Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    
    	Well, that gave me a good laugh for the day...
    
    	If my Sasha were to do that (even though she's only 9
    	months old) I would be in pain for days....she can dig	
    	those little claws of hers in quite deep....Cary has
    	the marks to prove it!
    
    	JJ
    
    	PS...I'm glad your friend wasn't hurt!
    

Absolutely, Boss Tweed considers me his private target!  Since he weighs
12 lb. or so  I am indeed fortunate that he usually (but not always, ouch)
gives me a warning "mrrrrp" before launching.  Of course he blithely
assumes that having my hands/arms full of something else has no effect on
my ability to catch him!  

He attempts to land with his claws pulled in, part of our understanding
is that he won't use claws because I am responsible for catching and
holding him.  Should that not work to his satisfaction he assumes the
responsibility in the only way he knows:  punctures, skid marks, what
have you.

You gotta love 'em!!


Jan  whose_favorite_cat_is_her_Boss

P.S.  He occasionally tried this with my husband but they don't have the
no-claws-unless-needed rule, so poor hubby usually suffers pain in the 
process!

    Little 5 pound Julie is a velcro kitty.  She just loves to cling to me
    like SpiderKitty.  She'll run across the room and jump at me...with all
    the landing gear extended.  I try to catch her before she catches me! 
    I can just imagine how I could explain those scratch makes to a
    physician..."Well, Doctor, I have this cat..."
    
    Mary

    Sura leaps into your arms, usually without warning. He NEVER has
    his claws out when he does it, so if he doesn't get caught (like
    when your hands are full) he just slides to the ground. Sura LOVEs
    cuddles (typical burmese).
    
    Shayne

    Isis is a walk-on-you cat.  Her favorite way of demonstrating 
    affection is to jump onto your back when you bend over.  Then
    she settles herself down and proceeds to bat your head with 
    her tail.  I don't doubt that she's purring too, but you can 
    only tell by putting your finger on her throat - she purrs
    silently.
      The problem arises when you aren't bent over sufficiently 
    for her to land on your back and stay.  I've had her make a
    jump, without warning, and attempt to hang on by her front
    claws - one on each side of my lower back!
    
      This also reminded me of a funny story I heard once.  A
    friend of mine happened to be taking care of a litter of 
    kittens at the same time she was in the last few weeks of
    her pregnancy.  She was laying in the tub one day and the 
    kittens climbed up and then onto her tummy, which made a
    little island in the middle of the water.  Unfortunately
    her tummy was a little slippery and the kittens had to
    extend their claws to keep from sliding into the water.
    
    Try explaining those marks to your obstetrician!

    When Boogie feels in need of some attention she will
    occasionally jump on your shoulder, usually at the
    most inoppertune time imaginable.  Last week, I was
    playing the guitar (standing up mind you) when
    suddenly - whomp!!! - kitty on back, kitty on shoulder, 
    kitty nuzzling neck, kitty sitting on guitar kneading 
    Mom on the, um, shall we say "fontal lobes"!  When 
    Boogie wants attention, Boogie gets what she wants!!!
                                                
    Mary-Michael

    Black Thunder is definitely the *greeter of the house* kitty.  The
    minute I walk in the door, I better be ready.  She says hello, and
    then leaps straight up.  A few times she missed and dug in.  When
    I am ready to put her down, she sometimes lets me know that it isn't
    time yet. 
    
    Also, whenever I kneel or stoop down to do something (like clean
    the rug or fix the VCR) that is an open invitation to play *Queen
    of the Mountain* (OK small hill).  
    
    One more thing that Thunder does is while I am sitting at the table
    either drinking a cup of coffee or reading a book, she feels that
    my neck might catch a draft so she drapes herself around it to keep
    it warm.  God forbid she might slip.  High collars for a month.
    
    Sandi (Lightning, DejaVu & Thunder's mom)
    
    

    I have just found the feline file and am having fun going through
    all the old notes little by little.  I have five cats (did have
    six but one died in January - still miss her badly).  They are Ben
    - my boy, Becky, Barney (a girl but has eyes like a barn owl) Blanche
    - my vet cant stop laughing at her name says its very 'upmarket'
    but she was dumped with a note saying that was her name so I kept
    it andd Holly - a brown bundle of crazyness!! The one that died
    was Amy - Ben and Becky's sister  - all three black.  Anyway to
    get back to what I was going to say - Barney did some of this 'valcro'
    clinging - I was bending down outside of our shower with my head
    inside - why you might ask - well I was washing my hair and dident
    want to get the rest of me wet!! so there I was bending down - nothing
    on!! shower head in hand when - bingo there was a Barney clinging
    to my side all claws well in, I dropped the shower head, water went
    everywhere so I did get the rest of me wet.  From the screaming
    along came the rest of the family and what did they do - LAUGH!!
     I did afterwards, but not then.  Barney by the way is very long
    haired and has a tail just like a foxes brush - and the sweetest
    little face.  Holly like to get in the shower with me and gets VERY
    wet.
    
    Will continue to read and now input to this file.
    
    Thelma

My dear and wonderful Pita decided that she wasn't going to let any of these
cats show her up and this morning decided that she was a velcro cat, too.  

I went downstairs after my shower and went into the laundry room.  I had a towel
wrapped around my head.  I bent over to pick up something in the laundry room,
when all of the sudden, I had pita on my back.  No claws in me, just in the
towel.  Well, she decided that she was going to stay there, and started to climb
as i started to stand up.  She ended up trying to stand on my head.  She
balanced herself for a few minutes, but then jumped down.  I think that was 
just a little bit too high for her.

Holly

p.s.  RE: .6  Welcome to feline!  Gee, I don't think I have ever seen so many
Holly's in the same place!!   

    Little Livee, the kitten that Ken and I have hand raised, thinks
    that I am her mommy.  She will just cling to the front of me (frontal
    lobes I think they were called) while I do my housework and chores.
    
    Ken calls her our little marsupial.
    
    Jo

    Holly likes to leap onto my back too.  Once when I wasn't expecting
    this, I turned around at an inopportune moment and wound up with about
    12 lbs of cat dangling by one claw thru my ear.  Eeeeeee. 
    Amazingly it didn't tear.
    

    
    My cat's name is Velcro, need I say more.  He has not learned to
    do things without opening his claws.  Some times if you startle
    him when you walk into a room, he'll freeze in what ever position
    he was caught in, like half way up the side of the couch or chair,
    or half way up the draperies, like those suction cup cats on peoples
    car windows.

    re: .12  Perhaps you could trim his claws........  (He sounds
    quite amusing!)