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Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 10:56:43 AM

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I have an adult cat that used to eat his food up on a counter top pushed back so that the Labrador "counter surfer" wouldn't get to it. Obviously we can't put the cat food on the ground or the dog would eat it. The cat would graze the dry food and eat at his leisure.

A couple of months ago he had minor surgery, so during the recovery I gave him his food on the floor or lifted him to the counter and just monitored so the Lab wouldn't come and eat it. Now I know for certain the cat is 100% able to jump on the counter, but he refuses. He wants to be picked up and put there. I've tried penning the dog and leaving the cat alone with the food for up to 1 hour thinking he'd stop complaining and hop up to eat it, but he just stands there meowing, waiting to be picked up.

If I move the food any lower, the dog will get it. The cat wants to graze on and off all day, so he's constantly looking to be picked up. It's getting old. Any ideas how to show him he can get up so he will become more independent? I've watched him jump similar heights without issue - I think it's a stubbornness thing.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:25:24 AM

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ok- for 3 days leave an empty dish that would contain the cat food next to the dog dish. Next find a new dish that will hold the real cat food on the counter- but wait until you think the cat is hungry before getting it ready.

let the cat see you "forget" to feed it.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:29:59 AM

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my cat is similar weird wired...over months I had doubts that she its normal cat food as she stayed slim and kept begging for her treats...at some point I figured out she does not like to eat in the kitchen where she (maybe) feels abandoned...now often I have them eat in the lounge...somehow she prefers to eat when she knows she is not left on her own. Now I don't know how it is at your place but I would put it on a similar hight at a place where you are a lot...so you can observe your cat a lot if s/he will go for it or not...

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:30:20 AM

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When he gets hungry, he will eat the food all by himself.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:34:00 AM

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he might feel a pull or pain when he jumps, perhaps put a trashcan or some sort of smaller hops, for the cat to get up..

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:35:51 AM

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I think he's a cat and he's doing a very good job of training you.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:37:44 AM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: malewifewanted

I think he's a cat and he's doing a very good job of training you.

lol, indeed

which is why we say that dogs have owners and cats have servants

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:38:44 AM

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Not an expert, just house mom to 3 very picky cats, one of which has deformed hips and is 17yrs old. It sounds like your darling kitty is telling you who's the boss...cats like to try that game from time to time.

When I stopped getting up at 4:30am to give wet food the the girls (WTF...this was my fault for playing the game), I would take the bowls they ate their wet food from and put a bit of dry in them. This went on for a week, giving them less and less, until it was up to them to either eat from the main bowl on the counter or, for the old deformed one, climb up to the table and eat from the bowl there.

Mama don't play those games anymore...if they can't reach their bowls, they don't eat. I can't put food on the floor because I'll have ants, no matter what season it is, swarm the place. Even the old gal with the bad hips jumps from the floor to bed and climbs from the floor to chair to table. The vet is always shocked she can still move and I think alot has to do with me expecting her to be independant.

If yours is healed completely and you've seen it jump other times then yes, it is a game and you need to be the winner

Maybe a bit of teasin' with a treat to lure kitty up might help, but even that I would think twice about or it could easily become another habit that needs to be broken.

Good luck.

< Message edited by CarrieO -- 12/7/2009 11:43:20 AM >

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:42:21 AM

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also you could encourage your cat to show that he can jump up there with maybe encouraging him more to jump up there due to a special treat there waiting for him...you know one of those treats where they can't resist because they have to have it...then I am sure that even your cat will figure out that he is caught out now that he can jump up there...however, apart from that I do agree, let him wait to be hungry enough to have it...

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 11:42:23 AM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Phoenixpower

quote:

ORIGINAL: malewifewanted

I think he's a cat and he's doing a very good job of training you.

lol, indeed

which is why we say that dogs have owners and cats have servants

That's funny. Reminds me of a doormat a friend gave me that said "I work very hard to keep my cats in the manner to which they've become accustomed to." Of course, that worked for the first year...

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 12:18:24 PM

ThatDamnedPanda

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quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse

When he gets hungry, he will eat the food all by himself.

quote:

ORIGINAL: malewifewanted

I think he's a cat and he's doing a very good job of training you.

It really is that simple. He demands to be lifted onto the counter because it works.

To him, it's probably a game he plays to bond with you. I used to have a cat who, whenever he saw an empty cardboard box, would hop into it and meow until i came and closed the box up and carted him off to a different room, and then opened the box again. He loved it. In fact, he lived for it. He just seemed to think it was the coolest thing for us to do together. All he wanted out of life was for me to keep lugging him around, opening the box, then closing it again and hauling him off to still another room. Close the box, the box moves around for a minute or two, the box opens up, and hey! Look! We're in the dining room now! How about that! They're very weird, you know.

