Do Cat's Learn?
Oct. 19th, 2011 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dadadadioSo far my answer to that question is ... "No, cat's do not learn from repeated experience." Maximilian is no feline sponge soaking up lessons learned from his curiosity. The spray bottles and squirt guns deter him from forbidden dining tables and counter tops, but he always returns.
Max is a nocturnal pest. I just reminded myself to wake him up. Hold on a moment while I roust him from his evening nap.
Every night he scratches bedroom furniture or creeps on our bedding and pillow tops. He drinks water from my night glass and likes to sit on my clock radio. The buttons are on top, the radio will come on at any wee hour.
Eventually Cheryl evicts him from the bedroom. I'm not getting up, it's her cat. He meows and scratches at the door. She solitary confines him to the laundry room where his food, water and litter box is.
Speaking of laundry rooms. They're often the best smelling room in the house. Not ours, not any longer.
You know I wanted to close that door, but I didn't.
If we also evict the dog, the cat may not fuss outside our door. He's not alone. Mikey and Max have become friendly, the cat chews on his clipped Boxer ears, like they're furry bologna. Trust has been established, but not totally, as it should be between a cat and dog.
The cat was hidding under the box while Mikey snooped in his cat area. He loves that box, like a kid at Christmas.
They curl up on the floor together, often where we must step over them constantly to get around the house. They always choose the intersection of rooms so they can keep an eye on what the humans are doing.
Mikey's only escape from the cat is the great outdoors, for now.
Cheryl bought a harness and leash for the cat. My initial reaction was negative, "I won't be seen walking an 80 pound dog with a 7 pound cat." That's not right. What's next, a sweater for Mikey? Fuck that foo foo shit.
I took the cat outdoors so he could explore the yard. Eventually he will escape through Mikey's doggie door so he may as well learn the lay of the land with me in control. Cheryl bought the leash for that purpose. He hates it but he's so consumed with outdoor cat curiousity it doesn't matter.
There's a field trip planned for the alley behind our back gate. The cat needs to know about that place, sniff around and learn where home is. I hope he learns, I don't want to put MISSING posters up in the neighborhood.
I've sort of created a monster with rough play. Max has a ton of energy, spunk and loves to attack from hidden places. He doesn't recognize his size disadvantage. He might be dumb as a stump. I don't know.
Max is a nocturnal pest. I just reminded myself to wake him up. Hold on a moment while I roust him from his evening nap.
Every night he scratches bedroom furniture or creeps on our bedding and pillow tops. He drinks water from my night glass and likes to sit on my clock radio. The buttons are on top, the radio will come on at any wee hour.
Eventually Cheryl evicts him from the bedroom. I'm not getting up, it's her cat. He meows and scratches at the door. She solitary confines him to the laundry room where his food, water and litter box is.
Speaking of laundry rooms. They're often the best smelling room in the house. Not ours, not any longer.
You know I wanted to close that door, but I didn't.
If we also evict the dog, the cat may not fuss outside our door. He's not alone. Mikey and Max have become friendly, the cat chews on his clipped Boxer ears, like they're furry bologna. Trust has been established, but not totally, as it should be between a cat and dog.
The cat was hidding under the box while Mikey snooped in his cat area. He loves that box, like a kid at Christmas.
They curl up on the floor together, often where we must step over them constantly to get around the house. They always choose the intersection of rooms so they can keep an eye on what the humans are doing.
Mikey's only escape from the cat is the great outdoors, for now.
Cheryl bought a harness and leash for the cat. My initial reaction was negative, "I won't be seen walking an 80 pound dog with a 7 pound cat." That's not right. What's next, a sweater for Mikey? Fuck that foo foo shit.
I took the cat outdoors so he could explore the yard. Eventually he will escape through Mikey's doggie door so he may as well learn the lay of the land with me in control. Cheryl bought the leash for that purpose. He hates it but he's so consumed with outdoor cat curiousity it doesn't matter.
There's a field trip planned for the alley behind our back gate. The cat needs to know about that place, sniff around and learn where home is. I hope he learns, I don't want to put MISSING posters up in the neighborhood.
I've sort of created a monster with rough play. Max has a ton of energy, spunk and loves to attack from hidden places. He doesn't recognize his size disadvantage. He might be dumb as a stump. I don't know.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 12:29 am (UTC)I thought surely I had blogged about Tig's ill-fated ride in the dryer...
Great job on the new veggie garden!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 04:58 am (UTC)We need to train him to not be up all night and sleep all day. He's also tearing things up even though we have three scratching posts. He prefers the furniture.
I do recall the dryer tale. I was tempted to give Max a warm dark tumble but I'm not cruel in reality ..... only in mischievious thoughts.
There's a full garden blog post on LJ with pics. It's coming along well.