Conference misery::feline_v1

    Yes, watching a cat swim around the toilet can be hilarious,
    but remember that a small cat/kitten may not be able to swim
    and the slippery sides of the toilet do not provide anything
    for the cat to climb up.  It can have an unhappy outcome.

    
    My apologies, Karen.
    
    However, I meant exactly what I said.  Some cats swim, some do not.
    One of my daughters has a cat that loves to join her in the bathtub.
    
    And it *can* be funny to watch a full grown cat jump into the
    toilet when it was expecting a "landing lid" -- only to have it
    shoot up in the air like it had been catapulted.  
    
    But there ARE people who never thought about the potential problem,
    and some kittens and cats HAVE drowned in toilets.  So have some
    human children as well as other small creatures.
    
    Therefore, I had intended my note to those who had not thought
    about the problem.  Better safe than sorry.
    
    	Penelope
    
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    From:	CADSE::LUBY         "Karen E. Luby, 289-1761, APO-2/D4, CADM" 25-SEP-1987 09:52
To:	GLINKA::GREENE,LUBY        
Subj:	


    
    
    	Re: .1
    
    	I don't think you quite got the point of my note, so maybe you
    	should keep your nasty opinions to yourself.  99% of the time
    	the lid is closed.  We always make sure to close it when we
    	leave the bathroom and we check to make sure it is closed when
    	we leave the apartment.  If you think that I enjoyed seeing
    	my kitten in the toilet, then maybe you think I would throw
    	him in to get my jollies.  Afraid not.  The humor in the situation
    	was due to the fact that I had just said something about him
    	falling in and he did.  The coincidence was what was so funny
    	and I am sorry that your sense of humor is so lacking.
    
                     

    You know I never even thought of that!  I guess if the kitty was
    tiny enough, they wouldn't have the what-with-all to get out!  My
    kitties never jump up there expecting to find the lid down because
    the lid is *ALWAYS* up.  The kitties in my house use this as their
    watering spot.  When I think of how many kittens I have raised -
    well I guess I'll have to do differently when I get my next litter.
    That's one great thing about FELINE.  It can shortstop problems
    before they even happen.
    
    Marion
    
    

    
        Yup it sure is a funny sight!!!!  Malcolm and Angus both had
    been little kittens when we got them and I always "tried" to remember
    to put the lid down but one can't always remember.  But once or
    twice they'd jump up there before I even had time to move and splash
    goes kitty.  Little drowned rat that looked like.  But as they got
    older the hysterics really began.....  I've never seen anything
    move that fast....  In and back out and soo soo insulted....  Well
    I guess I would be too falling in THAT water.....  But how can you
    not laugh it is one of the funniest sights....
    
        It was a good point to bring up about the lids because my husband
    thought I was quite crazy and was getting sick of me nagging him
    to put that lid down...  You bet he read that note......

    The lids are usually down in my house, but once, after I had
    finished using the "facility", Honey, still a kitten, jumped up
    onto the seat (on his way to the counter to play with the water
    I was running in the sink) and fell straight in.  I can still
    remember the *disgusted* look on his face.  There are few things
    in the world funnier-looking than a soaking wet long-haired cat.
    He looked like a seal-point rat!
    
    To this day, he always looks first, or slaps a paw up to detect
    the fuzzy seat cover before jumping.  A life lesson learned...
    
    Mary

    
    
    	We had a litter of kittens at our house, and were always
    careful to keep the lid down. Well, one day I was about to take
    a seat, so to speak, and got the fright of my life when a kitten
    catapulted out of the toilet and hit me on the `backside'.WAAHHHH!!!
    (I didn't even know he had fallen in!!!)  :-)
    

    
    
    	Re .6
    
    	I got a kick out of that one!!
    
