wanttaja@ssc-vax.UUCP (Ronald J Wanttaja) (01/29/85)
Awright, you want to hear about violence to cats????
When we first got cats, my wife and I agreed that the cats would
not be allowed on the dining room table or the kitchen counter.
Well, the prohibition against the dining room table didn't last
long ("Ohh, isn't that CUTE? she wants to watch us eat...") but
we've tried to keep them from the counter. At first, we would
say "no", and if they didn't get down, we would go over and pick
them up and put them down. That didn't work too well (by the
way, the counter is freestanding, and the cat must jump from the
floor to get on it). So after a while, I started giving the
cat a mild swat on the rear as I picked it off the counter, while
saying "no!" My wife continued just picking the cat off the
counter.
The result? If the cats are on the counter, and my wife comes into
the kitchen, they just kind of saunter over to the edge...maybe.
But when I come in: Instant flying cat! If the other one isn't on
the counter, it also takes off for points unknown (probably guilty
about not turning the other one in :-) ). If we are in the kitchen,
and a cat crouches as if to jump on the counter, and I say "no,"
it stops...right now.
Don't try to tell me that I'm hurting the poor dear... I'm never mad
at the critter when I swat it; just an open-handed pop on the rear
flank. Its usual response, after I set it down, is to walk a few
steps, then settle down to groom for a while (not where I had hit it,
incidentally).
THEY KNOW they are not allowed on that counter. I have never picked
up the male cat from the counter, he utterly panics when he sees me.
The other one stays calm, tries to get away, but doesn't get too
frantic about it- seems willing to take her medicine.
It hasn't affected how they act towards us, they rarely have objections
when we carry them, still rub my legs when I get home, etc. And my wife
and I have a good giggle when we turn the light off in the bedroom at
night. You see, after we go to bed, we hear the rattle of silverware
and glasses from the sink in that counter...
Ron Wanttaja
(ssc-vax!wanttaja)
"Busy day, dear?"
"Busy?! Just spent four hours burying the cat!"
"Four hours to bury the cat?"
"Yeees, it wouldn't keep still, kept mucking about, 'owling..."