BS: A problem with cats

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: skipy
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 10:19 AM

because they're cats and they don't know what it's made of...
Cats know everything!

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Bee
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 10:28 AM

My cat is thoroughly put off scratching furniure by the application of a Bitter lemon product, but when I tried to keep him out of the Christmas tree with it, he was willing to stand in liquid puddles of it rather than desist from chewing on the shiny lights. (Thinks he's a dog: has chewed the wooden button decorations off my slippers, the metal handle of my capo has kitty teeth marks all over, chair rungs are a favourite, and he has almost chewed the leg off a small plastic dog I got him: nevertheless, the vet says his teeth are fine.)

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Scrump
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 10:30 AM

has chewed the wooden button decorations off my slippers, the metal handle of my capo has kitty teeth marks all over, chair rungs are a favourite, and he has almost chewed the leg off a small plastic dog I got him: nevertheless, the vet says his teeth are fine

I wouldn't argue with the vet on that evidence. How much did he charge you for that diagnosis? :-)

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Bee
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 10:39 AM

Ha! I was worried he might have toothache or summat - she's a very nice vet, been using her services for fourteen years, and it was part of a complete checkover plus needles. It is astounding how seriously he's chewed the metal capo, it's all dented. Hope he never bites me with intent.

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Scrump
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 10:41 AM

I hope the capo was off the guitar at the time. I hate to think what he could do to the fingerboard if he can chew a metal capo :-)

Maybe my cat being a guitarophobe isn't such a problem after all :-)

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Bee
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 10:47 AM

Wish mine was a guitarophobe. He hasn't managed to chew anything on it, but he's fascinated; likes to pluck at the strings with his claws, is dying to get into the soundhole but is thwarted by the strings, puts his paw over my fretting hand when I'm playing - maybe I can teach him to play! I'll be rich!

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 01:20 PM

Scratching a sofa seems to be cattish for "I want you to open the door so I can go outside".

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 02:58 PM

Bee, my daughter's cat plucks the strings on my baritone uke with her teeth. She's always quite proud of herself when she does! Wonder if she thinks it's "kitty floss?"

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 08:14 PM

"...my daughter's cat plucks the strings on my baritone uke with her teeth" - that could make a great double act! Or get together with Bee and Cat and make a quartet. Stick it on YouTube and you'd be cult figures.

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Bee
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 08:22 PM

McGrath, you know cats will never do those cute clever tricks when someone else is watching - they just sit there, look blank, then up a hind leg for a close inspection of their favourite bits.

Kat, I honestly think they like the sound they're making. Mine is very methodical about it, positions himself in a convenient spot, then slowly and carefully reaches a paw to a string, deploys claws, and plucks. Aaannnd... rinse and repeat, until cat boredom ensues (approximately 32 seconds).

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 08:43 PM

Yes, I know - there are people like that too, sneak up on them playing and it's great stuff, but as soon as they know they're being noticed, it flies away.

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 11:25 PM

LMAO, Bee, what a sight you conjure! Don't ya just love them? I think they do like the sound! Actually, my daughter's cat, Emily, is an extrovert and loves to be watched. I *think* I have a short video of her plucking. I'll have to see. Great idea, McGrath!

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Scrump
Date: 14 Mar 07 - 05:02 AM

AS I said, our cat is (sadly for me) a complete guitarophobe. If I so much as pick up a guitar, he will rush out of the room. If he comes in while I'm playing it, he wants to go into another room, or back outside.

I don't think it's just my playing that's the problem, but he's got me worried now...

As an experiment, when we first got the cat and discovered this dislike or fear of guitars, I got the banjo out. He'd never seen or heard it before, but the reaction was the same - he was off! It's the same with the mandola. So his irrational fear applies to all stringed instruments, not just guitars.

I can only assume he had a bad experience of some sort in his previous life (he's a second-hand cat and was 'pre-owned'!), involving a stringed instrument.

He's quite happy to be in the room when recordings of my guitar playing are on (I tried that as an experiment), so it can't be the sound that annoys him.

If any cat psychologists out there can throw any light on it, or suggest how I can get him to tolerate my playing, I'd be interested to know!

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Bee
Date: 14 Mar 07 - 06:31 AM

McGrath, someone may have told him a scary story about...catgut strings! Or, more mundanely, he may have tried plucking strings at his former abode and been severely chastised for the effort. Some people are very possessive about their instruments.

Kat, I do love the kitties. I've had six over 35 years (three at a time for many years) and every one had a distinct personality. One big tuxedo named Bluepetal (don't ask) was a cat genius, I believe, but it did him no good in the human world - we're too unpredictable. Once, unpacking boxes after a move, someone threw an empty box down the hall just as the cat rounded the corner. He knew the box was about to be thrown, calculated its trajectory perfectly, moved to avoid - but the human hesitated, and the box landed, of course, right on top of the cat.

He was the most laid back and gentle cat, never managed to kill anything, brought a racoon home as a friend once, was absolutely appalled by the behaviour of the other two cats: would sit back and look outraged while they shredded the toilet paper or - horrors! - ate mice.

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 14 Mar 07 - 06:47 AM

So, we have a solution. The original poster should sit outside, playing the guitar beside his car.

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: GUEST,CrazyEddie
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 04:43 AM

LTS "We've never noticed cats sitting on our car, but then we park on the street. The piano on the other hand.... "

You mean your piano sits on your car? That's just WEIRD

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Dazbo
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 06:40 AM

I could play my guitar "badly" but I think my melodeon would work better. Are cats allergic to melodeons? (PS anyone got some spare body armour as I suspect my neighbours would be allergic to the melodeon too!)

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Bee
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 07:40 AM

Perhaps it might serve a dual purpose - you play your melodeon, keeps cats off car, plus neighbours throw tomatos which you can then process into free tomato sauce!

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Dazbo
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 08:09 AM

I wasn't called the ketchup kid for nothing you know:-)

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: JennyO
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 08:22 AM

No Crazy Eddie, she said "The piano on the other hand.... "

So the piano sits on her other hand. Elementary my dear Watson.

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: Scrump
Date: 15 Mar 07 - 11:36 AM

So the piano sits on her other hand

I say, isn't that rather painful? :-)

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: GUEST,Ilovecats>Dead ones!!!
Date: 19 Mar 07 - 05:30 PM

cats are pest kill um all!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: A problem with cats
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 19 Mar 07 - 10:41 PM

"You could cover your car with those plastic spikes"
"Do you think we could patent them before someone else thinks of it?"

Already been done - The Cars That Ate Paris

The Cars That Ate Paris is a 1974 Australian film. Directed by Peter Weir, it was his first feature film. Shot mostly in the rural town of Sofala, New South Wales, the film is set in the fictional town of Paris in which most of the inhabitants appear to be directly, or indirectly, involved in profiting from the results of car accidents.