"She's an indoor kitty..."

Cosmo & Bob both get a bit excited when we have intruders (insects) come in the house. Flies are good for demented pouncing at windows fun, but really it's the tiny bugs that hang around on the ceiling by the lamp that are best; Cosmo sits on the table in an ostensibly relaxed position, but his head'll be at an odd angle, and he'll just whimper at them as if he's begging them to come down.

When Bob's hungry he'll come right up to you, fix your gaze, and smack his lips at you in a chewing motion. We call it "chewy face".

Childhood cat would do "chewy face" when about to throw up. It provided a convenient warning to open the door and eject her into the garden.

I guess you can't do that with an indoor kitty, and kitty dignity probably precludes staying in bathtubs, so... what then?

Slide a magazine in front of them.

Always make sure you have some junk mail lying around you can shove on the floor in front of the cat. Our cat Madeira (adopted cat, we didn't choose the name, and which I'm going to defintely start calling 'Maddy Paws' now) makes a rhythmic retching sound before being sick to aid us in the endevour.

Doh! x-post

This is one definite bonus with having wooden floors

http://warmingglow.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/cat-puke-plate-600x316.jpg

http://www.marriedtothesea.com/011207/puke-plates.gif

well shoot.

My big black girl cat is obsessed with licking plants. Fortunately she never chews them. In my old apartment she would lick the frost off the windows.

My childhood cat would always move away or turn his head from the magazine/newspaper at the very last second!

Are all cats ecstatic closed-eyed obsessive plastic lickers, or is it just our two?

We have one obsessive licker. The other one not so much. But our girl cat licks everything. And especially plastic bags.

my cat chews on record sleeves occasionally, and several of our cats growing up were bag lickers--one especially, Brynner, would always get her head stuck in the bag and run around like a maniac until someone caught her & removed it.

yeah there's some chemical in plastic used in bags that cats go nutty for.

my cat chews fabric. so, I can't leave my shoes out or he'll chew the laces off. and all of my bathroom towels have bite marks. :-/

Francie is a book licker.

We have an awful cat problem. One of our two cats behaves flawlessly, but one has become a shit terrorist. All of a sudden, Gibson will just take a shit on the carpet, once a day, without fail, in one special spot. We tried cayenne in the carpet, baking powder, and nothing deters this cat. He just wants to crap on this part of the carpet and we can't figure out what to do to deter him from doing this nasty, naughty thing. Any freelance cat therapists (i won't say "pussy whisperers") out there that want to weigh in with some much needed behavior-modification advice?

yeah there's some chemical in plastic used in bags that cats go nutty for. - ah, this may explain why one of my cats insists on eating small strips of plastic (candy wrappers, cellophane tear-offs from cig packs etc.). He will ingest them, puke them back up, eat them again, repeat.. I'd thought that he might just be slightly retarded, but maybe it is a chemical thing?

neotropygsqu - Did your other cat happen to attack Gibson when he was shitting appropriately in the cat box? People recommend have one more cat box than you do cats (which we've never been able to do, because where would we put them?) when things like this are happening. I know Morrie had a problem like this due to Drac attacking him just as he would get all hunkered down and focused.

we have two cats, and three litter boxes, so we're not sure what the story is. I've heard that if a cat ever had a GI infection of any kind and it hurt them to crap/pee, they might associate the pain with the place where they tried to do their business. But as far as we know our cat is healthy so it's kind of a mystery. A very unpleasant mystery.

Standard advice when a cat changes litterbox habits like that usually goes: 1) take the cat to the vet to make sure there is nothing physically wrong, even if you think the cat is healthy, since something may have developed since the last vet visit; and 2) make sure that the litter box is very clean, as in clean it ASAP after use. You can also buy some enzymatic carpet cleaner designed to destroy the secret smells of poop 'n pee to which cats become attracted.

Yes, and if Gibson is still peeing in the box, it makes you wonder. Can you set one of the litter boxes right where he is using the carpet temporarily? Put one of those puppy training pads under it to catch any nastiness. (xpost - Jenny's advice is probably better)

So I am going out of town this week, and I'm a bit nervous about leaving my cat alone. I have roommates of course who would be able to feed him & water him etc, but as far as the cat's EMOTIONS.... what if he runs away cuz he feels abandoned? He's got a history of disappearing for 24 hours or more (see above) and I'm a bit worried that if I'm not there to keep an eye on him he'll just disappear and be gone when i get back. I had asked a co-worker to take him in while I'm gone, but she said her roommate got really bummed out at the idea, which kinda sucks imo. What is a man to do?

the issue of course is that he goes out into the backyard frequently, sometimes only returning when I yell for him & shake his food bowl. and the backdoor is almost always open for breeze & light (my apt is like living in a submarine.)

