Conference misery::feline_v1

	Often, cats are affrighted by things that look vaguely snakelike.
One of my first colony of cats, Angelica, would jump half a foot if she
accidently came across a stray, uncoiled electric cord.  The paper
antennae (derived from Party Noisemakers, as they are called), might
appear like rearing snakes to Zorro.
	My most intelligent cat, Merlin [the name was chosen before I dis-
covered the extent of his feline IQ], is easily frightened by things my
less imaginative cats ignore (and yes, they have quite active imagina-
tions).  These include odd-shaped and peculiar-colored things (cats _do_
have color vision, something determined only in relatively recent times).
	Also, those who claim cats are psychically sensitive say they can be
frightened by things it's hard (or impossible) for humans to see.  My 
fiancee's cat, Sammy, appeared to be frightened by something neither of us
could see, though it might have just been an overactive feline imagination
at work.

Steve

 There's a "great lost opportunity" story here: when I was a teen-ager, I
had both a dog and two cats.  With the usual teenage disdain for the feeling
for other life-forms, I noticed that an opened umbrella would scare the living
daylights out of both the cats and the dog--even the older cat, who was
placid and very difficult to excite.  The technique was to hold the umbrella
out and quickly whip it open.  I surmized that from the other side it looked
like some giant animal leaping forward (dogs have very poor depth perception).

 Anyway, a device very much like this umbrella has been patented recently
in Canada and is selling like crazy.  It's touted as a harmless dog repellent.
The Canadian post office is said to have bought several thousand.  Sigh...

	Yesterday Koshka jumped on a chair on which Jim had left his leather
work gloves.  Ever seen a cat jump backwards?  It was like one of those
home movies played backwards.  To make it worse, one of the gloves stuck to
her paw (she jumps with her claws out, the little wench!) and she freaked
out entirely.  Took a few minutes of Jim consoling his "baby", and then
she was happy to climb up on the chair and sleep on top of them!

Re feline fears of things that suddenly pop up out of nowhere:
Cat's eyes differ from human's in several respects, not the least of which
is that they actually do some pre-processing of motion detection right in
the retina itself. (The PBS series "Nature" recently had a program called
"Thru Animal Eyes" that went into fair detail about this.) It turns out
that while a Cat may be less sensitive to color information (tho not "color-
blind" as had once been thought), they are MUCH more sensitive to motion
than we are, no doubt a real survival aid to their wild ancestors. This
capability is really quite remarkable, because it includes "slow motion"
detection. (Unlike frogs, for example, which also detect motion right in the
retina. Flies tend to move quickly, so they detect rapid motion very well,
but slow moving objects often go unnoticed).
 I've observed this capability in my present cat while playing
with his favorite toy, which is an alligator puppet with large eyes on it.
When he gets into one of his "spooky" moods, I can bring out the puppet &
have it stare at him, which gets his attention but nothing more. Then, if
I move it very s-l-o-w-l-y, he'll arch his back, puff his tail, swipe at it
& take off at flank speed. Never fails!


		-Frank

Cats have supurb visual motion detection, but relative to humans, they're
very lacking in the pattern-matching department for stationary objects.
Our family house cat was once in the back yard hunting a rabbit.  The
rabbit was about 10 feet in front of the cat, frozen motionless.  The cat
was going nuts--he could smell the rabbit, but he couldn't see it even
though it was right in front of him.  He looked right past it several times.

--PSW

I too have noticed that cats don't see stationary objects well.  I've played
hide-and-go-seek with Figaro in the house and have stood very still in a
conspicuous spot and she's walked right past me -- continuing to search for
me elsewhere.  (Imagine the rise I got out of her when I suddenly jump out
"of nowhere"!)

   ^_^
  (>.<)
   ) (

   My cat, Cinnamon, takes personal offense when I use my electric shaver.
He will come from anywhere in the house to sit about 6 inches from my leg,
raise the fur on his back, fluff out his tail, and beat hell out of the razor.
(This would be real cute except once in while he misses and smacks my leg.
He's got a powerful punch!)

tlh

Re .7:

That reminds me of the way my mother's cat, Tiger, reacts to the VCR.  Whenever
it is put on fast-forward, she comes running in, jumps up to the VCR, and
sniffs at it.  Whenever her nose touches the VCR, she jumps back (the
vibrations must tickle her nose).  Then she just sits on it, sniffing, until
it stops.  The cat fur does not do a lot of good to the inside of the VCR.


