Cats Understand Tone If Nothing Else

Last Friday, my apartment's maintenance came to repair my heater. There was a lot of commotion going on in the hallway, and while the other cats hid, Ruby Veronika, my insanely hormonal Siamese mix, stood guard. I overheard this while reading on the couch:

Ruby V: Mew.

Maintenance: Hey there, pretty girl! Aren't you pretty with those blue eyes?

Ruby V: Mew.

Maintenance: You're pretty, and fluffy, and you want to know what I'm doing in your home, don't you?

Ruby V: Prrrrp.

Maintenance: I'm trying to get this heater going so you'll stay warm this winter, though I doubt you'd need it because you're so fluffy AND SO FAT!

Ruby: MMMAAAAAAH! Uuuuuuuuurrrr!

At this time Ruby came into the living room growling with her ears flattened, and when I was able to pick myself up from the floor, I had to explain to my bewildered maintenance man that you can't lift your voice up at any time with Ruby because she thinks she's being lectured, or worse, told no.

Maintenance: I thought she was mad because I called her fat!

Me: Don't ever comment on a woman's weight!

Ruby: Uuuurrrrrrrr.

LOL!!!

Meow!

Bahaha! My cats aren't so good with tone. I'm sure they ought to understand it, given how intelligent they are, but they don't give a hoot. The only time Lexi reacted to my OMG NOOO and scurried off in shame was when she knocked over the ink system and knew she done wrong, lol.

My cats understand everything. They just don't care!

You talking to me? You talking to me??

Rory will get up on the dresser, look me in the eye, and start pushing things off it. He KNOWS he isn't supposed to. He just wants attention. Or feeding. And he keeps doing it because it works. He has the whole family well trained.

My mom's cat used to knock things off the mantle downstairs so she'd have to get up and go down there, and then feed him. When she finally removed everything he was able to move, he took to licking her eyelids open. He was pretty smart. XD

I had a cat named Jezebel who used to lick my eyelids open. She was really something. I moved in with a friend to save money during graduate school. The first evening we were all together I went back to work. Jezebel came over to the coffee table in front of where my new roommate was sitting. There was a plant on the table that she knew belonged to my roommate. Slowly, slowly she tapped that plant over to the edge and tipped it onto the floor. She had never done that before. The two of them became friends eventually. One day Jezebel brought me a (live) mouse and dropped it at my feet. I started screaming, so Jezebel took it upstairs to Becky, who praised Jezebel and calmly put the mouse back outside.

LOL. Lexi often wakes me licking my face, but I don't think she's trying to get me up for any real reason, she just, likes to lick my face. She does also hop on the bed near me, give a big Mew! and hop off, which I think is more aimed as Yo! Wake up! than the licking. xP Before she arrived, Kuma used to wake me most mornings around 8 by hopping up near my head, giving a mew or two, and hopping back down, lol. Initially she started earlier, like 6.30/7, and when I'd certainly not get up at such hours, she'd leave and come back every half hour or so doing it again, hahaha.

I had a cat that used to pull the covers off my husband in the morning. Sometimes she would miss, and he would end up with some deep scratches!

>9 krazy4katz: Tilly does that to me! Its a very strange sensation to wake up to a sandpaper tongue on your eyelids isn't it!!!

Interestingly on tone - I discovered this morning that it works in reverse too, lol... Miss Tilly is a bossy thing who is often telling me off for something or other & @ mealtimes I can often be heard saying "Stop Screaming at me Tilly! You will get fed I promise!" because she has these loud, long, drawn out meows that really do sound like I'm being told off (pretty sure its the Burmese gene coming out)... Well this morning I was doing things a bit out of order & Tilly was outside in the enclosure rather than weaving around my feet screaming for breakfast, but Taji was sitting on the kitchen floor & let out the cutest high pitched "Mew" at me - & it really sounded like a question, you know how your tone gets higher when asking a question - anyway I was like "Oh Taji, you're so cute! Dont worry I haven't forgotten your breakfast, I'll get onto it now" :)

Somehow I don't think Tilly's ever going to learn that I respond better to pleasant requests than screaming demands tho, lol :)

Hahaha, Lexi goes nuts when it comes to food and sits there shouting at me the whole time I'm getting it ready, while getting between my legs and the counter, standing up, and shoving back at my legs with her head, lmao. When I'm finished and pick up the dish to put on the floor for her, she starts doing the mews even faster with the whole excited/expectant YES! MY FOOD! GIVE NOW! attitude going on, turning quick circles in front of me. Yesterday it seemed she was trying a new tact, though, instead of doing the longer more pitiful I'm staaaarrrrrvvinnnnngggg meows she started with these quite loud short chirp-like noises instead. I'm not sure which is better! XD

Yes, they do seem to have ways of communicating with their humans. We have 2 cats (Gracie and Boots) who start off with one-syllable mews. We talk to them, they respond. If they don't get what they want, they escalate to 2 syllables. So far 3 has been their limit.

