sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. lol.
The post about going out and the yowling reminded me that I cured 2 of separation anxiety by taking them to the barn.
I was a harebrained 20 something so just did it not really knowing if they’d add up the clothes, the smells, and the actual place, but both were permanently cured of worrying themselves silly when I went to the barn.
“Oh hai! So you’re the big brother we keep hearing about. Ok. All good. You smell nice. Please send your clothes home to be washed more often.”
I don’t think I’ve taught my cats anything. But, they certainly have me well trained. I know “food” “play” and “clean this litter box right now so I can poop in peace” quite well.
The smarter of my two Bengals cats, Keirnan, open cabinets and drawers and closet doors. Tries to turn on the facet, but gives up and just paws at it while looking at me (they have a nice ceramic water fountain!). Also, tries to open doors (we have door knobs).
He will sit and watch how my bf or I does something and then tries to replicate it. It’s a good thing he doesn’t have opposable thumbs.
For attention he rolls around on the floor with his belly up looking all cute and meows at me. This typically means, “Give me belly rubs NOW!” Even better, is that he doesn’t attack my hand when I oblige.
He also has the sound of my car alarm memorized and will meet me at the door and follows me EVERYWHERE (except when it’s nap time). I’m not allowed to ignore him when I first get home either, or I get an ear full.
The bf gets pouty because Keirnan tends to ignore him and is obsessed with me.
my mothers maine coon mix taught himself to walk on a leash after watching the dogs numerous times :winkgrin: And now he has taught himself to open the storm doors to go outside after watching us humans. If the main door is not shut just right he can get a claw or 5 under it and pull it open. Then he jumps up and smashes his whopping 13 pounds against the door handle. Bad thing is, she lives near a super busy road way and has a neighbor who thinks it is funny his dog uses the yard for a potty area and chases everything ugh. So yes this past winter when it was snowing like mad I threw the JRT’s coat on him (it is pink and furry and he wore it with pride :lol: ) to take him on a walk. He also taught himself to open the dual door fridge/freezer when he wants a snack or to just cool off. He is the same cat that also likes to lay in the deep freezer, he gets hot really really easy.
My mother has another cat who is attached at the hip to me. He is a diabetic, and refuses to let anyone but me give him a shot. He has taught me giving injections are not as bad as I have always feared. I can now give him a shot without passing out! Sad thing is his name is Peepers, long story on that one, so I sing him “Jeepers Creepers” with high pitch notes. He comes thundering from wherever he is hiding to eat and get his shot. He has bad neuropathy so my stepfather now calls him flipper.
I have had two cats learn to walk on the leash in one session.
The second cat revealed she knew how to open doors. She demonstrated it at age 15 when she had her leg in a cast, age 15 (torn acl). Confined to my bedroom for a week, she in desperation stood on her hind legs, put one paw on either side of the knob and expertly swung her self sideways, back and forth and turned the knob.
She obviously had this ninja skill a long time and was desperate enough to reveal it.
the maine coon wearing the purple fuzzy jacket 
http://s922.photobucket.com/user/AutomotiveGal/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20131212_080858.jpg.html
and no jacket in the snow, he was in a hurry so no jacket.
http://s922.photobucket.com/user/AutomotiveGal/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20140129_074302.jpg.html
This is a cat who has spent 10 years indoors, he taught himself everything all I had to do was put a collar and leash on!
^^^ the cat wearing the purple jacket made me LOL!!!
I had an adorable leash walker. He was terrified of his own shadow most of the time so he’d jump into my arms at will.
He was not, however, terrified of Hallowe’en. He wore a foxtail around his neck like a mane, a poof of fun fur spirit gummed to the end of his tail, and his little harness. I didn’t quite manage to put on riding gear and play the part of the lion tamer, but my Lilliputian Lap Lion had the kids attention for sure. And he loved attention.
The first year I dressed him up to greet the kids, it only took about 3 groups of kids until he would hear them on the front steps and start dragging me to the door Another few groups and he started listening for them on the front walk.
The second year, he got all excited and strutty (he had this thing where he’d wiggle his butt when he walked) as soon as the fox tail was around his neck.
He may have had a short life, but he sure enjoyed himself. Hallowe’en and sitting in the front window watching the Xmuh parade go by were 2 of his most favourite things evah.
I first got Ricky Kitty when living up in Maine - and he’s part Maine Coon, too.
I still had this place, and SO was closing down his practice, so we drove back and forth weekly, if not twice a week… Animals included. 5 &1/2 hours each way. :sigh:
I have a thing about cleaning the house before leaving on a trip. I’ll be a slob all week long, but leave the house like that? Not if I can help it! Of course vacuuming is involved. Ricky never liked it that much to begin with, but would just move to another room.