				-- edp (WHOAREYOU note 329)

One New Years Eve party at my place featured balloons (among other things).
A friend picked up a balloon and started making squeaking noises by rubbing
the balloon.  My big cat went crazy - she SCREAMED, and that cat can normally
hardly make a squeak (quite unlike my half-Siamese, who is usually very
noisy but didn't care one way or other what noises you can make with a
balloon).  I took the balloon away from the guest - that cat spooks too
easily as it is.  I was surprised - the only time I ever heard a cat make
such a loud noise was once when I was a kid and my brother and I managed
to shut the refrigerator door on a kitten's tail...
He was trying to follow the milk carton in at the time.

PS - About the poor kitten: don't worry, we didn't shut the door on him
onpurpose - we didn't KNOW he was following the milk carton until it was
too late.  He was a fast little fellow.

This is very interesting. One of our two cats is terrified of strangers,
can't stand vistors except for my parents who he's only met twice in his
life. The other, in typical Burmese fashion, loves people, though experience
has taught him to be wary of small children. The only person he doesn't seem
to like is my brother, I have no idea why.

Anyway, just this afternoon Sura, the Burmese was acting quite strange. He
did not want to be cuddled he just wanted to go inside and hide under the
table. We realised when we saw saucer-like eyes peering from under the table
out of the window that some children flying a kite in the road outside were
the problem, he was terrified. Kimi, the other, one was quite interested in
the kite but not in the least afraid. The difference may have been that this
kite looked like the avenging patron saint of all birds. Kimi is not a hunter
but Sura is and he may have thought...

The note on vision and perception is interesting too. Our two have the usual
rough-and-tumbles (they are at it now as I write) and we have supposed they
were accompanied by lots of make believe, ie you pretend you haven't seen
the other stalking you etc because it makes the game more interesting. It
looks like maybe they really can't see each other when we suppose they can.

Roger

    I'm new to the notes files and realize that it's been over 2 years
    since this file has been written in but I feel I should tell someone
    about one of my daughters (cats).
    
    Nici is 2 years old and she is deathly afraid of people.  Anytime
    she hears an unfamiliar voice she runs and hides and doesn't come
    out until I drag her out after the visitor is gone.  The only thing
    I can think of that caused her to become so reclusive is that my
    husband spanked her when she was very young and ever since, she
    has been afraid of people (and him).  She's very sensitive and it
    only takes saying "no" to get her to listen.  I'm the only one she
    trusts and will let pet her.  
    
    It's really sad... is there anything thing I can do to bring her
    out of her shell?
    
    Lori Rusu Chester

    This is what my Sweetie does.  I don't try to drag him out, either
    when a visitor in present of afterwards;  I think that would just
    make him more afraid.  He has actually finally approached teo of
    my friends (on about each one's tenth visit, and one is a cat person,
    the other is very quiet and gentle).  I'd be more concerned about
    how Nici feels about your husband, though, since it's sad to think
    she's afraid a lot in her own house.  Can he try to win her confidence
    back?
    

    Perhaps your husband can feed her?  And does he know about moving
    relatively quietly and so forth?  (A friend of mine refers to this
    as the "men and their big feet" syndrome.)
    
    In reading thru the previous replies to this note, I noticed the
    one about the vcr.  it reminds me of the time I too my vcr in to
    be repaired, the guy opened it up, and said "Lady, this machine
    is full of cat hair!"
    

    re.12
    
    I have a fraidy cat too, and for the longest time my wife and I
    thought it was somthing we did or did not do with he when she was
    young (like have visitors)...and felt quite guilty.
    
    Then one day we asked our vet and he said: " Cats must be socialized
    (with cats a people within their first fewe (dont remember the number)
    weeks of life or they will ALWAYS be like that.
    
    our kitty is a Tabby point that was going to be discarded by a pet
    store (cause she had a cold) and evidently came from a kitten mill,
    so more of a effort was placed on profit than socializing the cat.
    
    She is fine with Midge and me and I expect she would be OK with
    anyone given constant exposure.
    
                                              Tom
    
    
    

    Does Nici have a place where she can hide and feel secure?  Sweetie
    has "Sweetie's Closet" in one of the bedrooms.

    Re: .12
    
    I once had a cat that acting much the same.  We got him as a kitten,
    just about 8 weeks old, along with another kitten -- not a litter-mate.
    The first week we had him, we could hardly touch him.  Just about
    everything frightened him -- noises, objects, people.  The only
    thing he seemed to accept was the other kitten -- she promptly became
    the boss (and still is, 11 years later!).
    
