Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for February 18, 2020

Where the electric can opener is?

That they will ignore everything you say.

Yeah, shaking the treat bag doesn’t work for me, either. The are wily creatures.

Had a cat once. She would come running when I crumpled an empty cigarette pack into a ball. I’d toss it to her and she would bat it around until she’d lose it. When we cleaned the rug, we must have found 20 packs under the sofa.

Ludwig appears to have been down this road before. Fool me once….then I’m on to you.

It’s easier to just let the cat train you, as God intended.

I had a cat once that I trained to fetch. Another I trained to shake “hands.” The rest did whatever they felt like.

This feels like a Zen koan. When you know the answer is “you can’t” you have progressed.

Our cat ignores treats completely. He’s content to have food and doesn’t even overeat when the bowl is freshly filled. He just demands a clean toilet, some outdoor time, lot’s of sleep and a little petting a few times a day.

But he ignores the vet, too. To him it’s just annother human that he doesn’t fear and if that one is gentle he accepts it as a strange petting, too. The only thing he doesn’t like is being kept from going his ways, therefore the transport cage and any closed door are evenly annoying to him.

The cat knows all about a trip to the vet, no fooling them.

We had a siamese/DSH mix. 20 mile drive to the vet. Yammer, yammer, yammer the whole way there. About 2 blocks from the vet, he’d shut up. The vet and staff “Oh what a great cat. So nice and quiet.” Back in the car, 2 blocks away from the vet, “Yammer, yammer, yammer” (translation: “Did you SEE what they did to me? Atrocity! Report them to the UN!” I’d just agree with him. After about 10 miles, he’d start to repeat himself. I miss those trips and our conversations.

Even Wiley got into the act today.https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur?ct=v&cti=2019145

I had to cancel and reschedule a vet appointment once, because our cat hid so effectively. Came around the corner as I put the phone down after rescheduling

we gave up ! our vet makes house calls……………….

When your cat seems to do as you want, you’ll know you have been trained.

Luddie is well trained to hide when Arlo rattles the treat bag AND the “cat carrier” is out.

We had a young horse that was very reluctant to go into the trailer so we simply parked it in the pasture just inside the gate and put his feed in there every day! It didn’t take long for him to hop right in every time!

The first rule of training a cat: you have to be smarter than the cat.

Cat Training 101

1) Make a good guess on what cat wants to do2) Command cat to do it

Nothing would stop my cat from sharpening her claws on the sofa.

It is a trick question, cats train you.

My daughter trained her cat to sit up (begging position) and tap my daughter’s hand in order to get her treat. The cat likes to be picked up and held, so now when my daughter asks her if she want up, the cat will sit and lift her shoulders so my daughter can pick her up. But only if the cat really wants up. Otherwise, she will just walk away. The rapport between my daughter and cat is amazing. The cat has such a wide vocabulary of meows, yells, calls, purrs (yes, even purrs can differ), yowls, etc. and I have even learned what some of them mean. It’s funny when the cat goes around calling for my daughter. It sounds almost like a toddler yelling, MOM!! MOM!!! MOM!! and when my daughter finally answers, the cat will gently meow, rub up against her, then walk away. Maybe just wanting to say I love you. Her cat is amazingly responsive.

I don’t train my cat. My cat trains ME!

Dogs are easier. Even a trip to the Vet involves a “Ride”.

Hint for cat co-habitators: Leave a cat carrier or two out and open at all times, with a nice poof or throw in it. The cat will think of it as their special place (okay, one of their many places) and will not be scared of it.Since I learned that trick 20-some years ago I’ve rarely had an issue getting a cat into a carrier.

HA! Cats— what can you do?

First thing you need to know is that the cat is smarter than you are.

I had a cat that came running everytime I opened the cookie jar…she just loved chocolate chip cookies and they never seemed to harm her.