Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    Yup, my cats watch TV.  My African Grey parrot watches TV with them.
    The cats are neat when they watch, their ears twitch and their eyes
    follow what is on the screen.  The bird, however, talks to the TV.
    Let someone on the tube answer a phone with "hello" and the bird
    is off and running with "Hello! Hi There!  What's Up?"  The best
    time is the Animal Kingdom-type shows which have birds in them.
    As soon as she hears/sees these shows, she says "It's a BIRD!!"
    and starts whistling.  Her favorite show is current The Wild, Wild
    West - she watches it with my husband every night.  She really would
    like to watch Mayberry, RFD because she loves the whistling part
    in the beginning, but ya gotta draw the line somewhere ;-)
    
    My cats also listen to the stereo.  It is really funny to see a
    cat in a chair between two speakers, lying on her back, ears and
    head rolling to follow the stereo image.  My cats are fond of Pink
    Floyd and the Grateful Dead.  The bird prefers Mozart, Handel, Judas
    Priest (no accounting for taste;-)) and the Taiwanese opera that
    she hears on the shortwave.  Oh, yeah, they all listen to shortwave
    radio, too, and the bird can imitate the call bells of her favorite
    station, Radio Nederland.
    
    Goofy pets, wouldn't trade 'em for the world!
    
    Rita
    

    Adrienne, Springer, Paws, and Midway all like to watch
    hockey. When a hockey game is on, one cat or another will get right
    up on top of the television and lean over to watch the puck as it moves
    on the ice. Every so often, the watcher's paw will sneak down and
    ever-so-gently try to catch the puck. 
    
    Sly, on the other hand, doesn't watch hockey. He just gets on top
    of the television and hangs his tail right down the center of the 
    screen. Then he wonders why we ask him to get off.
    
    Marleen 

    My little darlings also love TV. Every night Argus and the twins
    jump up on my lap and watch it with me (lucky thing that I have
    remote control). The only bird that I've seen my cats watch on TV
    is Larry, but that is probably because we are sports fans  ( thus
    and I feel compelled to bore you with the following cute story :-) )

    For the longest time I thought that my cat Eirene didn't know her name.
    Then one night when we were watching one of the many wrestling shows
    that I never miss, someone slapped a sleeper hold on his opponent,
    and naturally the color commentator announced with with a "Goodnight
    Irene". Eirene jumped off my lap and went to the set, acting like
    the set was talking to her. They showed the same clip later on a
    different show and she did the same thing. I was relieved to know
    that she knows her name and that she was just ignoring me.

    Also, I used to find that if I made the mistake of leaving the remote
    control on the chair or couch, I'd often return home to find Argus
    and Pip had turned on the set playing couch potato.

    Deb

Our oldest cat Midnight loves TV -- lots of times we leave it on just for him
when we go out for the evening.  Also he loves good jazz music -- talk about
a spaced out cat when jazz is playing. He gets between the speakers too and
just lays right out in his own world.

Aren't cats amazing!!

    Gee, I thought I would write in to some show, like "Amazing Animals"
    with my tale.... but I can see that cats watching TV is a very normal
    thing!  I'll have to see if they enjoy music too!
    
    They really amaze me sometimes.... they follow me around the house
    just like dogs and sometimes it seems as if they understand everything
    I say to them.... I sometimes wish they could talk back.

    The other day I rented the movie "The Lady and the Tramp"....yes,
    I admit it...I love that movie!
    
    During the movie, Katie came in the room and jumped up on the couch
    next to me.  She was totally engrossed in the movie!! (especially
    the part where the dogs are singing "There's No Place Like Home"
    in doggie-jail (the pound).  Her eyes widened and she didn't move
    a whisker for over 15 minutes.  I even called her name and she wouldn't
    budge!  Fascinating!  When the movie was over (literally), she jumped
    down off the couch and left the room.  I can imagine how she'd react
    seeing 'real' animals on TV (not just animated).
    
    Just thought I'd add another 'me too' story.

    My cat, Charlie, has only watched TV twice -- and both times were
    quite comical!
    
    The first time was on a Sunday -- they had one of those political
    talk shows on, and Ted Kennedy was the guest. He was talking with
    his hands -- and his hands kept moving up and down. Charlie ran
    over to the TV and tried to look in to see his hands! Then gently
    touched his paw to the screen, and as soon as Ted's hand came up
    again, he jumped back! 
    
    The other time was both of my cats, Charlie and Shanti. It was a
    National Geographic special on cats, and they LOVED the part when
    they were analyzing the sounds that a cat makes. they They're ears
    were going bananas (we had stereo on) and looking under the speakers,
    in the TV for the other cat! 
    
    

    We had two kittens and one adult at the Cumberland Rhode Island
    show last weekend.  Since one of the kittens, Too Precious and
    Few (talk about misnamed) beats the stuffing out of everyone else
    the other two were in the bathroom for their own protection.  Precious
    was roaming the room and I turned the National Geographic show on
    sharks.  She didn't pay much attention until a shark would swim
    by on the screen.  Every time that happened her head would just
    spin right around.  Ridiculous coming from 4 pounds of fur, fang
    and fiesty.
    
    Frank

    Honey always enjoyed watching the Smurfs on Saturday mornings (still
    in his pajamas, eating his bowl of Rice Krispies).  Chauncey loves
    to watch the daily numbers lottery...those little balls bouncing
    around intrigue him (too bad his number never wins!).
    