    Anyhow, he finally adjusted to us, but not to strangers.  He ran
    & hid when anyone else was around.  The other kitten, tho, was
    immediately in someone's lap.  Eventually, tho, he finally seemed
    to accept other people/strange things, although gradually.  By the
    time he dies (leukemia) about 8 years after we got him, he was pretty
    accepting of most things and people, although still disappeared
    if things got a little rowdy or someone was loud-mouthed.
      

    It's been a long time since anyone replied to this note, but Cloudy
    fits in well here. He's scared of everything! Last night, I was holding
    him and my boyfriend came into the room and yelled "MEOW" and poor
    Cloudy just about had a coronary. Unfortunately, he's one of those cats
    who does almost everything with his claws out so he really drew quite a
    bit of blood out of me as he jumped and ran at the same time. He's more
    skittish than usual now because of the new apartment, my boyfrind being
    there, and my boyfriends cat (a female now in heat)  but I'm hoping
    that in the near future he will calm down to a tolereable level of
    scairdy-cat!
    
    I think the hardest thing now is going to be training my boyfriend not
    to sneak up on Cloudy.  Just because it doesn't bother Opus doesn't
    mean it won't drive Cloudy under the bed!
    
    Michelle

    Michelle you are right.  The first thing is to train your boyfriend
    not to antagonize Cloudy.  Cloudy sounds like a sensitive cat, and
    he doesn't need anymore stress in his life.  Getting Opus spayed
    right away will probably help too.  She is probably putting off
    odors that confuse him, and she may be calling too.
    
    Good luck to you and your new family.
    
    Jo

    How would she be calling?
    
    Michelle

    When females are in season, they will call for a mate.  The call
    is different from a regular meow, and sometimes has an erie sound
    to it.  My females unnerve my two neutered cats when they call.
    I thought that maybe Opus was calling too since you mentioned she
    wasn't spayed and was in season.
    
    Jo

    Nope, she hasn't been doing anything like that! She's been chirping!
    Dean has been calling her a pidgeon--everytime she moves, she makes
    this little B-r-r-r-r-r-r-p! sound that is adorable, but strange.
    
    Thanks!
    Michelle

    Definately heat noises!!!!!
    
    cin
    

	Out of our four cats, we have two chirpers and two non-chirpers.  
	All of our cats are fixed, and none of the females has ever gone
	into heat - of course, with Siamese, it's generally pretty loud
	calling! :^}

	Little C.C. chirps the most when she's playing - it's like she's
	talking to herself or to her toys.  Another time is when you call
	her and she comes running, chirping with question marks all the
	way - it's really cute.

    
    
    I have a cat who chirps when I talk with her, in that case..
    
    baby's barowing from being in heat is keeping the whole house awake!!
    
    F.

    I love it!  Chirping is a heat noise?  Our only chirper is Tristan,
    a deaf, neutered male!  Maybe since he can't hear, his mummy couldn't
    teach him the "right" noises for his station in life.  I'm gonna fall
    off my chair from giggles here...
    
    Karen, Tristan, Tenzing and Max.

    Okay, so maybe they chirp at other times too....but, all of my girls
    make this winey chirpy feel sorry for me cry when they go into heat!!
    
    Of course, persians and exotics don't make noise, except when their
    in heat, so I don't know what regular cats do!!!  I know siamese
    sound like their in constant heat to me!!! ;-)
    
    cin...whose a bit embarrassed!
    

    Well, she is in heat, and she doesn't usually chirp--I'm going to miss
    it when she's been fixed--but it does make you feel sorry for her! She
    just wants to be near you (Rolling all over the floor at your feet or
    stretching and fidgeting on your lap) and to have you pay attention to
    her. She just looks so uncomfortable!
    
    Michelle

    
    re: 99.22 
    
    I love to hear that little noise. My husband Tim calls it pigeon
    coos also. Our Himalayian Ming does it when she comes near you and
    wants to be picked up or when she rolls over and wants to be patted
    and have her tummy rubbed.
    
    These cats sure do know how to do cute things to make them even more
    cherished by you.
    
    Barbara
    

    Mine chirp in heat too Cin, so don't be embarassed.  I guess other
    cats do it too, and for different reasons than ours do it!
    
