My cats have succeeded in bending me to their will. Not that I resisted very much. Okay, I cooperated quite willingly. Still, it has been fascinating to observe and
experience the way in which my cats have trained me to do what they want me to
do.
Quint is the least subtle of the two. When he wants something, he simply meows at
me until I figure out what that something is and either do it or supply
it. When he wants a kitty treat, he sits
by his “egg” and stares at me until he gets one. The “egg” is a plastic, egg-shaped toy that
is hollow on top and weighted at the bottom so that when he bats at it, is
spins around, wobbles a bit and then rights itself. The two halves unscrew from each other and
you can load small treats into the top.
There is a small hole in one side of the hollow top where the treats
fall out as the egg spins around. Quint
is very good at pushing the egg around the kitchen to get the treats to fall
out. So when he sits by his egg, I know
exactly what he wants.
I keep a length of string in one of the kitchen
drawers. Quint likes to have me drag the
string around for him to chase. He will
sit on the kitchen floor directly below that drawer and meow for me to play
with him. When he wants someone to throw
one of his catnip mice around the house for him, he will knock down the one he
wants to play with from the shelf where we keep them and start batting it
around at our feet.
At mealtimes, he demands to be fed on time each morning and
evening. He comes into the bedroom in
the morning and wakes up my wife when it’s time for him to be fed. In the evening he trots into the kitchen,
looks to see if there is fresh wet food in his dish and, if there is not, meows
loudly, letting whichever of us is there know that it is time for supper.
If he wants to be taken out in his cat-stroller, he will
come and find me, meow at me, and then lead me to the living room where the
stroller is parked. Often he will jump
up into the stroller, sit down inside and look up at me, waiting for his
ride. Other times, he will sit alongside
the thing and wait for me to put him inside so he can get that ride.
He usually does each of the activities at around the same
time each day, but I wouldn’t ever say that he does anything automatically, or
as part of a training pattern. I firmly
believe that, at any given moment, he knows exactly what he wants to do and
makes sure that if it’s not something he can do for himself, he gets the help
he needs to do it. I believe this
because at other times, he’ll play by himself, or he’ll start of game of chase
with Hedge. He calls on me when he needs
or wants me to help him.
Hedge is less demanding and much more subtle in getting what
he wants, but he, too, knows how to get us to give it to him. He likes the new Tumbler treats from
Temptations and he’ll come into the kitchen in the evening looking for someone
to roll a few of them to him while he runs after them. He still only likes to be petted in certain
places, but when he thinks it’s time for him to be petted, he is quite
insistent that I stop whatever I’m doing at the time and follow him to
whichever location he’s chosen and pet him right then. Depending on his mood, this can happen
several times a day. He doesn’t always
squeak at me to come and pet him, sometimes he’ll just sit outside of the door
of whatever room I am in and wait for me.
When I get near him, he will then lead me to the spot where he wants to
be petted, looking over his shoulder to make sure I’m following.
Both cats here their special times when they get
brushed. Hedge gets brushed in the
morning as soon as I am awake. Sometimes
he waits until he’s sure I’m about to get up and then jumps up on the bed about
the time my feet hit the floor.
Occasionally, he’ll have something else he’s doing in the morning, like
bird watching or eating breakfast, but as soon as he hears me moving around,
he’ll find me, squeak at me and lead me into the bedroom for his morning
grooming session. Quint gets brushed in
the evening. He gets both his teeth and
his fur brushed right around supper time.
He’s flexible about exactly when that happens, as long as it does happen
eventually.
There are times when my schedule requires that I be away
from the house at the times when the cats are used to having me around. They are very forgiving when that happens,
but I do get scolded and reminded that their needs really ought to come
first. Mostly of the time, I agree with
them. I like being a servant to my cats.
There’s no monetary reward in it, but the purrs I receive are priceless.
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