He won't give a shit.

her roommate got really bummed out at the idea

wtf?

my cat is very very needy, niles!

trayce: i guess he's allergic or some shit :\

waaaahhh, my co-worker flaked on looking after my cat, so i guess i have to just trust that he will be okay without me for five(!!) nights. i do worry a lot though. i am a worrier.

my best friend's non-indoor cat went missing last week and was presumed dead

but then today it turned out he had been taken in by some family he had followed, and the family had then seen the posters my best friend put up

lost cat posters have NEVER worked before iirc

hurrah!

I guess my feelings on the whole outdoor/indoor controversy are that in an ideal world, all cats would have a safe, stimulating outdoor area that they could explore when they felt like it. My grandparents have always let their cats go outside. They have a big yard and an acre of trees behind the house, but they also live on a very busy street. They've lost a few cats to the street, but they've had their current cat for about 15 years and she's never been hit (although her brother was killed by a car there). I can see how much she enjoys going outside, and given her record of avoiding the street, I'm sure it's for the best to let her out. However, I also think that cats are capable of leading perfectly content and happy lives indoors - provided that their owners play with them and give them toys, attention and stimulation. Where I live, letting a cat outside is just not an option. So I disagree with the idea that it's better not to have a cat at all if you can't let them outside. I think it's perfectly acceptable to sacrifice some variety and stimulation for the benefit of the cat's safety, health and longevity.

yeah im not letting my cat roam around bed-stuy, sorry

when i thought my cat ran away i put up posters.
even tho he turned up in the neighbors yard the next day i still get phone calls from ppl thinking they've seen him. lotsa pretty tuxedo cats roamin williamsburg apparently.

I guess no one has linked to this NY Times article, which sheds a different light on the issue, highlighting the damage that outdoor cats do to the local bird population:

"Give Birds a Break. Lock Up the Cat."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/science/29angi.html

I like when people put bells on outdoor cats, mainly because it annoys them.

There are some great outdoor cats near where I live. One chap has worked out how to use pedestrian crossings to safely traverse junctions.

My sister's friend's cat went missing two years ago and she put up a poster; someone phoned up and said "Hi, I've seen your cat - it was under the wheels of a fucking truck hahahahaha"

the cat came home, two years later

^^^poster delivers

My husband has named all the hobo/outdoor cats he sees on the way to work: Witch Hazel, Tux Shortbus, Corned Beef Hash, Taft, Doc Morsel, Oscar Snagtooth, and Edwyn Collins.

i'm guessing Taft is a rather large kitty?

Your husband is good at granting names!

^^^

would hang with Corned Beef Hash and Tux Shortbus.

We give names to our outdoor pals too: Oil Can Harry, Congo Jack, Dr. Seuss, One Ear, etc.

So I disagree with the idea that it's better not to have a cat at all if you can't let them outside. I think it's perfectly acceptable to sacrifice some variety and stimulation for the benefit of the cat's safety, health and longevity.

my 2 cats, restricted to the indoors, wanting badly to roam around outdoors, but well-fed and loved, annual checkups with the vet etc vs 2 cats not adopted from the shelter, kept in a cage 23 hours per day, fates uncertain. hmm.

Wd totally rock with a cat called Tux Shortbus <3

indoor kitty's got such a supple wrist

Had two cats that I felt this way. After seeing them get outside and romp through the yard and roll around and chase squirrels and stuff I couldn't stand to keep them inside, and they both died of car injuries within less than a year of their lives.

Just got a third one, probably going to make him be an indoor cat because I don't want a repeat. Losing a cat really sucks.

I give my cat supervised backyard plays when its a nice day and I've free time to keep an eye on her (so she doesnt try and get under the house where she may get stuck). She loves rolling in the dirt and lying in the garden in the sun. But this is why I *dont* like doing this too often - outside + possums around = cat gets fleas. Ugh.

Would totally hang out with Edwyn Collins cat.

Adopted an FIV-positive cat a few months ago for this reason - they're not supposed to be either outside or with other cats, which is perfect since our apartment is on the 2nd floor, no balcony/patio, and no other cats. He builds up a lot of energy and gets crazy if we don't play with him everyday, though, but I don't mind.