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Tons of Cats
#48501 04/03/18 05:09 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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or why humans are so enchanted with cats ...

New Yorker interview with Abigail Tucker, author of The Lion in the Living Room : How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World (2016) which is accompanied by a 7-minute video with a cats — oops — cast of thousands.

Re: Tons of Cats
Ruppens #48519 04/09/18 02:30 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ruppens
That's both funny, interesting and thought provoking at the same time. As a cat owner myself, I can definitely see the truth behind a lot of this article.

And the book referenced is definitely worth a read — even if you already have a lot of cat lore under your belt. The author is a correspondent for the Smithsonian magazine, and her style of writing is informed and entertaining.

Re: Tons of Cats
Ruppens #48520 04/09/18 02:47 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ruppens
As a cat owner myself, I can definitely see the truth behind a lot of this article.

Hi, and welcome to FineTunedMac. smile

Nope! As per that video, you are NOT a cat owner; you're your cat's most cherished possession. laugh (As I once was. tongue )


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Tons of Cats
Ruppens #48521 04/09/18 03:02 PM
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It has been said that training is difficult if you have a cat. This is not true. Mine had me trained in only two days. tongue


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Tons of Cats
jchuzi #48523 04/09/18 07:23 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Vis-à-vis training ...

As once upon a time I mentioned in a books-to-read thread, have a gander at Gwen Cooper's Homer's Odyssey : A Fearless Feline Tale or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat (a New York Times bestseller from 2009).

He taught himself to use a human's toilet, obviously without being able to visually monitor a human's use of same — which freaked out the author. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Re: Tons of Cats
grelber #48524 04/09/18 07:52 PM
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Speaking of intelligence, one my cats figured out how to unscrew the top from a food jar. As far as I know, he never learned it from a human.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Tons of Cats
jchuzi #48526 04/10/18 07:00 AM
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grelber Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: jchuzi
... one my cats figured out how to unscrew the top from a food jar.

It is said that if cats had opposable thumbs they would no longer have a use for us (other than as food). That seems to be one step away ... even closer if he learns how to open pop-top food tins and/or to use a can opener.

Re: Tons of Cats
grelber #48527 04/10/18 01:26 PM
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Originally Posted By: grelber
It is said that if cats had opposable thumbs they would no longer have a use for us (other than as food). That seems to be one step away ... even closer if he learns how to open pop-top food tins and/or to use a can opener.

If the ability to open containers were the criteria raccoons would rule the world.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

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Re: Tons of Cats
joemikeb #48528 04/10/18 02:45 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
If the ability to open containers were the criteria raccoons would rule the world.

In most North American cities (at least) they rule the night.
Have you checked out the studies (with videos) of the tribes in Metro Toronto and environs? I think you might find some of the TV programs on such at cbc.ca.

I suspect that Fort Worth might also fit in the mix.

In Sarasota I noted that some small grapefruit trees with low-hanging mature fruit started showing not-so-low-hanging fruit overnight; not because the trees had grown but because raccoons had cored out the fruit while leaving the skins on the branches. tongue

Re: Tons of Cats
grelber #48530 04/10/18 04:33 PM
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Originally Posted By: grelber
I suspect that Fort Worth might also fit in the mix.

There are two or three that show up in my yard regularly. One, a female, will stop and "chirp" to me when she sees me. I "chirp" back and we carry on an extended conversation until one of us or the other gets bored and leaves. I wish I knew what we are talking about, but whatever it is she seems very interested.

Where my son used to live on the Conejos River in Southern Colorado after many trials and failures the residents were finally able to construct a fence that would keep the bears out of the trash dumpster. Not to be out witted the bears recruited the raccoons to open the gate and let the bears in. In turn the bears would break into the dumpster and throw trash bags full of food out so the raccoons could get to them. The entire operation was so carefully coordinated the human residents would argue over whether it was the bears or raccoons that planned the attack. Bears are smart and persistent, but having lived with a raccoon as a house pet, my money is on the raccoons as the instigators.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Tons of Cats
jchuzi #48562 04/15/18 07:14 PM
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Re: Training Cats

On the other hand . . . .

Some years ago, there was a feral cat at a local shelter who was labelled "un-adoptable" by the managers. Anyone who walked within feet of the cage would be hissed and snarled at (by the cat, not by the managers). This cat was expected to live out its days in a cage because of its lack of sociability. Too bad, really, for it was believed to be less than a year old.

I took this as a challenge. I offered to take the cat for two weeks. If I were unsuccessful in domesticating the beast, then I could return it. They, in turn, said that if I did succeed, they would wave all the adoptions fees (which, at that time, were $75).

It really was not difficult at all. FOOD and PATIENCE. I prepared small meals - one in the morning and one at night. The first day, the cat stayed cowering under the sofa while I placed the bowl at the opposite side of the living room. I watched from the next room. She didn't venture out, so, after 15 minutes, I took the bowl away. The second day, I did the same thing. Hungry by the third day, she went to the bowl. Day 4, same routine, but I stayed in the same room as her. By Day 5, I was sitting next to her while she ate. Continued this for several days and by the end of two weeks, I clipped her nails, gave her a bath, and she would sit in my lap. She was converted from a feral cat to an indoor cat who I could take out for a walk on a leash (as well as any dog).

Win-Win-Win all around. She died many years ago. I would get another "untrainable one" in a heartbeat if my new apartment building allowed pets.

Re: Tons of Cats
MG2009 #48566 04/16/18 08:26 AM
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Originally Posted By: MG2009
Re: Training Cats

On the other hand . . . .

And on the third hand, there's Hercules, the world's most awful cat (The other cat in the household, a female, lived her entire life up on a high shelf to avoid him!), who, apparently inexplicably, cozied up to one of my friends.

His explanation? "It was easy! The first time he snarled at me I kicked him across the room, and he was my immediate best friend." (Needless to say, it wasn't a permanent fix. tongue )


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire

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