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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:	Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:	FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:	MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO

Created:	Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:	Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5089
Total number of notes:	60366

455.0. "See the birdies!" by CLUSTA::TAMIR () Thu Jan 22 1987 16:48

    Honey spends hours everyday sitting by the window watching the birds
    (and the $%*!@ squirrels) that frequent my bird feeders.  I have
    one feeder that sticks to the window, and the little birdies come
    right up to it and eat.  This drives Honey bonkers!  He watches
    them so intensely and sometimes makes these little quivering meows,
    knowing he can't get at the birds.  He sits there all day watching
    the wildlife!  Is this cruel??  Am I driving him nuts by sticking
    what he thinks is lunch under his nose and not letting him get at
    it??  He'll sit in the sink, slouched down, and will pop up at the
    window when he sees a bird land on the window feeder (it's the kitchen
    window).  He looks ridiculous!!  I get a lot of laughs, and he seems
    to enjoy it, but am I gonna have a half-crazed looney on my hands
    some day???
    
    Mary

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
455.1	'nuther bird watcher	EMIRFI::KEENER		`Thu Jan 22 1987 21:35`	15
	Honey sounds like my 10 year old female (spayed). Her lower jaw quivers and she like to play the mighty hunter. We have had her since she was four weeks old (her mother had seven kitten - never heard of that before, but Muffy was the runt and couldn't get enough to eat so a neighbor asked if I would take her and care for her.) She has gone bonkers for bird for 10 years and doesn't seem any the stranger for it. She is a very loving cat - still plays like a kitten. She will chase birds when she is outside. I doubt you'll have a psychotic feline and I don't think it's cruel - all cats like to play 'mighty hunter', but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, the spoiled ones prefer a nap in the sun and a scratch on the chin. Enjoy the entertainment. Ellen
455.2	Bird calls!	CADSYS::RICHARDSON		`Fri Jan 23 1987 15:21`	7
	I don't think watching the birds will drive the cat any crazier than it already is... Nebula LOVES to watch birds out on the power lines outside the front windows (I live on a steep hill, so the power lines are just level with Nebula if she sits in the window). She will even do "bird calls" - which I'm sure SHE thinks sound like birds! She chirps! JFCL is too dignified for this, though she does watch the wildlife.
455.3	They watch the cat, too...	PARSEC::PESENTI	JP	`Fri Jan 23 1987 23:47`	11
	Zelda loves to sit behind the curtain at the sliding glass doors and watch the birds at the feeder on my deck. When she is let out, however, the birds seem to take joy in watching her as they fly about where she can't get them. Once a brazen little chickadee actuall landed about 2 feet from Zelda's nose. The usually great hunter was so startled, that she bolted away from the bird! - JP
455.4		MASTER::EPETERSON		`Mon Jan 26 1987 15:54`	6
	One year my indoor/outdoor kitty had a bird that pestered the life out of him every moment he was outside. I mean the birdie would not only CHEEEEP her head off, but it would dive at him if he was in an open space. He was so funny! He'd just down in the grass and roll his eyes.
455.5	8 cats, 3 birds	NEBVAX::BELFORTE	Steven's BEST half	`Tue Jan 27 1987 13:47`	6
	My indoor only cats play mighty hunter throught the glass with the outside birds, too. But................ when we had pet birds, they ignored them. I guess if they were in the house they were "part of the family" to the cats. Mary-Lynn
455.6	entertaining the chauffeurs	GLINKA::GREENE		`Tue Jan 27 1987 15:17`	9
	Our vet (Boston Cat Hospital) has a large cage with about 3 very vocal birds. One of them was whistling a long song the other evening: quite beautiful. Some cats are intrigued, some are frightened, and others seem not to notice even when carried directly to the cage! My cats seem mostly to stare quietly, noticing especially any quick movements. The cats' chauffeurs, however, are invariably delighted with the birds chirping and singing!
455.7	entertainment for all!	BOEHM::SMARTIN		`Tue Jan 27 1987 16:48`	7
	I have a bay window in my dining room that looks out onto the bird feeder in the front lawn. provides lots of entertainment for the cats and us. The cats trill and chirp and warble (being maine coons...) the humans grab the binoculars and the identification books and point a lot. (Been having a beautiful red cardinal hang around the last couple of weeks!)
455.8	Bringing them in the house makes it really fun!	PUZZLE::CORDESJA		`Fri Feb 27 1987 12:29`	22
	Last weekend I was up at a cat show in Fresno and stayed with a friend who just bought a house in the mountains in Coarsegold. Here living room is decorated in oriental modern style and she has an absolutely wonderful birdcage in her living room! It is very dramatic, painted all white with black manzanita branches for perches. The cage (if you can call it that) is the length of one wall in the living room, from floor to ceiling and is about 3 feet wide. They built it into a closet that they had no need for in their living room. My friend breeds Goldian (sp) finches which are very colorful, bright green with yellow necks and orange or red heads. The effect is breathtaking. My cat went wild!!! She didn't leave the front of the cage the whole time we were in the house. She just crouched at the foot of the cage licking her chops and practicing the kill bite. The birds would of course tease her by flying down to the bottom and then back up to the top and Joui would go leaping up in the air in an attempt to catch them. It was alot of fun for both of us. Jo Ann