Conference misery::feline_v1

    	Yes, we have "taught" our cats "tricks".  Such perennial favorites
    as "Rub your snot on my elbow, Merry." "Look evil, Nazg�l."  "Look
    Doofy, Merry."  and the ever popular "Ignore me, Pippin."  
    
    	Actually, Gandalf will do some "tricks".  He will do a somersault
    if you pet his sides. (Sound familiar?)  He will also throw himself
    against your hands to "pet" himself.  This lead to "Beat your head
    on the hammer, Gandalf!"  and "Put your head in here, Gandalf!"
    (This last is said while leaning over and beating your fists together.
    The cat will walk up and stand on his hind legs to stick his head
    between your fists!  If we weren't sure that he'd freak, we'd take
    him on David Letterman's Stupid Pet Tricks.)
    
    tlh
    

    
    I have never taught my cat tricks but did have a cat that would
    play fetch.  He would play with a crumbled up piece of paper and 
    sometimes a straw coaster (strange).  The two cats that I have now
    will try and think they can catch the frisbee whenever I'm playing.
    
    I have heard of people training their cats to use the toilet when
    they go to the bathroom and then even flushing it.  Gee wouldn't I like
    that (sick of cleaning litter box)!
    
    Well keep up the good work.  Who knows what else they'll be doing.
    
    Stephanie                   
    
    

 When I was growing up in my parents Colonial, with latch doors, all
4 of our cats knew how to open every door in the house.  Yes, Footsie,
Terry, Nicholas, and Tula would have the run of the house - going in
and out as they chose.  Sometimes they'd open the door to the breeze
way and cool off on a hot summer's day.  While other times they'd let 
themselves down into  the cellar for some micing action. At night they
would always let themselves through the upstairs door and sleep with
us. 
 They real trick I suppose would have been teaching them to close all
the doors behind them.

 -Melinda


 

	One of our cats can open doors with knobs!! Pookie has perfected the 
art of grabbing the nob and swinging his body to unlatch the door. There seems 
to be a critical mass in order to do this, Pookie weighs in around 11 lbs. 
When we have to lock the cats down in the basement (a guest with an allergy 
comes over), Pookie is up in no time.

/harry

    Tom (RIP) had perfected the knack of extracted us humans from a
    chair he wanted. He wouldn't sit on your lap; he'd squeeze in beside
    you. Then behind you. Then he'd begin push a little, until, you
    were on the edge of the chair. Hey presto! The cat had the chair.
    If of course you complained with "Get out the chair, Tom!", he would
    shake his head and make a funny Na-nanannn noise.
    

    Sebastian (RIP) would sit up and beg at dinner time, MY dinner time,
    not his. It was really embarrassing when we had guests, because
    he got that look of a basset hound, and would sit with his front
    paws waving in the breeze. Yes, he was a cat! (I think)
    
    M-L

    My cat will perform 2 tricks, anytime, and in front of anyone. Actually
    they are variations of the same trick.  Daytime version: If I am
    in the sun and I am reading something or watching TV, then the shadow
    cast by my hand will be chased and attacked, whether it is on the
    floor, wall, or wherever. She will jump at it and actually leave
    the floor. If I put my hand out fairly close to her and make the
    shadow near her, she will still go after it, even though she knows
    it is me causing it. Also attacks sun reflecting off my watch, if
    I can angle it right.
    
    Nighttime version: If I have a light on, or even a flashlight, my
    cat will change the spot of light.  If I really want to drive her
    crazy, I run the light up to the ceiling, and across it, then down
    the other wall.  She tracks it with her eyes very carefully and
    then runs for the other wall, where she KNOWS it will arrive.  I
    sometimes back it up so she gets confused as to where it is. Running
    circles with the flashlight causes her head to spin!
    
    dick

Jody's cat Sebastian shakes hands, rolls over, and jumps over knives held a
foot or two off the floor.  He's been immortalized in two newspaper stories
and two TV spots.  Jody has the clippings, and one of the TV spots on
videotape.  A great source of human-interest filler material, this cat.

Basti's a bit out of practice these days, though.  When I ask him to roll
over, more often than not he'll walk in a circle instead.  I guess one
maneuver feels a lot like the other to his inner ear.

					-- Roger

    JFCL also can open doors with doorknobs, so long as they open inwards.
    She stands up on her hind legs, grabs the knob in her front ones,
    and turns it sideways while leaning on the door.  Fickle is a big
    cat, over 11 lbs.  Nebula, who is the smarter of the pair, can't
    do this because she is not long enough when standing on her hind
    legs to reach doorknobs (probably a good thing!  I keep stuff that
    the cats aren't supposed to get into in rooms whose doors open
    inwards).
    
