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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO
Created:Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5089
Total number of notes:60366

2424.0. "Novel Cat Containment Method" by ELWOOD::SPIELMAN (Jerry Spielman) Tue May 02 1989 21:26

This story is about what appears to be a novel way to confine a cat.

I have a male (neutered) tabby cat who is 13 months old. He has never been
properly "trained" to stay off the kitchen table and often has to be restricted
somewhere when we want to eat.

Recently, as a byproduct of a joke, we discovered what appears to be a reliable
solution to restricting the cat even in the presence of food. Its a kind
of novel "cat cage".  Here's the story and solution. I wonder if anyone else
has had similar experience or can offer an explanation.

We happened to purchase a 16 inch round rattan "occasional table". It weights
almost nothing, and has a very open/woven design. This table's shape is
that of a cylinder with no bottom. So one day, I placed the table over Prince
who was sitting on the living room floor. It turned out that he seemed to
like being "enclosed" and stayed there for something like forty five minutes.
(He sat for most of it, but can lie down as well.)

When we realized he didn't intend to come out on his own and we  removed
the table. The next time he bothered us while we were trying to enjoy a meal
I placed the table on him, (right next to our kitchen table), and he simply 
stayed there until we removed the basket. He even stayed under it when he was 
already sitting on the kitchen table right next to a plate of meat (with me
guarding it of course).  It is puzzling that he never tries to come out from
under the "basket" by himself even though he certainly could knock it over.

Is there something about a woven/open design container that cats love so much?

Secondarily, I haven't been able to get through much of this conference yet,
but if anyone knows of a way to train my year old to stay off of the kitchen
table (and counter top too), please advise some softies how to do it.

(PS: If anyone is tempted to try this the particular table I bought was only
     a few dollars. The solution hasn't failed yet (2 weeks))

T.RTitleUserPersonal
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2424.1YOSMTE::CORDESBRO_JOTue May 02 1989 21:5110
    My method of training my cats to stay off of counters and tables
    requires two things.  1) spray bottle  2) confining the cat in a
    room with no tables, counters while I am not there to redirect him.
    
    You have to catch them in the act, then give them a squirt.  You
    must be consistent.  You can't let him get away with it sometimes,
    and then punish him other times, it wouldn't be fair to him, and
    would probably confuse him.
    
    Jo
2424.2AIMHI::SPINGLERWed May 03 1989 13:4330
    Hi Jerry,
    
    My little cat, Panther also loves to be confined in an upside down
    laundry basket.  She seems to feel safe in there, the other cat,
    Spot will leave her alone as long as she is in her "safety zone."
    
    Spot will not tolerate being confined to the upside down laundry
    basket, she just tips it over and looks at me as if to say "Mummy,
    I'm not THAT dumb!" 
       
    Regarding staying of the counters, the spray bottle works very well
    when you are there to catch them, when you are not there leave cat
    traps.  We use cookie sheets (the ones with sides on them not the
    all flat ones) filled with water on what ever surface the cat might
    be tempted to jump up on and they work!!
    
    The cat jumps up and gets wet feet and decides that the counter
    isn't really that interesting after all.  Also never EVER leave
    anything  even remotely interesting or edible on those counters when
    you are not home.  No cat is trust worthy, not even the best trained
    will resist temptation when no one is there to police them.
                       
    good luck with your fur face, sound like your are off to a great
    start!!
    
    Feline fine,
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot
    
    
2424.3Catch & toss !PENPAL::TRACHMANExoticSH=Persian in UnderwearWed May 03 1989 15:0716
    I must be lazy or else I just don't want 16 wet cats and a very
    wet house - I think that as soon as I leave the house they are
    right up on the counter and any place else they feel like being.
    It's easier for me to just ignore it.
    
    re:  while I'm eating is another story - just before I sit down
    and start serving, it's calleld (when I have dinner guest(s) over,
    "Catch a cat, any or all or as many as you can hold in your two
    arms and put them in my bedroom (the only room with walls and a
    door) - then let them out after the table is cleared and food is
    put away!!  There are a few specific furfaces that go into the
    bedroom when food is being served - most of them will just sleep
    right through it or sort of stand and watch without touching.
    
    E.T.
    
2424.4Great idea!!MEMV01::CROCITTOIt's Jane Bullock Crocitto nowWed May 03 1989 16:060
2424.5Laundry baskets are fun!BUFFER::LIWed May 03 1989 21:0819
    Upsidedown laundry baskets!  Mine love them too!  They'll usually stay
    quietly within them, but we've never used them to try to contain them,
    just to play...  It started when we left the laundry basket out after
    doing laundry.  Tashti would jump in and out and he eventually tipped
    it over on it's side.  Then he would get it and chase his tail around
    inside it and roll it around (it's oval shaped).  
    
    Sometimes we put Tashti inside and his favorite toy outside... it's
    funny seeing him reach through the little holes or get active (bumping
    off the laundry basket).  The inverse is fun too... put the toy INSIDE
    the inverted laundry basket!  Tashti will run around in circles on the
    outside and reach his paws in under the basket until he can get the toy
    out-- sometimes he even jumps on top of the basket!
    
    At any rate, laundry baskets are indeed one of Tashti's favorite toys.
    It's nice that cats can amuse themselves with just about anything!
    