    Mary

    Omar and Chanel don't seem to like television, though Omar likes
    to take a nap on top of the TV, when it's on. Then sometimes he
    will peek to the screen from above, and swat at anything that moves...
    (he 'catched' Madonna some time ago, so I guess that's his taste)
    
    But, most of the time, they don't want me to watch tv ;-(. Omar
    will have his tail 'fall' over the screen on the most exiting part
    of the movie......If I put the remote control on the arm rest on
    one side of me, Chanel will step on the "OFF" button....Then if
    I put it on the couch on the other side of me, Omar will lay down
    on it, so I cannot get at it....
    
    Maybe they want to say "Oh well, if you've got nothing better to
    do, you might as well play with US!":-D
    
    Ad
                                           

    Coyote is very interrested by TV programs too.
    When he was less than 1 year old, he loved to watch the European
    football matches (Your Soccer). He stayed in fornt of the TV for
    a while and suddently he jumped to the screen trying to swat the
    ball. Unfortunatly, there was always a player to shoot in it and
    the ball moved then. He continued during around 5 minutes, his
    nerve-wracking growing up, and  finally he surrendered against a
    such partner. I' m not quite sure that at this time, he was very
    interrested by the score :-)
    
    Now, He is an old kitten (1 and a half) and he didn't watch TV since
    a long time, but last saturday, there was a program about animals.
    He was sleeping on my lap, and suddently a dog in the TV barked.
    As soon as Coyote eared it he was so affraid that he jumped hastily
    on the dresser, and didn't felt cool before few minutes.
    
    We laughed a lot, trying to explain him it was a dream but we was
    probably not persuasive enought and he strongly refused to come
    back on our lap before yesterday evening.
    
    The threats seemed to be everywhere for him....
    

    My youngest cat, D.P. Gremlin, usually likes to watch ads and cartoons
    but last night he got to watch something special and he really enjoyed
    it too.  It was on Channel 11 in New Hampshire (don't know exact
    start time as I just happened to flick to that station trying to
    find something interesting).  The show was on the Tigers in India.
    How a mother tiger raised her cubs, etc.  Very good show and on
    again by popular demand (over bears and lions).
    
    D.P. couldn't seem to take his eyes off that screend.  He got kind
    of upset when my older (and larger) cat sauntered by him and blocked
    out the screen that he was intensely watching.  You know how it
    is when in a theater and people have to block your view while leaving
    or coming from the aisleway?  :-)
    
    D.P. was fascinated with all the wildlife - deer, peacocks, etc.
    - as well as his distant cousin, the tiger.
    

    Snuggles will watch just about anything.  One day I had the home
    shopping club on and they were selling a toy train set.  Well they
    had the train running and everytime it came to by close to the him
    he tryed to bat at it.  
    
    What I want to know is how come they have to go right up to the
    screen?    
    
    My neighbor saw him do it one day and she thought it was a right.
    
    To get off the subject a moment, has anyone tried clinging a blown
    up ballon on their cats' tail.  Rub it on the floor or on your cat
    and make it cling.  Watching them try to get it off is a riot! 
    (If they pop the ballon always be sure to pick up the pieces so 
    zthey don't eat it.)

    re -1
    
    Boy I really know how to spell don't I!
    
    This is how the line about my neighbor should read:
    
    "My neighbor saw him do it one day and she thought it was a riot!"

	 Becky occasionally  watches  what's  on TV. The last time was a
     show with a dog on it and she ran over to the TV and kept trying to
     touch  the  dog. Usually she's too busy watching the insides of her
     eyelids  from  either  my  lap  or  the top of the TV to care about
     what's actually on.

				kmr

    
    
  Sage my 5 month old female loves to watch football on TV. It is so
  cute to watch her try to touch the Quarter Backs when they 
  try to pass the ball. The playoffs will be interesting.
    
    
  Suzanne      

    A few nights ago my SO and I were watching TV when Silver decided
    that she wanted the people on TV to pet her. (Silver ALWAYS wants
    EVERYONE to pet her!)  She kept trying to jump into the TO but couldn't
    figure out what was stopping her.  She didn't hurt herself, she
    just stood on her hind legs and leaned against the TV with her front
    paws.  She finally decided to give up and went and tackled Tabbatha
    instead. :-)
    
    Holly

    I have two 11 year old cats.  Tica, my female, watched TV a couple
    of months ago.  This was the first, and so far the last, time I
    had ever seen one of them watching TV.
    
    I was lying on the couch with Tica who was sleeping.  I was involved
    with a program but swithed the channel during a commercial to Discovery
    or one of those wonderful animal shows.  It was a show on minks,
    and minks move quickly and make squeaky animal noises.
    
    Well, Tica woke up and turned toward the TV.  She then moved to
    the corner of the coffee table and started intently at the TV. 
    I was TOTALLY AMAZED, as neither one of my cats had ever watched
    TV before.  She was totally engrossed in the action.  Often the
    minks would run quickly or chase something, and they would run off
    the TV screen.  Well, Tica would follow her head around, looking
    for the mink in the living room!!
         
    It was so WONDERFUL to watch.  Even tho I had been watching a different
    program, I stayed tuned to the mink show.  I only wish I had taped
    it!
    
    Also, I found myself calling her brother Tigger, asking him if he
    wanted to watch TV.  :-)
    
    It was great!
    Ginny