| |
| |
|
Pets Information |
|
|
|
The Cat Learned How to Work the WHAT?
When I carried him home, he was this tiny little bundle of fur, approximately three weeks old. He is mostly white, with some mutlicolored stripes, cute beyond belief, but he was being abused and starved at his current home, so I just couldn't leave him there. I tucked him under my sweatshirt and off we went. My husband and son came home from their respective schools, they both fell in love, we named him Machiavelli, and that was that. In our home, he found three adult, spoiled and pampered feline friends, one dog who thinks she's a cat, food bowls that are always full, treats galore, toys in abundance, and fresh water always at hand. What more could a little fellow want? Life is good, for all of us. I must admit, however, that we were not prepared for how smart he would turn out to be. I thought my other boys were pretty smart, but this fellow takes the cake. When he was just a few months old, my husband and I were sitting in bed watching television, suddenly we heard him crying. I called out to him, to make sure he knew where we were, and to reassure him of our presence. He cried again so I asked him what he wanted. Well, he decided to show me, he came into our room and climbed up on our bed with his favorite food bowl in his mouth! It was empty, he wanted it filled, and I guess I was to dense for him to make his point the easy way. Of course, after a few months of these antics, the bowl had to be tossed out, alas, it was so full of fang holes that it looked like Swiss Cheese. Upon the addition of a new bowl, he changed his antics, and now if they are almost empty, he just throws them onto the diningroom floor, remaining food and all. He then leaves the bowl in the middle of the floor, in the middle of the night, so he can be sure you will trip on it, and be obligated to fill it. He also astounded us by outsmarting our resident bully. Mr. Whiskers has been in charge around here for five years, until Machi moved in that is. This little fellow just refused to be intimidated by anyone. The fist instance occured at the waterbowl in the kitchen. Mr. Whiskers was getting a drink when Machi decided he was also thirsty, he approached the bowl and Mr. Whiskers hissed at him. Well, Machi, still being tiny at the time, just strolled right under the much larger cat and went on to get his drink. The big bully ended up being the one to freak out and run. Guess he didn't know how to handle someone who just didn't care in the least about his attitude, or seniority. Machi still won't let Mr. Whiskers bother him, when he cops an attitude, Machi just stares at him, then slowly starts circling around the older, and larger cat. Drawing every closer and closer. He won't hiss, swat, or growl, just stare, and slowly diminish his circle. It never fails that Mr. Whiskers gets freaked out and runs off to hide. On night when he was approximately seven months old, Machi came into our room, hopped on our bed and meowed at us. We tried to figure out what he wanted, but it remained a mystery until my husband pulled aside the bedclothes and found one of his toy mice. He made sure that Machi saw it in his hand and then tossed it out the door so he could go play. Surprise! This turned out to be a fun game, so Machi brought the mouse back to be thrown again. We ended up playing fetch with a toy mouse that night for nearly an hour, and ever since, this has become one of his favorite games. Now, I am sure he thought he was really entertaining us silly people, and this was fine with us, until the evening he caught a real mouse. Yep, you got it, he tried to bring the bloody corpse into our bed so we could play fetch with it. He just couldn't understand why we didn't want his new prize toy in our bed. I finally had to pick the thing up and take it outside to the garbage to end the problem. There are many other escapades where he has shown off his intelligence, including learning what the television remote is for, and not being shy about using it when he doesn't like what we are watching, or leaving small toys in our shoes, because he enjoys the reaction when we have to pull them back off to figure out why they suddently don't fit right but none astounded me as much as my most recent discovery. If I hadn't witnessed this one for myself, I would never have believed it in a million years. It started over the winter, I would find the house getting chilly for no apparent reason, and at other times heating up like we lived at the equator. I wasn't sure what was going on, for quite awhile, I just assumed my husband had adjusted the thermostat for some reason, I set it to a comfortable temperature and thought nothing of it. Then one day, after my husband had left for school, and I found myself freezing, I called him on his lunch break to ask why he had to mess with the silly thing, when he knew he was leaving the house soon. He denied having touched it. So, I thought maybe our son had done it. When he returned from school that afternoon, I asked him about it. He denied touching it as well. Being a ten-year old, he of course hates to get in trouble, so I must admit, I just assumed he was denying to cover his butt. When it happend on weekends, after company had left, I just assumed one of them had done it, I would reset it and forget about it. That is, until one day, when I knew for a fact that I had just done fixed it that very morning and no one else was home, and suddenly, I felt like a turkey basting in the oven. At this point, I was very perplexed. Was something really wrong with the thing? Did we have a ghost who had its own ideas of the most comfortable temperature? Then, one day, I was having a lot of pain from my back problems, so I had taken some pills and hit the bed for a nap. I woke up to go to the bathroom and when I was walking through the diningroom, what did I see? Why, a Machi, of course, balancing atop a door we had leaning against the wall, stretching up as tall as he could, and moving