Conference misery::feline_v1

    Your cat wants attention. I suggest you fulfill his request by
    inviting some friends over. When he starts the diving act, you
    can all hold up cards with a  number (1-10) on them and rate his
    performance.
    
    Edd

    re:  .1 - Invite friends :^)
    
    I disagree.  I find that one sure way to stop a behavure in a cat
    (especially a cute one) is to invite a few friends over, tell them
    about it, and suddenly your cat will become unable/unwilling to
    do it anymore.  No kidding.  Try it.  Invite a group of, say, ten
    people over to your house.  Be sure to include your boss and at
    least one inlaw.  Then put your cat in the middle of the livingroom
    floor and say something like "Ok, Muffy, show these nice people
    how cute you look when you <insert pet trick name here>".  At that
    point the cat will look at you as if you are on designer drugs,
    cough up a furr ball the size of a toaster oven, and leave the room.
    Does anybody remember the old "looney toons" cartoon about the guy who 
    found a frog who could sing and dance?
    
    Marion 

    Well, if you have a brain damaged kitty, then so do I!!
    I have noticed the "lamp trick" being performed by Niniane
    on every lamp I own that sits on a table.  I have no idea
    what is so facinating about the light bulb.  I've checked for
    flickering, bugs, etc. but to no avail.  I gave up.  I figure if
    it amuses her that much, it just means she's not getting into
    anything she's not supposed to ;-) !!
    
    Besides, this is also a kitty that chases dust specks in rays
    of sunlight!!
    
    Mary-Michael (Ninny's mom)

    Maybe the cats can *hear* the light bulb...
    
    Don't laugh. My kitchen lights are on a dimmer circuit and if the
    house is very quiet I can hear a buzzing/whistling sound that changes
    pitch in proportion to how bright the lights are....
    
    Edd (Possibly_brain_damaged_cat_pet)

    Landing on his back ??? That DOES sound like it would hurt.  Hope
    there is a VERY thick carpet on the floor.
    
    I remember when Lightning would come into the room, THROW herself
    down on her side (what a loud PLOP) and beg for attention.  I could
    have sworn she was breaking her ribs.
    
    Sandi ( LIghtning's Mom)
    
    

    Re: hearing the light bulb
    
    I wonder if he has something here.  Do you know that women are more
    likely to be bothered by the high-pitched sound that dimmers make,
    because our hearing sensitivity is shifted wrs men's -- we hear
    high frequencies better and low frequencies worse?  I wonder what
    a cat's is like?
    
    signed,
    
    former possessor of dimmer switches who ripped them all out.
    

    RE:  dimmers
    
    WOW!  That might just be it.  In my diningroom I have a dimmer.
    For quite a while I have heard a very high pitched whistle in the
    area.  In fact it has been driving me crazy.  I can hardly wait
    to get home and see if turning the light off is what stops it. 
    Thank you.  I just might not have to have the house exorcised after
    all!
    
    Marion
    

    
    Hmmmm ... maybe it is the sound of the bulb.  I still would think
    that the bulb would be hot enough that he wouldn't keep touching
    it.  That's my guy though.  Yesterday he discovered the clothes
    dryer for the first time.  He jumped in and curled up for a nice
    winter's nap.  I had to run and get my camera because he looked
    so funny.  When he saw I had the camera (he's such a ham) he popped
    his head out the door to pose.  I hope those pictures come out
    good!  I'm going to bring one to work and put a caption below it
    saying "My kitty's all washed up in this town!".
    
    Ooops, just remembered that I suppose to be working!
    
    Donna --- T.C.'s mom
    
    

    Donna,
    
    	Please, be VERY careful of the dryer with the cat.  A friend
    of mine had a VERY unfortunate accident with a clothes dryer.  I
    ALWAYS check the dryer before I close it.  
    
    Holly

    Talk about deja-vu...
    
    One of the girls that I drive to school in the morning told me how
    her 7 month old kitten got into the dryer without her knowing. 
    She turned on the dryer and left the room.  She didn't know anything
    until her older sister shouted to her - Did you turn the dryer on
    with the cat in it? - 10 minutes later.  The kitten was crying but
    she couldn't hear it over the stereo.  My daughter laughs when I
    tell her to watch our DejaVu to make sure she isn't in the dryer
    before turning it on.  She may laugh but she would be devasted if
    something terrible happened to DejaVu - her cat- especially if she
    was the one emptying the dryer.
    
    Sandi
    

    My sister has had to put a removable block on the dryer door as
    her 18-month-old daughter [this is a human child] likes to curl
    up for cat-naps inside with one of the dogs or kittens.  Carly likes to
    crawl in with one of her warm fuzzy buddies and pull the door almost
    closed.  The cats love it, the dogs are resigned.  The block is
    attached in such a way that the child can't remove it and the door
    will not close and trap her, but my sister can remove it when actual
    clothes need to be dried, much to the consternation of Carly and
    the kitties.  [this block also serves as a handy reminder to check
    inside before operating...a much less child-proof on would serve
    in the case of a cat]
           
      Annie

    I don't get it....
    Do you all leave the dryer door open when you aren't using the dryer,
    or something??
    My cats never get a chance to try the dryer out as a hide-out; it's
    always left with the door latched unless someone is putting laundry
    in or taking it out.  It's downstairs right next to the workshop,
    and this way it stays nice and clean inside even when we are doing
    something dusty like sanding wood.

