Conference misery::feline

894.0. "Clumsy cat needs coordination training" by OOTOOL::CHELSEA (Mostly harmless.) Mon Jun 05 1995 14:59

    Now, it might be that Valentina is simply accident-prone, but I think
    it's more likely that she's a little lacking in the coordination
    department.  She was rescued as a kitten, raised by a cat that had
    given birth in the shelter's care, and adopted by me (along with two of
    her foster sisters) when she was ten weeks old.  She's now two years
    old.  The other two developed their own particular toys -- Thea plays 
    soccer with pom-pom balls, and Zoe is the terror of numerous 
    fish-on-a-string.  But Valentina didn't indulge in much playing.
    
    A couple of months ago, she got stuck in a tree and mangled her claws
    coming down.  From that point, she's taken much more interest in Zoe's
    fish-on-a-string, even interrupting Zoe's playtimes to have a go at it
    herself.  Her coordination isn't up to Zoe's, that's for sure.
    
    So, I need to get her to play some more.  I don't want her to keep
    using Zoe's toys, since Zoe is the boss cat.  However, any new toys
    have to pass Zoe's inspection.  I've gotten Zoe a couple of different
    toys all for herself, but that doesn't mean she'll stop considering the
    fishies as hers.
    
    I have some time to come up with a solution.  Valentina's latest
    adventure was to get caught on a nail or something, and tear open a
    gash over the sternum, leaving the subcutaneous tissue exposed.  She
    went to the vet Saturday, and came home Sunday, so it will be a while
    before she's ready for some real exertion.

    my girlfriend is a piano teacher. she has learned that some people can
    do 'it' and some people can't no matter how hard they try. find out
    what the cat is good at and encourage it that way. the coordination
    thing may never work out, perhaps it has balance problems due to ear
    canal infection? 
    
    one thing i do know for sure is that when i started making my own cat
    food for Q.D. (my cat) all aspects of her life were enhanced. I've been
    feeding her on homemade food now for two years and she is extremely
    happy and healthy not to mention softer fluffier than most of the cats
    i know who consume the regular dry stuff or canned stuff.
    
    chris
    

  I don't know how much good this would do, but you could try the aerobic 
exerciser.  In our house, it isn't as popular as the feather flyer, but it's 
a close second.  If you haven't seen them, they have a koosh ball at one end
of heavy wire and a wood handle at the other.  It also comes with 
"instructions" for warm-up and cool-down.  I've bought them in pet stores, but
my vet now carries them.  Good luck.

			SQ