This reminds me of something a firefighter said once when a woman called them up and demanded they come and get her cat out of a tree - "Lady, have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree?" When they get hungry enough. they climb down from the tree. When yours gets hungry enough, he'll climb atop the counter. He'll make sure it never gets to the point where you come downstairs in the morning and find a cat skeleton on the kitchen floor.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 1:28:28 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: hopelessfool

he might feel a pull or pain when he jumps, perhaps put a trashcan or some sort of smaller hops, for the cat to get up..

This.

My Gracious is having breathing issues. She's ok with jumping up onto my armchair, but my bed is about 8 inches taller. Once I put a stepstool next to the bed she was once again able to join me on the bed. Prior to that, I had to lift her onto the bed, or just sit there and watch her TRY to jump up there. Heartbreaking.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 1:29:54 PM

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greedy, how's Precious doing these days, any better? *bless her heart, and yours too*

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 3:14:41 PM

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This reminds me of when my sister's cat was pregnant and ready to pop while I was there for a visit. She was so huge. They kept the cat food up on the dryer so the dogs wouldn't eat it. Anyway, she walked into the laundry room and looked up at the dryer and then gave me this pathetic look as if to say, "I just can't do it!", and I took pity on her and lifted her up, and I swear, she gave me the most grateful look and then ate like crazy. I think she was hungry from not being able to jump up there for a day or two. She finally gave birth and began jumping up again, but I swear, she still remembers the favor I did for her, because she always gives me some extra attention when I'm there and sis says she doesn't do that with anyone else who comes there.

Anyway.....I agree that when he gets hungry enough, he'll jump up there again. He won't starve to death if he doesn't eat for a day or two.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/7/2009 3:16:52 PM

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Lateral thinking - dump the dog outside so the cat doesnt have to jump for or guard his food.

Sympathetic thinking - put your food on the counter and jump up to eat it with him.

Cat thinking - lift me up you lazy xxxxxx!

E

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/8/2009 6:49:07 AM

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Sounds like you have a Dom cat and you da subbie and He is doing a heck of a job of training you.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/8/2009 6:58:02 AM

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My baby girl can jump onto the bed but thats all the counters are well to tall for her and her fat little butt ( Im proud to admit I am completely owned ((and operated :P heh greedy)) by my cat) We had to put her food on the counters at a time because my sister was visiting with her mutts, the poor thing sat at the counter whining for hours. Wasnt until i moved a chair to the edge of the counter till she hopped up.

Here according to the vet, because of her pregnancy (before i got her) she has extra weight around her back legs that gravity and physics say cant support a 5 foot hop.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/8/2009 5:50:48 PM

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You have gone a step further with providing the cat it's food, now, it expects the same all the time. Cats definately try to control humans, after all, no one has told them they are mere pets, they just think you are tolerating each other's company, and they at the end of the day, please themselves. They do what they do for their own comfort and survival.

Now, I like cats, I like them a lot and though I do not presently have one here, I could share my house with, I get a lot of overnight and sometimes shelter from the rain day visiting cats. They get fed, and they can kip over, but I will not stop what I do for the cat, it can work around me, as I believe we exist together through mutual toleration, it can have a feed and a kip, and a bit of human contact, but as soon as it starts taking the piss, out it goes.

Your cat I believe is taking the piss out of you in doing what it is doing, it is thinking you made life easier for it before, so it now expects it and you will get the pissed of complaining cat routine until either you give in, or it gets fed up and sorts itself out. It is, just a battle of wills.

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/8/2009 7:24:04 PM

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Put a chair or somesuch in place as a half-way jump. Just because he has healed does not mean he is back to his old self, especially if he was older when he had his surgery. Its entirely possible that he is unsure of his ability to make the jump, so give him a leg up so to speak, a chair next to that part of the counter. Of course you could remove the problem by just putting the food on the floor and get rid of the dog (Cat person

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RE: Cat experts: Need psych help - 12/8/2009 7:57:45 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ThatDamnedPanda
I used to have a cat who, whenever he saw an empty cardboard box, would hop into it and meow until i came and closed the box up and carted him off to a different room, and then opened the box again. He loved it. In fact, he lived for it. He just seemed to think it was the coolest thing for us to do together. All he wanted out of life was for me to keep lugging him around, opening the box, then closing it again and hauling him off to still another room. Close the box, the box moves around for a minute or two, the box opens up, and hey! Look! We're in the dining room now! How about that!

OK this is hilarious and made me laugh out loud!!! It's totally something my little guy would do. Right now, he's obsessed with the sink. I have to leave the water trickling in the bathroom (but only the bathroom) so he can play in it and spray the mirror everywhere. Or he will whine whine whine... He also has to play under the fitted sheet when I'm changing the bed. He lies on his back and sticks his paws straight up so you can see their perfect imprint under the sheet, and I have to grab them or he won't be satisfied. Go figure.

As for the food/counter, I find cats are very routine. The routine changed so now he expects it to be the way it is now. Either that or he's still having pain or discomfort. I like the idea of putting a chair or something beside the counter to give him a boost up. When he's hungry he will eat.

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