    When the Fickle was a kitten (she was never a LITTLE kitten), I
    taught her to sit on my shoulders, one set of feet on either side,
    by boosting her up there and feeding her cheese, which she loved.
    She won't eat cheese anymore (one of the few things she doesn't
    eat), but will still climb up and act like a feline fur collar if
    I say "up, Fickle!", and get off again if I say "Jump, Girl!". 
    Again, Nebula is too short in the body to do this.  If I get one
    side of her on one shoulder, the rest of her is sitting on my neck!
    Nebula's best trick is "say MEOW, little cat", which I already
    described in here someplace.  This drives dear Paul crazy pretty
    fast, though (he thinks I am encouraging the half-Siamese beast
    to be noisy, but she doesn't need encouragement to be that!).

    I loved reading these cat tricks, and thought I'd add my own.
    My cat's, Sabbath and Fats, learned to 'play' pinball machines.
    We used to own one and everytime we turned it on, they would come
    running downstairs and jump on top of the glass and chase the ball
    all over the top of the machine.  
    
    Sabbath loves to walk on his hind legs to get patted.  Fats used
    to 'give you five' if you held out your palm to him he'd pat your
    hand with his paw.  Both of them had this game they'd play when
    they were sitting on the stools next to our kitchen counter, they
    would be at eye level with the counter top, and anything that was
    on the counter top within reach of their paws was batting material.
    They would duck their heads under the edge of the counter and swipe
    their paw at a pen, cookie, or whatever was there - it was pretty
    funny to watch. 
    
    Tazmanian Devil is another of my cat's, a bit flaky, but funny.
    She loves to play with the plastic rings that come off the top of
    a gallon of milk or water.  She's the best 'hockey' player in the
    neighborhood, and if you put an open paper bag on the floor, she
    will usually 'slapshot' the ring into the bag.
    
    Keep the tricks comming - they're great, esp. the ones about opening
    the doors.

    My cat Harli has a pet Golden Retriever who she loves to play with.
    Actually my roommate insists it's her dog but don't tell Harli.
    The two of them will sleep together and Harli's favorite game is
    'bite the dog ear'. She will creep up to the dog and viciously attack
    his ear, or tail, or leg, or the closest part of his body. Luckily
    the dog is a wimp and just lies there grinning at Harli's game.
    kris

    RE:.11  This reminds me of our Chessie........oops, I mean, it reminds
    me of one of the cats who lets us live in her house. She came into
    our lives when she was almost 5 weeks old, at that time she adopted
    our dog for her very own. Casey would be sleeping and this little
    tiny ball of fur would run over and grab his tail.... Casey would
    then start to wag his tail and Chessie would just cling.....THUMP,
    THUMP, THUMP would go Chessie against the floor. It reminded me
    of a cartoon........ she still holds Casey down to clean him, and
    she is now 2 1/2 years old.
    
    M-L

    These tricks were not actually taught to my cats but they are still
    kinda cute:
    
    Weedles (rhymes with needles) - will kiss you and lick your ears
    if you pick her up - she is the only cat I have ever owned (and
    believe me there have been many) that truely loves people and loves
    to be with them...but anyway, she just loves to lick your chin and
    ears and kiss you!
    
    Brat - this cat has always been a very unique animal ever since
    she was a baby.  She has this habit of washing her food before she
    eats it...when you give her morsels she will swipe them out of the
    bowl and put them in her water dish - then swipe them out again
    and eat them.  If you give her a piece of cheese she will also dip
    it in the water before eating it.  She seems to have a facination
    with water in general - she will jump into the kitchen sink and
    lick the faucet and watch it drip (even if there is water in her
    bowl).  
    
    D. Q. - will open the cupboard where the cat food is when she is
    hungry.  There are on springs on the cupboard so it closes behind 
    her.  Sometimes we will all of a sudden her this big crash and 
    we will know that "Q-ee" has tipped over the bag of food or some 
    cans or something inside the cupboard.  "Q-ee" will also push her 
    nose into your fingers if you hold them about an inch apart in front 
    of her.  I think her whiskers itch and this helps.
    
    Well, I have more cats but none of them really do any tricks so
    that's it for me...
    
     - jenny - 
                      

    I just had to add my two cents here.  A roommate of mine once had
    a cat that would get into the catfood cupboard (second shelf above
    the counter) and the spring loaded doors would close behind her.
    More than once I came into the apparently empty kitchen only to
    hear crunch! crunch! crunch! -- investigation always revealed Tanya
    happily munching away on dry food.
    
    Susan

    Our black cat, Pearson, has a habit of laying on his side, then
    pushing with his back feet to propel himself across the rug.  This
    is usually done when something catches his interest, but he has
    been known to use this method for no good reason that we can see.
                 
    Pearson is also the retriever in our family.  Depending on his mood,
    the object thrown will be brought back for more, or just batted
    around until properly subdued.
    
    Orion, our orange kitty, plays tug of war with his favorite rope.
    Once it's in his possesion, he usually just takes it off down the
    hall for a walk.  Pearson often gets into the act and chases the
    rope as it's being carted off by his brother.
    