    	Often I will go in the bathroom, lift the lid and prepare to
    	take a seat only to find that in the time that I turned my
    	back T.K. had jumped onto the seat.  I guess he just likes
    	to get as close to me as possible.  Whenever I am in the shower
    	he opens the door (pervert), gets on the toilet lid and waits
    	for me to emerge.  If I open the curtain he is just sitting
        there staring up at me.  Then when I am drying off he starts
    	meowing at me and begging to be picked up.  Sometimes he runs
    	between the curtains of the shower but this is a somewhat
    	wet activity that doesn't occur often.
    	

    
    
    	I forgot to mention in my previous note, whenever I am on the
    	toilet T.K. trys to peer in to see what is going on.  And he
    	loves to watch it flush.  But that is about it for his bathroom
    	stunts, well almost.  He likes the bathroom trash can.  He
    	takes out tissues from the trash and shreds them all over the
    	apartment while I am asleep.  And empty toilet paper rolls are
    	fun too.  Luckily he hasn't discovered the joys of pulling
    	the paper off the roll yet.  But he does try to assist me
    	whenever I am pulling paper off.  He kind of jumps in the
    	middle of it.  
    
    

    Re .7
    and I thought Sy was the only cat that sat and stared at people
    while they are in the showers or getting dressed.  I always say,
    I bet in a past life Sy was a male teenager.  At least now I know 
    he is not the only strange kitty around.
    
    Linda
    

    Maggie _always_ comes in the bathroom while I take a shower. Frequently
    she sits between the curtains, and if I take too long she peers
    around the inside curtain and meeps at me.  Cecil, the little rat,
    used to jump me from his side of the curtain thereby poking nail
    holes in it and me [Rick wanted to rename my little guy 'Norman
    Bates'].
    
    Jez liked the jacuzzi; occasionally even trying to join me.  She
    was a reeeeeeeeeeal slut [affectionately said, ;-)]
    
    
    Annie

    Sherlocke also likes to "help" us with our showers and loves to
    help me wash my face and put on makeup!  He has jumped into the
    shower a couple of times, but doesn't stay too long.  
    
    He also loves toilet paper rolls and has "decorated" our bathroom
    with the toilet paper.
    
    One of his favorite things is curling up in the bathroom sink just
    as you are about to brush your teeth!
    
    Ande

    Corkie is a sink kitty too.  Loves to sleep in it I guess cause
    the marble is cool.  She learned her lesson about water when she
    was used to laying on the tub ledge as I bathed and slipped in one
    day.  She doesn't go near water on her own anymore so I don't even
    have to worry about the "lid up or down."  I have to fight her when
    it's bath time.  When I am on the seat, she has to sit between my
    feet.  Haven't figured that one out yet.
    
    Pat
    

As I've stated before, Munchkin comes from a line of Siamese cats that my
mother-in-law started breeding in 1959 in India.  His mother's parents were
both from India, but Little Bit (Munch's mom) liked to swim in the pool
when the weather was too hot!  On many days, when they were living in
India and then later Pakistan, Little Bit would cool off in the pool.
Munch really doesn't mind water, rain, or puddles, but demands that
you dry him off using the hand-held hair dryer. 

Regards,
J.

    
    Re.-1
    
    >    Munch really doesn't mind water, rain, or puddles, but demands that
    >    you dry him off using the hand-held hair dryer. 
         
    Ooofh! I still have visible scratchmarks from the time (about 4
    months ago) that I tried to pay Omar that service!
    
    And I only switched it on.... How dit Munchkin got used to that?
    
    AD
    

    Re .13 and .14
    
    I thought I heard somewhere that you sould not dry your pet's with
    a blow dryer?
    
    Now back to the "Splash time".  I've never had a problem with (Obi)
    and the bowl.  But the bathtub is another thing.  I had filled the
    tub and had to leave the room for a min. when I got back she was
    sitting on the edge looking in.  The water was very still so she
    must of thought that it was empty and plunged right in (SPLASH!!!).
    I've never seen a cat move so fast.  Needless to say by the time
    I calmed her down and dried her off I needed to fill the (COLD)
    tub.  Now whenever she wants to get in she slides her paws down
    the side of the tub to make sure that she does not encounter any
    water.  She is also a watcher & waiter when your in the Shower or
    tub.
    
