> I am a dog person.
> However I have met a few cats that I have found very clever and willing to
> do stupid things to entertain me. I believe that under the right
> circumstances their behavior is negotiable. Other than the tragic accident,
> Sigfried & Roy seem to get along great with Big Cats, why should smaller
> ones be so different?
>
> I expect it is a lot like the circumstances I have with my two largish dogs:
> Don't fail to respect them if you expect the same from them, and don't lose
> sight of the fact that they are dogs (cats) and darn proud of it!
>
> You know you have an honest relationship with an animal when you seem to
> understand each other without vocalization by either party.
>
> John Ferrell
> http://DixieNC.US
>

> On Mon, 10 May 2004 10:26:53 -0400, D. Jay Newman <RemoveMEjayTakeThisOuTSPRUCEGROVE.COM>
> wrote:
>
>>> impossible to train or completely domesticate. I would get a dog, they
>>> are easy to train and can do everything a cat can and more. Dogs can
>>> scare away thieves and salesman, Cats just poo in a box and wreck your
>>> house.
>
>
>  Actually that is not true, you just have to have the right approach and a
> lot of patience - cat's are about as intelligent as the average dog
> (dumber than an collie, smarter than a yap dog), i have trained all my
> cats to come when called by name (one of them actually runs!) and do
> stupid stuff like jump up, stay and sit. Cats do vary between individuals
> and between breeds, and if you are going to train them to do anything you
> have to start when they are pretty young - 6 months or so. Generally cats
> respond to food rewards, one of my cat's absolutely adores marmite (don't
> let's get started on that again!) so a little bit on my finger was all it
> took, it may take a week or two to teach them new behaveour but once
> learned they don't seem to forget it easily. I have never tried to put any
> of my cats on a leash, on one occasion when i was at my grandparents house
> i did tie a bit of string around one of the cat's collars to stop him
> getting lost and wander around the garden, but all my cat's hate cars and
> would go completley berzerk if i tried that around town - if you want
> somehting to go on walks with you by all means get a dog. None of our
> cat's 'wreck' the house, however some tom cats can be inclined to scent
> mark stuff (aka piss on the furniture) and bear in mind that if you get a
> female cat that you can't spay them until after the first time they go on
> heat, so expect to have a bonkers cat for a week.
>
> Alex
>
> --
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> > The second guy is a genius
> >
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------------------
> >
> > > An American magazine held a competition, inviting its readers to
> > > submit new scientific theories on ANY subject.
> > >
> > > Below is the winner:
> > >
> > >
> > > (Subject: Perpetual Motion)
> > >
> > > When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet, and when toast is
> > > dropped, it always lands buttered side down.
> > >
> > > Therefore, if a slice of toast is strapped to a cat's back, buttered
> > > side up, and the animal is then dropped, the two opposing forces will
> > > cause it to hover, spinning inches above the ground.
> > >
> > > If enough toast-laden felines were used, they could form the basis of
> > > a high-speed monorail system.
> > >
> > >
> > > .....and then this mail got this reply from one of the recipients:
> > >
> > >
> > > I've been thinking about this cat/toast business for a while. In the
> > > buttered toast case, it's the butter that causes it to land buttered
> > > side down - it doesn't have to be toast, the theory works equally well
> > > with Jacob's crackers. So to save money you just miss out the toast -
> > > and butter the cats.
> > >
> > > Also, should there be an imbalance between the effects of cat and
> > > butter, there are other substances that have a stronger affinity for
> > > carpet.
> > >
> > > Probability of carpet impact is determined by the following simple
> > > formula: p = s * t(t)/t? where p is the probability of carpet impact,
> > > s is the "stain" value of the toast-covering substance - an indicator
> > > of the effectiveness of the toast topping in permanently staining the
> > > carpet.
> > >
> > > Chicken Tikka Masala, for example, has a very high s value, while the
> > > s value of water is zero.
> > >
> > > t? and t(t) indicate the tone of the carpet and topping - the value
> > > of p being strongly related to the relationship between the colour of
> > > the carpet and topping, as even chicken tikka masala won't cause a
> > > permanent and obvious stain if the carpet is the same colour.
> > >
> > > So it is obvious that the probability of carpet impact is maximised
> > > if you use chicken tikka masala and a white carpet - in fact this
> > > combination gives a p value of one, which is the same as the
> > > probability of a cat landing on its feet.
> > >
> > > Therefore a cat with chicken tikka masala on its back will be certain
> > > to hover in mid air, while there could be problems with buttered toast
> > > as the toast may fall off the cat, causing a terrible monorail crash
> > > resulting in nauseating images of members of the royal family
> > > visiting accident victims in hospital, and politicians saying it
> > > wouldn't have happened if their party was in power as there would have
> > > been more investment in cat-toast glue research.
> > >
> > > Therefore it is in the interests not only of public safety but also
> > > public sanity if the buttered toast on cats idea is scrapped, to be
> > > replaced by a monorail powered by cats smeared with chicken tikka
> > > masala floating above a rail made from white shag pile carpet

>>>Therefore it is in the interests not only of public safety but also
>>>public sanity if the buttered toast on cats idea is scrapped, to be
>>>replaced by a monorail powered by cats smeared with chicken tikka
>>>masala floating above a rail made from white shag pile carpet
>>>
>>>
>
>
>DONT try this. I'm pretty sure it's what causes gamma ray bursters, when the centripital force exceeds the atomic bond strength.
>
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>
>
>
>
>

> Tape on the desired surface is generally a good way to rapidly
> train a cat to stay off of it.
>
> Our cat learned quite quickly that the top of the fishtank was
> NEVER a good place for kitty paws.
>
> And if you think training cats is tricky, try ferrets sometime.
> At least a smart as cats or dogs, but with far shorter attention
> spans!
>
> Mike H.
>
> _____________________