    Orion also has found that the quickest way to get attention and
    pats is to lie on his back, paws in the air, head cocked off to
    one side and emit pitiful meows.  Very hard to resist and pretty
    dumb looking.
                                  
    Life with kitties is never boring!
    
    L.

    My kitty does some pretty neat stuff, none of which was really taught
    to her.  It must be due to her college education.  Well anyways,
    she is another one that plays fetch, but she uses bottle caps.
    Any where you throw the bottle cap, she will fetch it (also try
    to catch it) and bring it right back to you.  Andi (my cat, same
    one) will swipe a bottle cap from the table if it is not on top
    of the bottle, beware.  We have to watch her if we are drinking
    soda so that she doesn't take the bottle cap before we are done
    with it.  The funniest part is if you pretend to throw the bottle
    cap , but don't really.  She runs to the direction that you were
    aiming for and she waits for the cap to land.  It takes her a long
    time to realize that you did not throw the cap.  Also, if you throw
    2 bottle caps this also confuses her.  She does not know which one
    to fetch so she stands between them in confusion.  She has on occassion
    tried to retrieve 2 at the same time.
    
    Other "tricks" that Andi does are the following.  She will open
    any door as long as it is not closed tightly whether it is in or
    out.  I wish she would learn how to close doors as well. (I know
    someone else had already said this but I feel the same way.)
    
    She also has her own cup in the bathroom that she drinks out of.
    This is a real cup like you or I would use.  If she wants more 
    water or fresh water she dumps the cup in the sink and waits for
    you to fill it up with nice clean water.
    
    These are just some of the more noteworthy things that Andi (that's
    short for Andromeda) does to keep us entertained.
    

    Winston, our Maine Coon half breed, has a whole repertoire of "tricks"
    that he has taught himself (and us).  First I must say that this
    cat does shut doors behind himself and sometimes that can be quite
    a problem.  He can open almost every door in our house but his favorite
    game is hide and seek.  He will open the sliding door on the bedroom
    closet and go in and then close the door behind himself and wait
    for us to find him.  It is so weird to go into the bedroom, open
    the closet door and find this cat sitting in there waiting for you.
    
    He often lets himself into the pantry where the cat food is kept
    and we find him later gorged out, sleeping on the cat food scattered
    pantry floor.  When the door is shut behind him, we often don't
    even know he is in there.
    
    Other tricks include...
    
    Fetching, he will fetch anything that is pitched vigorously.  He
    doesn't care for wimpy throws and will just let them go by.
    
    Shoulder riding, I pat on my shoulder and he leaps up and lays across
    the back of my shoulders with front paws on the left and back paws
    on the right.  He will stay up there while I do dishes, vacumm,
    make dinner, whatever.
    
    Play dead, He walks in the room very slowly, getting lower to the
    ground with each step.  Suddenly, he dips his shoulder and throws
    his body to the ground with all four paws in the air and head thrown
    to the side.  It's hysterical!
    
    Get long, we don't know what else to call this one.  He will do
    this on "command" now.  He streches out with front paws over his
    head and tail and back legs all the way out.  Every muscle iflexed.
    
    And last but not least, my favorite game is run in circles.  We
    started this game by teasing him with a string and making him run
    around in a small tight circle.  Now we don't need the string. 
    We tell him "run in circles Winston" and make a circular hand motion
    and he starts in.  He will do this until he drops from the exhertion
    (or maybe the dizziness).
    
    This cat is hard to keep up with.  Too smart for his own good.
    
    JoAnn

    I've never really tried to teach my cat Tasha any tricks.  She just
    seems to pick them up from somewhere...
    
    1) fetch thrown balls of computer wire.  she really loves this.
    2) change channels on the cable TV box when she thinks I'm ignoring
       her.
    3) push the snooze bar on the clock radio when she doesn't want
       to get up in the morning, after a nite of hunting.
    4) ask for an egg by imitiating the word "EGGGG" and showing me
       where they are kept.
    
    dennis
    

    Winston has added a new trick to his repetoire.  We call it the
    high dive.  We have an eight foot cat tree in our bedroom and also
    a waterbed (finally got that new mattress).  The cat tree has three
    shelves on it and Winston started jumping from the lower shelf to
    the waterbed last week.   The bed is about four feet from the cat
    tree.  Ken and I coaxed him to jump from the second shelf soon after
    that and now finally he has mastered the jump from the top shelf!
    You should see the wave in the bed when he hits!  He gets right
    up and chases after the after shocks.
    
    Jo Ann

    RE .19
    
    Just wait until he does it at 3 am, like my two.  It's cute the
    first few times, but after that "GO TO SLEEP, GIRLS".  They even
    hit the bed and then the dog, on their way to the steps.  If we
    grab them, they look at us like they are as innocent as angels,
    and then off they go to terrorize the rest of the household.
    
    M-L