    --Ruby
    
2424.6VIDEO::MORRISSEYTrapped inside this lovers mazeThu May 04 1989 14:0820
    
    
    	Two of my three, Sasha and Duke like to jump into the laundry
    	basket too...and their favorite time to do it is when I have
    	nice clean clothes in it!!  Duke sometimes has a hard time cuz
    	he's still very little (10 weeks old) but he manages....
    
    	Another one of Sasha's favorite toys is the plastic ties
    	to trash bags (not the twisty ones with the wire)...she bats
    	them all over the kitchen...
    
    	And we bought them one of the catnip mouses after I had read
    	so much about them in here.....and they love it....even our
    	snob, Brandi turns kittenish every once in awhile and lays on
    	her back with this mouse between her paws!!
    
    	Doesn't take much to entertain our furries!!
    
    	JJ, Brandi, Sasha, and Duke
    
2424.7NZOV01::PARKINSONReunite Gondwannaland!Fri May 05 1989 00:584
    One of Kimi's favourite games is being swung round and round while
    he lies in the laundry basket. He's a bit dizzy when I stop!
    
    Shayne
2424.8Whirl-A-CatREDWOD::GRAFTONFri May 05 1989 15:278
    Shayne,
    
    I thought Rusty was the only one who liked being swung around!!  Jim
    even puts him in a plastic shopping bag and whirls him around.  When
    he's done, Rusty just waits in the bag to see if Jim will do it again!
    
    Jill
    
2424.9With a name like Elmo, he's gotta be BADWITNES::HANNULAWell, you see, I have this cat.......Fri May 05 1989 15:3510
    My kitchen rubbish barrel is made out of some sort of soft bamboo,
    including a cover.
    
    Whenever Elmo is BAD - which is quite often - I like to whip out
    the garbage bag, throw Elmo in, and put the cover on.  He seem's
    to like it in there.
    
    Just wish the cover would lock ;'}
    
    	-Nancy
2424.10using a cat carrier for whirl-a-catENGINE::PAULHUSChris @ MLO6B-2/T13 dtn 223-6871Fri May 05 1989 15:384
    	Gee, I use his carrier to play whirl-a-cat with Copy.  The thought
    being that he will associate the carrier with fun rides rather than
    trips to the vet.  While he doesn't seem wildly enthusiastic about
    it, he doesn't complain and seems to want more.  - Chris
2424.11more laundry anticsMDA::NEWSTEDFri May 05 1989 16:1011
    Folding the sheets is fun time at our place, I hold on end, hubby holds
    the other, Pippin walks into the middle of the sheet thinking she's
    gonna take a bath on a nice clean surface, but when she lays down we
    pick up the sheet, encompassing her like a hammock and swing the kitty!
    
    the look on her face is hysterical! But she won't step off! even
    when we put it down....she loves torment!
    
    happy feline fun!
    
    Nancy
2424.12PENPAL::TRACHMANExoticSH=Persian in UnderwearFri May 05 1989 16:2918
    re: 11
    
    Folding sheets IS fun; changing the sheets on a queen-size bed with
    7 or 8 cats playing with the sheet when you are trying to fit the
    corners on to the mattress is fun ALSO.  It looks very strange to
    have all four corners fitted in place with 3 or 4 large bumps 
    under the fitted sheet.  I just sit and wait to see what they
    decide to do - they usually squirm/squeeze out the sides if I
    get mean and don't take one corner off so they can get out!
    I sometimes have the lumpiest bed in town !!
    
    E.T. + 16 lumps





                 
2424.13variations on a themeATREUS::LYNCHFri May 05 1989 16:5412
    A friend of ours had a similar rattan chair, and the kitties
    loved it.  We used to call it kitty-prison.  If only one was under the
    chair, the other would poke and paw to get in.  The cat inside would
    just rest, satisfied that he could not be disturbed by a SNEAK ATTACK!
    
    A few months back we were restoring one of those old country store
    glass cases.  The cats took an instant shine to it and decided it was
    their new fort.  It was special because they could be secure inside,
    yet still see what was going on about them.  One cat would sleep inside
    the case, and the other... you guessed it! slept on top of the case
    directly above the cat inside.  They thought that was the cat's meow!
    
2424.14NZOV01::PARKINSONReunite Gondwannaland!Mon May 08 1989 05:468
    Kimi also used to enjoy being tossed up and dpown in a sheet. Since
    he grew big, though, we having liked to risk our sheets!
    
    The one time we tried to same trick with Sura, he insisted it was
    against the Geneva convention. He has very different ideas on suitable
    games.
    
    Shayne
2424.15AIMHI::SPINGLERTue May 09 1989 20:0625
    
                Kitty roller coaster, or the sheet game 
    
    My little cat Panther loves to get swung in the sheets at laundry
    folding time.  It has got to be one of her all time favorite games.
    She likes it even better than helping with sorting the laundry,
    (She jumps from basket to basket to make sure mom doesn't make any
    mistakes.)
    
    Panther has been known to climb up Daddy (My husband) and do a flying
    leap into the middle of a sheet that is being folded between us!!!
    You should see the look on her little face when she lands in the
    middle.  It's like "Ok let the games begin!!!"  The rougher the
    ride the better she likes it.  We have even twirlled her upside
    down in a circle.  Panther loved it!  We have a hard time getting
    her out of the sheet when we figure that she has had enough.
    
    Kitty circus I guess, Spot wants nothing to do with carnival rides.
    
    To each her own.
    
    Feline fine,
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot