Another episode of the pet ownership follies

[layla]

Poor little cat. I'm turning into such a bitch where he's concerned. It's gotten to where he develops a nervous look when he sees me coming. On the other hand, *I* think I have perfectly reasonable expectations from my pets: all that I ask of them is that they don't hurt me, don't destroy my things and, when I order them to stop doing something, they stop and don't resume again. You'd think it would be very simple to stay on my good side. The dogs do it with no problem. The cat ... well, it's a different story. The thing I really wish I could get him to stop doing is sinking his claws into people. By "people" I mean me. One of his favorite games is to sneak up on my feet when I'm sitting in my computer chair (I usually either have my legs crossed -- so the feet stick out either end -- or have one foot under me and the other one hooked over and dangling) and jump up and sink his claws into the sensitive part of my foot. I think he thinks he's just getting my attention, the little bastard. It gets my attention, all right. Last night I was petting him on my lap and, appropos of nothing, he reached up and whacked me in the nose with his claws out. You ever have a cat claw get hooked in your nostril? He took a flying trip across the room for that little stunt.

Yesterday while I was at work he also chewed up my favorite pair of headphones. Again. (Orion fixed them the last time. They still work, but the earpiece is all gnawed on.)

The last straw, really, is that the cat and the dog wake me up every morning wrestling (he sits on the bed by my head and plays with the dog, which is very difficult to sleep through, although Orion seems to manage just fine). And I can't shut him out of the bedroom because when I do, he keeps me awake trying to claw his way back in ...

Maybe when summer comes, he'll expend his energy outside ... I suspect a lot of his misbehavior is just boredom ... but man, is he driving me crazy.

Comments

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yeah, the funny thing is, they pester me a lot more than they do my husband. Maybe even though I *think* I'm being bitchy, I'm actually not being nearly bitchy *enough*!

It's hilarious watching them play together, because Lucky's about 50 pounds and the cat is approximately the size of his head. Yet they love wrestling with each other. Go fig. We were a little nervous about introducing the cat to the household (we got him last fall), since neither of the dogs had been around cats before, but they get along beautifully. I just wish that they'd stop using the bed as a staging area for their mock-fights. (The cat likes to assume the high ground, because the dog isn't allowed on the bed and that way, he can get up to dog-head-level and take more accurate shots.)

[vonandmoggy.livejournal.com]

Our Tabby grew up with the Husky, so he has no fear of her whatsoever. And she plays gently with him. The main thrust of their playfights occurs when Reilly, the cat, tackles Rowen, the husky, and wraps himself around her neck. I'll post pics in a sec on our LJ so you can see what I mean. It's awesome to watch and they never hurt each other!

But I don't blame your cat for taking the high ground when s/he can. I know I would!

Von

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha! Man, does that look familiar! That's exactly what ours do! Shiva also likes to stand up on his hind legs, wrap his front legs around Lucky's neck or head, and gnawl on his ears...

It's really amazing watching dogs be so gentle with "their" cats, because Lucky could clearly bite Shiva in half if he wanted to, but instead he lightly nibbles on him or bats at him gently with his paws (each paw capable of flattening the cat's little body).

One weird thing we noticed about Shiva when we first got him was that he actually played more gently with the dogs than with us. When he'd bat at us, he'd do it with his claws out, but when he played with the dogs he'd usually have his claws sheathed.