nameonhold
Posts: 48
Joined: 6/8/2005
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No, no, no folks. You have to start thinking like a cat. To cats, there is only one thing that is important in life .... their belly..... who feeds it ..... and who scratches it. So to speak. A spayed or neutered cat is simply NOT motivated by sex.
Don't be giving the cats so much credit for higher reasoning. They are typically smarter than dogs, but there isn't any terribly high intellect. All things for cats tend to be very simple and very black-and-white. They think in terms like, "Food or No Food," "Good or Evil," "Safe or not safe." It is VERY black and white. Everything is "risk vs. reward."
Cats are instinctive hunters. There is no grocery store in their mind. They understand that ALL other beings must either hunt or forage for their meals. In the cat's way of thinking, there is no "giving of food" to another. There is ONLY "the sharing of the kill," and they know from experience that hunting is a ton of really hard work. The cats also KNOW that that when there is kill, the killer (you) has already taken care of their own belly and that if you share the kill, you are taking care of their belly .... THEREFORE .... you are good (as opposed to evil) in the cat's way of thinking.
If you share your kill (by feeding the cat regularly) the cat likes this deal. The cat learns it is much easier to be friendly with you, than to have to hunt down it's own meal and kill the other critter and certainly, it's less dangerous for the cat. So the cat wants to keep this sharing relationship he has with you going the way it's going. So now that the cat is no longer motivated by sex, there are only two motivations, food and affection. Therefore, when the cat has a kill, the cat will dump some of his kill at your door step. It's simple respect on the cat's part. You share with the cat. The cat shares with you. You scratch the cat's neck, the cat will offer you affection too. Simple. Really simple.
Now also understand that the cat looks at every other type of animal, INCLUDING YOU as a potential meal. The cat is constantly assessing two things, "Does the other animal taste good enough to be worth the effort to catch and kill ?," and "What is the likelihood of successfully hunting and killing that animal, without getting injured himself ?" Cats are CONSTANTLY doing these two calculations.
The cats are constantly sizing up your dogs as a potential meal. They've learned though, that if they get too aggressive with the dogs, the dogs will fight back, and the dogs can be dangerous. At very least, they know that the dogs can run pretty fast to escape, making the dog a "poor pay off" for the cat's effort attempting to hunt the dog. The dogs by the way, are doing the same assessment of the cats. But both the dogs and the cats have learned about the other, that sometimes, the other doesn't always take as good care of their kill as they should, thus they know, they can occasionally grab a quick meal from the stupid dog who didn't protect his kill. Therefore, in the cats way of thinking, as long as the dog isn't too aggressive, keep the dumb dog at arms length, but not too far away.
I had a cat once which was largely a feral cat. I only fed the cat every two or three days. The cat was a supreme hunter and was always hunting, killing and eating something. Every once in a while, I'd be sitting around the back yard in my bare feet, and the cat would attempt to swallow my big toe ... whole ! Literally, the cat was looking at me and saying, "Hmmmm. That animal looks like he might taste good. He doesn't seem to hunt me very much." Therefore, in the mind of the cat, the big toe is worth the risks.
The cat knows that a mouse is an easy catch and an easy kill. The mouse really can't defend itself against a cat.
A chipmunk makes a good meal for a cat too, except they are a much tougher catch than a mouse. But the chipmunks can't defend themselves very well against a cat. The chipmunks chief mode of defense is "escape."
Squirrels on the other hand, well cats have learned that squirrels, although a good meal like chipmunks, are more unpredictable. Some squirrels are nasty and will actually fight back at the cat. The have nasty teeth and nasty claws. Therefore, cats approach a squirrel much more carefully. Most of the time, cats and squirrels do a "Mexican Stand-off."
Cats know, for instance, that a fox is one nasty predator and at the first sight of a fox, will head the other direction. The cat knows the if he doesn't escape, he's going to be lunch for the fox. The cat's self-preservation instincts overrule all other instincts.
So in summary, do not "over think" cats. Their life is really very simple. It's food and affection for them. They'll get either in the most opportunistic manner possible. They will "sneak around" to steal your meal if they think you're not looking. They will "suck up" to you so that you'll share some of your excess kill with them. They will "hunt" if they have to in order to get a meal. They live much simpler lives than people think. But it is always about the belly .... how to feed it ..... and ..... how to get it scratched.
< Message edited by nameonhold -- 8/17/2012 11:59:55 PM >
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RE: New cat problem - 
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