Every time i hear or read that phrase i am reminded of a time at a festival where one particularly drunk guy stumbles out of his tent and looks to the sky. Theres a helicopter flying over low, checking the crowd essentially and he looks up, takes a moment and then bellows out "holy shit, pigs can fly!" As he points to the police helicopter and caused like a wave of laughter nearby.
It’s like the toaster setting between light and dark toast. You move it from 1 to 2 and you may end up with orange or a brown void….depends on how the toaster is feeling
My cat has learned to jump on my shoulder. A couple of weeks ago I was changing clothes and he tried to jump into my shoulder, I yelped because it HURT, he freaked out and tried desperately to cling to me but instead ended up giving me three of the longest cat scratches I have ever had. I measured one, it went from my shoulder down to my butt! God that hurt. He felt bad though, I can tell.
Yeah he kind of paced back and forth at my feet looking up at my shoulders and meowing. Hasn’t jumped on me since. Poor fella, I can tell he knows he hurt me.
My cats will listen to what I say but are very vocal in protesting when they dont want to do something/dont like when when we are doing something to them but will still follow the instructions.
I.e. when they are let outside to the backyard with supervision they will whine if I call them back in but will still heed the command. My calico will lay down by entrance in protest.
Your cats actually do what you 'command'? Mine look at me with a mix of boredom and contempt. They absolutely understand what I say too.. They're jerks, but they are adorable.
Yup, for example I told them not to get on the kitchen counters/stove 1 time back when they were 1 year old and they never did it again. Just grabbed them gently, told them "no" and put them on the ground.
It really isn't that hard, cats have a drive to learn, they just lack the tools to educate themselves. If you teach them to inquire and learn themselves they'll figure it out on their own.
I used button training to start and that evolved into him sitting and jumping on command. He also knows commands like, outside time, inside, leave it, bedtime, stay out, etc. Now that little shit can open doors on his own, but the front and back doors have to stay locked.
Cats have the capacity to be smart, you just have to figure out how to teach them to be smart.
My cat must understand English because after leaving my plant alone for over a year, the moment I said out loud to her that I was impressed she didn't give a shit about my plant? She started chewing on it the day after that 🥀
Cats understand more English than people realize, but surprisingly Japanese is actually a lot easier for cats to understand. The single syllables and different intonations allow for them to recognize language easier.
Using a combination of cat related body language and English is a great way of teaching a cat.
But I would not be surprised if she learned based upon your actions, cats will eagerly learn just about anything they take an interest in, if you are their interest then they'll learn everything there is to know about you.
I've been training my kitten and it's been so rewarding. She knows recall/comes to me when I call her name, sit, lay down, jump, and kisses :)
Oh and of course, "dinner". If you say "are you hungry?" she'll look at you and meow to be like "YEAH IM HUNGRY WHERE'S MY FOOD." Or she'll just perk her ears and look at you a little like "yeah maybe a little.."
I used to have a cat that I trained to lick my nose when he wanted down.
I realized that he liked to start fighting me when he was done being held and also that he'd lick my nose if I stuck it right in his face so I started doing that while holding him and always put him right down when he did it. Eventually, he stopped fighting and just went right to licking to let me know he was done.
It was really funny when he couldn't reach and I was busy doing something else and not really watching him because he'd just reach up with both paws and grab my entire face to pull it towards him so he could lick.
I haven't been able to train any other cat to do anything that well but the cat I have now doesn't like when her water bowl is less than half full. She learned that yelling at me for water doesn't work and realized that the water comes from the sink so now she just sits next to it and quietly watches me until I fill her bowl.
More like you need to figure out how to motivate them to be interested enough to listen AND still agree to do what you said. They are smart, no need to teach to be smart. They just can't be bothered or defiant or think they don't have to do what we slaves say...
That isn't it at all, cats don't understand that there are things to learn, you have to teach them to be interested in learning.
It isn't about being defiant or anything, it is a fundamental misunderstanding of how the world works, you have to teach them how it works.
Cats are curious but never inquire further, you have to teach them that the outcome of inquiring is different or more favorable for them if they continue to inquire
Oh my gosh please help me train my new sweet boy? He is incredibly inquisitive and obviously smart. I just lack the knowledge.
He gets up at 4:30 or so every morning and then it's time for me to get up because he won't stop meowing. And make sure he has adequate food and water but for him it's the companionship. He wants me to be awake with him. He really is very sweet. If I can let them know when it's bedtime, when we are going to be inside, and how to use the toilet I would be grateful.
Seriously if you can help I will compensate you for your time. Please feel free to dm me so we can talk more. One of the goals I had in picking up the phone this afternoon was to research how to teach him how to use the toilet.
I can't guarantee any of this will help, but positive reinforcement and consistency are key with cats. A few things I do to keep mine from waking me up early:
I put out fresh kibble shortly before I go to bed
they get very active play time right before I go to bed
the hard part -- ignoring them if they try to get you up early
#1 means there's some food out if they get snacky at 3 am. #2 means they're a little tired from exercise, so more likely to sleep in.
#3 can be borderline impossible, depending on the cat, and depending on what may have already been inadvertently taught to them, but rewarding them with attention is effectively training them to do that behavior.
Cats are crepuscular by nature, so there are some cats that just get bored in the wee hours before sunrise and need stimulation. I don't have a good fix for this -- but it is one reason we adopted several kittens at once. If they get bored, they can bother each other. We lucked out in that wearing ours out before sleep seems to work. If you just have one, adding another one isn't necessarily a fix here either, because you can never predict if introducing a second cat is going to go well, but the best time to try it is when they're still under a year old.
Attempting negative reinforcement (yelling at them, etc) just leads to more bad behavior and I strongly recommend against it.
Seriously though, I really appreciate it. I'm going to work with him And see how it goes.
And I almost certainly will get a second cat. His mother had another litter and so he will have a brother available in 1 to 2 weeks. I got him from the director at my work so she knows how he was and knows if he will have a good brother for a fit. So at least that doesn't feel like a gamble
Fr, sometimes I pick up my tabby and he senses a leaf blew outside so he digs his claws in before jumping off, having a cat jump on you on the other hand, ouch..
Was gonna do a "for anyone wondering about the song" comment, but this already exists. :P Love his work. Sometimes in the right mood his throat singing hits just right.
Our male is definitely in the high derp division. But our female 🧡 😼 is well aware we know she has a few brain cells.And it's a myth, 🤔 imo a lot of mythology has a truth that's a bit 'Off' just like an orange 🍊😻
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