    That Brrrrrrrrrp is exactly the way I would describe it, and then
    it is followed shortly by a AAAAAAOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!  Then
    back to the Brrrrrrrrrrp.
    
    The noise just drives Winston and Monroe out of their skins.
    
    Jo

The thing which seems to upset our (six) cats most is visitors - they get
very put out if any strangers come into the house. The newcomer is faced with
a selection of saucer-eyed, wary-looking creatures who obviously regard him or
her as a dreadful threat!  If the visitor hasn't got the sensitivity to leave
the cats' territory immediately, there is a lot of scurrying around, lurking
under furniture and glowering done. The whole situation is even worse if a dog
is introduced - an amiable buffoon like my mother's mongrel, who just wants to
be friends with everyone, is probably the worst of all (and has got the scars
to prove it!).

The one cat who seems immune to all this botheration (although this doesn't
extend to dogs, unsurprisingly) is the intensely stupid part-siamese, who is
normally terrified of everything - she homes in on visitors (singling out any
who really do not like cats, of course) and demands to be made a fuss of.


One of our mob - a small female who was originally feral, who we have had since
she was about six months old - is frightened of lorries. Cars don't seem to
bother her, but anything with a diesel engine gives her the willies, which
expresses itself in scuttling around with her stomach as low as possible to the
ground, and hiding if possible. Her particular hate is the dustmen's lorry,
which has an audible reversing warning; she knows that Thursday morning is when
this dire threat appears, and goes into hiding well in advance.

We don't know why she behaves like this, but suspect that she may have been
seriously scared by a truck when she was very young.

Chris.

    How about humans who are the fraidy-cats?   I had my in-laws over, who
    are non-pet people.  Zula would just rub against them, purring away,
    and they would be "Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmm, get him away from
    me".   Poor kitties.  I have a real problem locking them up just
    because they are trying to be friendly.  It's not as if they were
    climbing all over them at the dinner table (which they probably would
    do so I put them in my bedroom while we ate).    Both Ziggy and Zula
    go to any stranger and start purring away.   
    
    Pam

    Come to think of it, when my brother and mother come over (both are 
    extremely allergic to cats), the first thing they do is pat the
    kitties, even knowing that their eyes will soon bulge out of there
    heads.  Neither have ever owned cats.   You would think that they would
    be the ones that would be shooing the cats away but it's just the
    opposite.
    
    Pam

I have a friend, an adult, who is terrified of cats.  It is probably due
to something that happened to her as a child, or perhaps because she
was taught that cats were "bad" when very little, but for whatever reason,
she is TRULY afraid.  She suffers a great deal of anxiety because they
are "so quiet" that she doesn't know where they are, or if one will
suddenly jump on her.  When she visits, I simply close my cats off to
another room.  It is because I like her that I do this...because she
likes me, she really tries to tolerate the cat if one slips out of the
"lock up" and comes around for a pet.  I really do feel for her, though,
because she cannot sit in her yard and enjoy the weather and relax.
She is contantly on the alert for the neighbors' cats who are allowed
to go anywhere and, therefore, get into Jeanette's yard any time they
please. Until I met Jeanette it had never occurred to me that someone
would fear my cats - after meeting her, I became "sensitized" to this
issue.  I've since met several people who really do suffer from FEAR
around cats and/or dogs and I've learned just how much the indifference
of their neighbors in respect to controlling their pets impacts the
person who fears.

This is the reason I stress so much that we do not have the right to
force our neighbors to live with our cats.  

    Perhaps your friend ought to see a shrink for info about
    a desensitizing program so she could enjoy kitties.  I've
    heard that such things exist, but I don't know anything else
    about them.
    

    My mom and aunt (her sister) are afraid of pets/animal....my mom said
    it had to do w/ an experience when they were very young(no can remember
    except that cats and dogs are bad news).
    
    My mom has since gotten over her fears (we've caught her from time to
    time with Nippa in her lap or carrying the neighbors dog around...)but
    my aunt is terrified of her.  I've never seen anyone get so upset.....
    oh I have a friend who works in MRO1 who does two.  Maybe it is more
    common that most think?

    Sometimes it's not a memory from childhood at all....I have a friend 
    who is slowly going blind due to a genetic disease, and her problem
    is that she can't hear them coming, so they tend to startle her quite
    a bit, and that has gradually turned into a fear of cats.  She doesn't
    mind petting one who is held to the side of her (where she can still
    see a little bit), but otherwise she gets very jumpy not knowing where
    they are.
    