    

    Mr. MacGreggor would never fall in the tub.  He will sit on the
    edge as long as I am very still in the water, but the minute I move,
    he really freaks out.  He thinks anything that moves is not only
    alive, but also out go get him!  He is a big burley black male and
    it is funny to see his reaction to anything that moves.  Every time
    we have a litter of kittens around he will investigate them slowly.
    He is interested only until he realizes that they move.  Then it
    is terror time.  It's funny because he weighs 25 or so pounds and
    the kittens are usually only three inches long when he starts to
    run for his life.
    
    Marion

AD --

With Munch, I turn the hair dryer on first, away from him, and then slowly
bring the warm air towards him.  Now that he's developed arthritis in his
hip joints (being 15, he's entitled!), he loves anything warm.  Because he
can't jump up as well as before, he likes to sleep on an afgan on the sofa,
BUT with a heating pad under the first layer!  Talk about a spoiled brat...

You will find that most fur-faces are "heat seekers", and seem to have
thermostats in their tails.  So you can get them used to anything that gives
off heat.  Try it again, maybe?

Regards,
J.

    I certainly got a chuckle over some of the responses in this
    topic....yes, it can be dangerous to leave the lid up (and damn
    annoying to some of us who fall that extra inch to the porcelain!)
    but it sure is something to see what a cat really looks like under
    all that fur! (especially our Coon cat)
    
    I'm also glad to hear that other cats are shower watchers! I thought
    ours were weird (of course, this doesn't mean they're not...) Both
    of ours will come into the bathroom when either Jeff or myself is
    taking a shower. (But try to give them a bath and you are taking
    your life in your hands!)
    
    Merlin panics, as if he is trying to rescue you. He will scratch at the
    door to get into the bathroom, sit on the toilet lid and scratch at the
    shower door and asked to be picked up when you are finished. Actually,
    we share about a ten minute cuddle every morning because of this
    - rather nice way to start the day!
    
    Rascal will also come into the bathroom, in fact you can get him
    to come by calling "shower!" and he'll come trotting from wherever
    he is sleeping. We thought maybe he likes the steam?
    
    About the toilet - we haven't had too much problem with that, except
    that since both cats will sit on the toilet lid, sometimes you have to
    move fast to block a jump. And knowing that it could be a problem did
    help re-enforce my asking/begging/nagging about putting the lid down! 
    
    Also, how come they like to watch us, but most of the time get real
    annoyed (or at least look embarrassed) when we are near when they
    go to use the box???  

    oh well....don't you just love those fur-faces? (even when they
    are wet )
    
    janet b.

    How did I miss this note?  
    
    Tabbatha had her first experience with the shower a few weeks ago.
    Every morning she would cry and cry when I went in the bathroom
    to take a shower and (GOOD HEAVENS!) shut the DOOR!  I finally decided
    to leave the door open just a crack so that she could come in if
    she wanted.  Well, downstairs we have one of those stand alone showers.
    You know, the kind that has no tub, just a shower.  Well, Tabbatha
    came in one morning while I was taking a shower and just sat at
    the corner and watched with complete amazement!  She probably couldn't
    figure out what in the world I was doing!  Why didn't I just use
    my good old tongue to clean myself like she does?  (Humans are the
    strangest animals!)  Well, she finally decided that it looked like
    I was fun so she decided to join me.  She jumped into the shower
    and as soon as I moved she got soaked!  I have never seen Tabbatha
    run so fast!  she jumped out of the shower and ran for the door!
     She couldn't get the door open so she just sat there and CRIED!!!!
    It was SO funny!  After I got out of the shower, I picked her up
    in a big towel and cuddled her and dried her off.  Needless to say,
    she now watches me take a shower from a safe distance.
    
    Holly