Lexi goes on quite a bit, hahaha. More often my "talking" to her is mimicking what she does, and there's times she's gone back & forth with me doing that for several minutes. She's clearly addressing the situation (namely: where's the food?!), and she turns and gives me amusing looks after I've mimicked her mew back at her, and then proceeds with the next. I can't quite tell if she's like, Wth why are you trying to do that?? or if she's puzzled by her questions/demands being "answered" by a repeat of them. It's quite fun either way. XP

I actually have to shut them in another room when I'm serving their dinner coz Tilly goes NUTS for wet or raw food & will have her face in the tin or pouch before I can get the spoon in to put it in their bowls, lol. So I shut them in the hall while weighing & dishing the food out - the whole time I'm getting screamed at through the hall door, lol... Dry food at breakfast is not such an issue, she screams & weaves arround my feet & still jumps up & tries to eat from the bowl before I put it on the floor, but she seems to temporarily accept my "get off the bench" commands when its dry food...

Taji gets a bit excited & will let out his lil 'mew' every now & then & sometimes he'll stretch up my leg to remind me to hurry, but he's just not as vocal or demanding as his sister :)

Yeah, once Lexi realizes she can jump on the counter, she is going to have to be locked in another room. She would be absolutely relentless and I'd not be able to do a thing, she would just wolf down all the food before I could even remove her! But if you do put her back in the bedroom, you can still hear her screaming for the food LOL. Fortunately though, while she jumps up to the freezer and the bedroom dresser/window which are practically the same height as the counter, she had tried to jump up to it for food when she was still littler and couldn't make it (while she hadn't attempted the other places back then yet), so she is still of the mindset that it's unreachable. Which is also quite silly since there's a second way up (rather than simply jumping at the counter) over at the windowsill, which is a good several inches lower down and she's even watched Nushie jump up that way, but still hasn't tried. But I'm not complaining! XD

I wish I could make Tilly understand that her tablets are helping her! I just got bitten for the first time ever coz she was fighting the tablet so fiercely :( I'm thankful I only have to fight this battle with her twice a week, but she's fighting harder every time so I need to find a better way (for both of us - i hate upsetting her & I don't want any more swollen fingers!) in case these tablets end up an ongoing thing *sigh*

Ugh tell me about it, Kuma has some sort of skin allergy and needs liquid meds, I reduced it to every other day because she hates it SO MUCH, but if she doesn't get it she scratches herself to bleeding. :/ She tries to move her head away from me and makes a noise that my husband claims is like a car engine, hahaha, she does this rurrr-rurrr-rurrr disgruntled thing. 2 days ago when I did it she was even hissy-growling at me the whole time too, only cutting off when I'd SHH!! her but then starting up again a moment later. She is SO quick to growl her annoyance at every little thing and I think she just gets worse and worse with it! bah.

Pills are usually easier, actually, because they can just be stuck in food; will she not eat it on her own that way?

I've been really lucky & never had any problems pilling either Taji or Tilly until the last couple of weeks. Always had to watch Tilly coz she'd hide it in her mouth then spit it out when i wasn't looking but they've never fought me before. I think these pills must taste particularly bad or something? I mean the frothing at the mouth! & its only been a few weeks & only the 2 tablets a week so she's had a pill a day for that long before & not gotten like this. I did try in food & treats once before, but she just looked at me in disgust - too clever for her own good this girl! I'm sure it would be easier if Taji needed the pills, lol... Kerri has suggested vegemite coz they love the salt so I might get a small jar & try that, Kerri also said she will show me a trick next time I go in to TCC so hopefully we will find a solution that works... Meanwhile, throbbing finger has an icepack on it!

Yeah Kuma has gotten a little frothy a couple times, the bugger. Hope the vegemite works!

In case any of you haven't seen this about giving pills to cats:

1) Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of the cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2) Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3) Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw soggy pill away.

4) Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm while holding rear paws tightly with left hand Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

5) Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Retrieve spouse from outside.

6) Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees. Hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold hear firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.

7) Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

8) Wrap cat i large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible form below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

9) Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans. Drink one beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

10) Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door on neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

11) Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot of scotch and drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check record for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw shirt away and fetch new on from bedroom.

12) Call fire department to retrieve cat from across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

13) Tie the little ^@'s front legs to rear legs with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of steak. Be rough about it. Hold cat's head vertically and pour two pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

14) consume remainder of scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the ER. Sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

15) Arrange for SPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

How To Give Your Dog A Pill

1) Wrap pill in bacon.

2) Toss it in the air.

Hahaha. My dogs used to get theirs stuck in some cream cheese. Worked excellent! I gave Lexi her worming pill by just tossing it on top of her (canned (all they eat is canned/raw)) food. She eats anything halfway edible, no problems there, hahaha. I think Kuma would probably eat one stuck into the piece of food. Nushie, I'm not sure, she's very particular and she tends to eat very little bites, it might be difficult to trick her into it. It's hard enough getting liquid meds into her, when she had to get Zantac for several days I resorted to just putting it in the bottom of her dish and the food on top of it, because if I put it on top of the food, the smell kept her from eating those spots, she'd just eat around it! But under, she'd get at least some of it, because the smell of the food hid it well enough until it was in her mouth already. Fortunately her pain meds she had to take a few days ago were odorless so she just ate that food no problem with it on top. Such tricky little buggers they are!