Once the trips back and forth began, as soon as I had my hand on the vacuum, he’d make himself scarce, but good. Got so we often had to give ourselves another half hour just to find the cat. Then WE finally got smart and put him in the carrier before vacuuming.
To this day, he doesn’t show up for at least a half day later anytime the vacuum comes out. Even if he doesn’t have to travel anymore. And, of course, no vacuuming on vet appointment days! :lol:
Ricky Kitty is similarly skilled at door opening. Unfortunately, it involves attempted shredding of the insulating channel between the two metal doors in my double front door. My doors are tight enough that when I shut them, they will stay closed even if the latches haven’t released from inside the door. But closed enough to prevent a cat from escaping? Hah! Shred some more - poof! Vacuum released, and he’s free! This is, of course, necessary when a particularly interesting individual has landed near the feeder by the front window…
Darn if he doesn’t know when those releases have caught inside the doors and they are latched tight. Every.single.time.
However, this has also resulted in my being trained conversely. It is now second nature to me to begin to pull a door shut, but place my finger over the strike plate to first make sure the latch is all the way out. Anywhere. 
And, of course, I expect most of you have yours trained to assist in bed making. Ricky hears the sheet start to rustle, and is in the door in a flash. Does his best work from under the covers.
My mom and I both have cats that will walk on a leash. My mom’s cat is on the lean side, so I got her this to wear in the winter: https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/429456_10150551649595213_1935344621_n.jpg?oh=6e2a9b1e43bc1f1b2a31927a18ebcad8&oe=545BC4C6&gda=1417715145_7b594fac334325e5e2520ec4ac37d7c9 :lol:
yeah my moms cat had hepatic lipidosis this past winter and went from 24 lbs to 11 lbs in less than a month. He will probably wear the jacket again this winter as he has only gained 1.5 lbs since his illness. I think that jacket is cute! Is it made for a cat?
one of mine learned that the noise of the icemaker meant I was getting a glass of water. So he would hover around until I got the glass, sat down/put the glass down and the start drinking from it :lol:. He has since taught all the other cats in the house the joys of icewater as well…although they now all have their own glass.
[QUOTE=OBXPony;7704649]
yeah my moms cat had hepatic lipidosis this past winter and went from 24 lbs to 11 lbs in less than a month. He will probably wear the jacket again this winter as he has only gained 1.5 lbs since his illness. I think that jacket is cute! Is it made for a cat?[/QUOTE]
Mom’s cat Emma is actually very healthy - she’s just built like a lean little panther/tortie. It’s actually a small dog coat, but that works perfectly because it has the hole for the leash. I got her a little hoodie too at one point.
Emma wants to walk year-round, but my cat (and me!) will only go out if the weather is nice. Emma bounces off the walls if she doesn’t go for her daily walk. It’s hysterical! :lol:
[QUOTE=PaintPony;7704773]
Mom’s cat Emma is actually very healthy - she’s just built like a lean little panther/tortie. It’s actually a small dog coat, but that works perfectly because it has the hole for the leash. I got her a little hoodie too at one point.
Emma wants to walk year-round, but my cat (and me!) will only go out if the weather is nice. Emma bounces off the walls if she doesn’t go for her daily walk. It’s hysterical! :lol:[/QUOTE]
Yeah Adam is the same way :lol: “but I want out NOW!”. I have not taken him out in 2 weeks because it is either raining or to hot, plus my back/tailbone have been acting up bad so the whole house is getting tore down around our ears.
I have 2 Bengals who follow me everywhere in the house. They won’t go outside without me, as I am far more interesting than the garden They are 13 now so we each know our ways very well. Both are quite remarkably intelligent.
Apart from the front door, the first time i ever shut an internal house door (I never shut doors as they sit outside and howl) I was amazed that about 10 seconds later one of them had jumped up and grabbed the handle, pulled it down and was hanging from it (i was on the other side but saw the handle get pulled down and the ping it made when they let go). They tried a couple of times, but as the door needed to be pulled/pushed due to the carpet, they had no chance of opening it. They were only 4 or 5 months old and I was very impressed by how smart they were. I have never seen them try on outside doors, but they have tried a few more times on internal doors over the years.
They understand quite a lot of words too. When I go to bed I always tell them it’s bedtime. When I moved from a flat (all rooms on same level) to a 3 bedroom house with stairs, the first evening on moving in, when I told them it was bedtime they were off up the stairs to the correct bedroom. They were 6 months old so again I thought smart for kittens.
