fight exposure, etc. are all much worse outdoors. Keeping them in will save you a lot of trips to the vet.

The road I live on used to be red clay and low traffic. When the county paved it, I started keeping my cats in. They made the adjustment very well and I have really enjoyed the improvement in our shared quality of life.

ep