    It is not that the dryer door is not latched, it is just that most
    (if not all) cats are very curious.  You could be loading the clothes
    from the washer to the dryer and not even see your cat climb into
    the dryer.  It is very easy escpecially if you are trying to get
    something out of the bottom of the washer.  Please, be careful.
    I dread the thought of getting into this notes file one day and
    hearing such a tragic story.  
    
    Holly

    Do check!  This happened to one of my sister's cats!
    
    The kitty crawled into a pile of WET clothes when mom went to answer
    the phone.  She never knew the cat had crawled in.
    
    A little bit after the dryer had been started, she heard "kthunk,
    kthunk, meeooow" form the kitchen.
    
    She got the cat out (as she said at the time, "lucky it was the
    'delicate' cycle" and the cat did live.  However, 10 minutes on
    the dryer's lowest cycle caused severe dehydration, and the cat
    lost all its hair (it grew back).  The cat's tail was also limp
    for several weeks.
    
    And experience didn't teach the kitty.  Mom started to check each
    time before she ran the dryer, and removed the cat on several
    subsequent occasions.
    
    Rita
    

    My kitties don't usually get to go into the laundry area since it
    is the same as the workshop area, which often contains fragile or
    harmful stuff - sometimes I let JFCL in there when I am doing something
    harmless like assembling one of those big metal shelves (since she
    always cries if no one is home but HER human, who is on the other
    side of a closed door - like the bathroom door!), but she has never
    shown any particular interest in the dryer, even when it is running.
    What they like, both of them, is the big basket full of nice, warm
    clothes that their pet human hauls upstairs and sometimes doesn't
    get around to folding and putting away right away - if I don't don't,
    the basket soon has a cat inside, sometimes two, and the clothes
    get cat hairs on them right away instead of a bit later.
    
    My cats do other dumb things, but they don't seem to be interested
    in the laundry until it is finished.

    I always check my dryer before I close the door after putting clothes
    into it and do keep the door closed when not in use but Deja still
    manages to climb in on occasion.  She doesn't really care if the
    clothes is wet or dry.  She just loves the dryer.  It reminds her
    of a cave.  Thank goodness I saw her the first time she did it.
    Now I know to check it each time.  She also loves the clothes basket,
    with or without clothes.  She's such a BRAT...
    
    Sandi (Lightning's & DejaVu's mom)
    
    

    Wow - I'm not the only one with brain damaged cats (I also watch
    B. Cosby's video about kids occasionally).  Do you have one of those
    brass 'touch' lamps?  I have two that turn them on in the middle
    of the night (wonder how much it adds to my power bill).  I also
    have one that sleeps on the pillows of the bed during the day -
    there is a phone on the bookcase headboard and more than once I
    have called home from work to tell my kids something and I interrupt
    Chris' nap and I hear clunk, rattle, MEOWWWW.  I know it is Chris
    - he 'sings' off-key and sounds like a wounded lamb insted of a
    cat.
    
    I also agree that a cat will NEVER do their 'stunt' when you want
    them too - I think they are related to small children, they both
    do that (obviously in a concentrated effort to make you look like
    either a fool or a liar).
    
    Love those furry, purry creatures in spite (or because?) of it all
    
    Ellen
    
    

    I also have a kitty that answers the phone.  It started several
    years ago with Sy knocking the phone off of the counter.  So I started
    putting the phone on the floor.  That didn't stop the little rascal.
    A couple of times I had my mom phone me and I would watch.  Sure
    enough, only after 1 or 2 rings, Sy would run up to the phone, grab
    the coil piece from the receiver and sling it as far as he could.
    I used to have to unplug the back of the phone (phone still rings
    to whoever is calling).
    
    About 2 years ago, I got an answering machine. Figured that would
    stop the phone answering by kitty.  NOOOOOOO, The answering machine
    picks up after two rings, Sy will pick up after one ring or while
    the answering machine is talking.  Its so fun to listen to people
    who talk to Sy, the answering machine tapes the conversations. 
    "MEOW",  "Sy, is that you? Linda your blankety-blank cat answered 
    the phone again."  "MEOW-moms not home-leave a message at the tone"
    Only major problem is that once the caller hangs up, the phone is
    busy.
    
    Linda
    
    

    Re: .20
    
    What happens if you turn the ringer off when you go out?  On some
    phones there is a gizmo on the side or bottom to let you do this,
    so that you aren't bothered by wrong numbers on terminal phones,
    for example.  (If the ringer is turned off, test to make sure the
    answering machine still works.)
    

    Linda, that's really funny!  I can just see your cat answering
    the phone!!  All my brats do is chew the D*^n cords.  That is
    really cute.
    
    E.T. (still smiling)