They also started to use the toilet of their own accord, but as they couldn’t realistically be taught to reliably flush(!) and I didn’t like urine and faeces from 2 cats sitting in the water all day, I started to leave the lid down to discourage them. One also went through a phase of putting toilet paper into the toilet. Not only pulling the roll off the holder and tossing it in, but even opening the bathroom cupboard and removing all the rolls she could find and tossing them in. Her record was about 5 - so I had to get a child lock for the bathroom cupboard.
They have trained me very well it has to be said, other than the other way around!
My cats have a canister water dish. Sometimes when I’m busy, I don’t notice that it’s empty immediately. Here is how the scenario goes.
JoZ walks out of room past empty cat water dish.
JoZ ignores the meowing because it might just mean “put something in my food dish” but makes a mental note to check on the way back in.
JoZ comes back in the room.
Canister water dish is lying on its side directly in my path.
Cats are not risking another rebuff.
My Gracie has learned that if she puts her paws on me and cries, I will pick her up and carry her around. Now, I am obligated to do this for a while every morning before work.
This morning, she tried to open the closet door but it’s a round knob and she can’t turn it. So, she jumps up and touches the knob and then sticks her nose under the door waiting for it to open. (I didn’t open it so I doubt the behavior will be repeated)
A beautiful little kitty in the local feral colony has gotten me trained to pay toll before I can come in my building for work each morning.
Years ago, I had a flame point who shared an apartment with me. The apartment had electric wall unit heating. Every morning, I’d hop out of bed, turn it on, and then climb back in bed for a bit while the room warmed up. One morning I was late getting up. The cat jumped out of bed and attempted to turn the knob on the heater with his teeth. Guess he was cold. :lol:
[QUOTE=JoZ;7706281]
My cats have a canister water dish. Sometimes when I’m busy, I don’t notice that it’s empty immediately. Here is how the scenario goes.
JoZ walks out of room past empty cat water dish.
JoZ ignores the meowing because it might just mean “put something in my food dish” but makes a mental note to check on the way back in.
JoZ comes back in the room.
Canister water dish is lying on its side directly in my path.
Cats are not risking another rebuff.[/QUOTE]
Calvin & Hobbes, (now known more frequently as “Bitties” and “Bubs”) are our orange pair of brothers whose mother developed mastitis when the kittens were 2 weeks old, so I bottle raised the litter from that point. They are 3 1/2 years old now and both boys are wicked smart.
When I was bottle feeding them, I’d go in the bathroom where their pet taxi home was and say “Itty Bitty Kitties!” (Thanks COTH for that- Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, LOL) and they would go wild wanting out of the carrier for a meal. Months after, when we’d placed 2 of the kittens and after the 2 we kept had run of the house for weeks, I said something about “itty bittys” and Hobbes was upstairs like an orange flash. Apparently he had decided his name was “Itty Bitty”, and now always comes when called to “Bitties” or “Bittens”.
Their water dish is a big metal one and when the water is out, Hobbes (“Bitties”) will scratch lightly around the bottom of the bowl until someone comes and fills it. Nails on a chalkboard!! The other day I was in the kitchen and saw that he was staring at the empty dish, he turned and looked at me then stepped into the water dish and sat down in the middle, then continued to stare at me.
Hobbes taught himself to fetch cat toys to everyone’s amazement until my husband taught his brother Calvin (“Bubs”) to fetch too. Now Calvin is the most reliable fetcher, and the most stinkin’ adorable cat ever (in our opinions, of course!). His favorite toys are the bright colored, sparkley/fluffy “balls” that come in some bags of cat toys, (I found that the same thing is sold in craft stores and was able to buy a crapload, lol). There is nothing cuter than a slightly pudgy orange cat sitting in his cat-bed holding a bright pink sparkley ball in his mouth. He will jump up on the bed, drop his ball in your lap and “Mrow” quietly, waiting for you to throw it for him.
Calvin (now known almost soley as “Bubs” or “Bubbles”) will sleep with his sparkley-ball and is smart enough to hide them in strategic areas around the room so his brother won’t steal them and leave them downstairs. You’ll hear him digging around under the futon or behind the hamper and out he’ll come with one of those balls. He is really a conversationalist too and I just love that- when he wants attention he holds up his end of the conversation with little “Mrrrs” “Meows” and “Mrows”. He also sleeps sometimes with his little head on the pillow right next to my face or under my chin.
Both boys are such loves & such wonderful cats.
(If anyone wonders where the name “Bubs” came from, that was my husband, LOL. First it was “Cal-ze-bub” then “Bubbles”, now just “Bubs”. I call him “Bubbers”. And I NEED to get pics of him sitting with his little sparkley ball in his mouth! We don’t have cell phones so it’s not as easy as snapping a cell phone pic, but I need to bring one of the cameras upstairs and just keep it handy.)