    Heather + Muff,Oscar,Pandora + Cocoa (who leaped from a second floor
    indoor window down to a tile floor this am and Scared ME WITLESS!
    &*$(&#( adventurous Siamese!  She's fine, Me, I'm not so sure!)
    

	A cousin of mine has always had a morbid fear of cats - even tiny
	kittens send her into near-hysteria.  I couldn't understand this 
	as a kid, but now know that it's pretty much like any other phobia,
	which is an irrational fear.  It usually represents a fear of
	something else which the person can't or won't express for some
	reason.  Cat phobia is called 'ailurophobia' and many people can
	be desensitized if they want to be badly enough.  My sister used
	to refuse to ride in elevators, but she forces herself to do so
	occasionally, and is slowly getting over it.

	Sandy


	

People CAN be desensitized...but they should not HAVE TO BE desensitized
just to enjoy their OWN yards and gardens.  It is this basic premise that
we have some "divine" right to allow our cats to roam at will, invading
other people's yards and lives, that makes cat-owners such unpleasant AND
unwelcome neighbors.

    
    It has not been until the last couple of years that I have been
    enamored with cats.  We always had dogs when I was growing up,
    and listened to the "old wives tales" (usually from mum) that 
    circulated about felines.  At six years old I had a stare down 
    contest with a cat, nose to nose, both of us on all fours. I'm sure
    you can guess who won. I remember screaming bloody murder and people 
    came a runnin' to find me with a cat hanging off my face. Funny
    to think about that now, because one of Bailey's favorite games
    is to jump at me (claws in, of course) when I pop up from behind
    the love seat!             
    
    
    

    re:39
    
    Even though I do agree with you to a point...any neighbor who wants
    totally privacy of the yard has an option to put up a fence.  I
    live this experience with  a neighbor who's kids are
    constantly in my yard...(sliding down the hill, playing with our
    basketball court etc) I have no problem with this.....until he
    comes over and let's me know that my cat walked through his yard!
    Of course he hates all animals and his kids are petrified of all
    animals.
    
    In this case...I offered to put up a very large fence,,,,but also
    told him his kids won't be able to enjoy my yard.  He decided to
    keep quite for awhile...but I'm sure this subject will come back
    again.                          
    
    Sandy    
           
    

I have NEVER seen a fence that would keep a cat IN a yard or OUT OF a
yard.  All yards in my area ARE fenced...the cats still come and go as
they please....right into/through yards where they are NOT welcome or
desired.  Cats CLIMB and JUMP.  When they are not restrained, they are a
nuisance to anyone and everyone within a 3 - 4 mile radius of their
home.

    however ;) ;) ;)
    
    some cats are REAL fraidy-cats.  My old cat (who still lives with my
    parents) is terrified of venturing beyond the porch.  There are always
    cats in the yard scaring the hell out of her and irking the dog.  THe
    dog's barking spells kill our ears.  
    
    So there are many ways to be ANNOYED by others' cats in one's own yard.  
    
    Pets.  Can't live with 'em ;) CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT 'EM!!!
    
    ---Becca + Double + Snuzzy  
    

    re:39
    
    I thought we were discussing people and their fears of cats.....not
    whether or not we have the `divine' right to allow our cats to roam...

	The woman who lives next door to me had always been scared stiff of
	cats, she'd shake uncontrollably if one was in the same room.

	However, her son took a liking to Cider, my ginger moggy.

	He is realy dopey, lets anyone pick him up, will roll over onto
	his back, and takes all the petting you can give him on his stomach.
	The neighbours on the otherside have grandchildren, who are not the 
	gentlist, but Cider revels in the attention.

	
	Anyway, the son took to opening his window, so Cider used to sleep on 
	his bed for some of the night.
	Also, her son started to encourage Cider into the living room.

	It took a long while, but now she lets Cider sit on her lap, and is 
	quite confident with him. (Cider never "paws" when he sits, just
	jumps up, and flops over on your lap).

	I don't think she'll ever get used to my other ginger moggy, who is
	very nervy, and jumps at anything - however, it doesn't upset her to
	have him around - as long as he doesn't jump on her lap. (which he 
	doesn't, he's more afraid of her than she is of him!).

	It takes time, but my dopey moggy and her son have helped her come to 
	overcome many of her fears - but be careful of the temprement of cat,
	it may do more harm than good.


	Heather