the thermostat. I quietly watched to see what he was doing, if it was just something interesting to play with, or if he had really figured out what its purpose was. I watched as he slowly slid it to the right, a higher temp, he paused after sliding it a little, cocked an ear and when he heard the furnace turn on, he jumped down, and ran into the kitchen. I then found him in the bathroom, laying on the heat vent, getting ready for a nap. He certainly had figured it what it did. Another time, after sleeping on the heat vent for awhile, I am assuming he woke up a little too warm. I watched his balancing act again, but this time, he moved the dial to the left, a lower temp. As before, he moved it a little, cocked an ear to listen closely, and when he heard the furnace shut off, he was satisfied and jumped down to continue on with his day. You can of course see where this new skill can be a problem, he has fur, Sometimes when he is warm, we aren't. Sometimes when he is cold, perhaps from sleeping near a drafty window, or door, we aren't. But you know what? He is just so darned cute, that we have never had the heart to move that door to a new spot! Verleen Wonderly is a published freelance writer. She has worked for the website http://www.dealofday.com since it's inception in 1999.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
What Your Cat Wants You To Know If your feline friend could speak your language, here a few things she would probably like you to know.1) I am the boss of you. You Must Train Your Dog From A Young Age The best thing to do is to start training your new puppy as soon as you get him home. You need to teach your puppy your rules, and how you expect him to behave starting from a very early age. How To Be A Good Pomeranian Dog Owner Opening your heart to a Pomeranian can be fun, but you must be willing to take on the responsibility of dog ownership. When you become a Pom owner, it's up to to do everything in your power to make your pet's life a happy one, the proper care, environment and companionship. Buy Dog Travel Supplies Online Dog Travel SuppliesThe shopping part along for dog travel supplies is amusing for sure. The trinkets, toys and accessories for pet product travel are a blast. What Should I Make My Snake Cage From? What kind of materials should you use when constructing a snake cage? Snakes come in many different sizes - but usually only one shape. Even so, there are many different housing systems and styles for snakes. Fat and Obese Dogs Live Shorter Lives Obesity is one of the most important health concerns facing dogs. If you love your dog, you should do something about it. Rimadyl the Wonder Drug - Or Is It? If Your Dog Suffers From Arthritis, Consider The Natural Alternative:Rimadyl was hailed as a wonder arthritis treatment for pets when it came on the market in 1997. Over the next 3 years, due largely to an aggressive marketing campaign by the manufacturer, Pfizer, Rimadyl was prescribed for 5 million dogs. Kids and Pets, Will it Work? How can my child benefit from having a pet?1.Social skills and self-esteem. Sugar Gliders, Pocket Pets Many people are searching for different means to have pets. Dogs and cats are not always the best choice of pets for everyone. Good Dog Care Is Vital Dog careAccepting responsibility of your new pet friend is truly serious business. Caring for your new best pet friend is rewarding with that I feel good feeling. Buster the Beloved Pussycat "Dogs have owners; cats have staff," and I have worked for some wonderful cats in my time. The one I loved best was named Buster. Housebreaking Your Dog-Potty Training Canine Style Puppies are a bundle of newfound joy. You've prepared the house, and even bought him a new rubber chew toy. Why Does My Cat Drink Dirty Water? You know that cats should always have a supply of water, especially if you are feeding them dried food. There on your nice clean kitchen floor is a bowl of nice clean fresh water, in a nice clean bowl. Is Your Dog In Pain Without You Realising? A dog that is feeling pain can often be highly unpredictable. When you handle a dog in that you suspect to be in pain, you should always proceed with great care. Guinea Pig History Their scientific name is Cavia Tschuldi and their nickname in South America where they were first discovered, is"Cavy. As you might have guessed Guinea Pigs are rodents. Tips For Dog Toys Toys are fun both for our dogs and us. Lucky for us there are endless choices. Dog Training For Beginners Training a dog is a fairly difficult task. Some find it to be very frustrating and simply send there dog or puppy to a professional trainer. PH Levels in The Discus Tank Because it is imperative that discus fish have optimal water conditions, much has been written about this subject, This is the plan put in place to insure proper PH water levels in our hatchery.Allnut Enterprises' breeder, Nick Lockhart of Noblesville, Indiana, has many ingenious ideas as to how to accomplish things in the hatchery. A Dog Day Care Business Can Be A Lot of Fun! If you love dogs and you enjoy making money then a dog day care business may be a very good fit for you!Let me ask you a question, "Can you imagine starting your very own dog day care business?" If you asked yourself that question and still aren't sure, let me give you a bit of dog day care business advice.. The One Dog Trick That All Dogs Must Know - The Hand Shake Trick The first dog trick that is generally taught a dog is to shake hands, and there are very few puppy and dog owners who do not teach their pets this simple trick.In most cases it is so easily accomplished that the amateur trainer does not know exactly how it was done, for if you take hold of a dog's paw and say "paw" or "shake" and repeat the performance often enough and at odd times, it will be the most natural thing for a dog to place his paw in your hand as soon as you extend it and he hears the word "paw," to which he has become accustomed.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 |
