Saturday, February 21, 2015

[jules' pics] The pitter patter of tiny feet

Well.. it's more like... things that go bump in the night

This is Riley, and he's up for adoption. We are fostering him for Bentham Pet Rescue. Apparently it is much better for homeless cats to stay in people's homes than at a cattery. He's been at the rescue since October and it is hard to imagine why he hasn't found a home as he is as big and furry a cat as you could hope for. He also plays games, demands to be stroked by head butting, and purrs whenever you go near him. He talks quite a lot and comes when called, and hasn't even broken any of our belongings yet. Having only been in the house only 24 hours, he still seems a little lost, wondering what is going to happen next. We are at home for quite a bit of the day, so we are hoping he will adjust to being a bit less nocturnal. 



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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 2/21/2015 04:45:00 PM

4 comments:

Hank Roberts said...

You know the thing about cats and chin-rubbing? If you scratch under the chin, then rub your fingers it'll leave their "friendly/safe spot" scent. Whenever I moved to a new place back when I had outdoor cats, I'd do that from the cat door, down the rails, and out into the yard around the house marking trails. Then I'd see the cats out later lurking and exploring, carefully -- and when startled they'd run right to one of those marked scent trails and along it back to the house. Same scent cues also work for "climb this curtain" and "hang out on this counter" and "sleep in this laundry" so some care and handwashing are required (grin).

This kind of scent-marking is a good way to designate your preference for a pet bed/basket/pillow-on-your-bed. Odds are he's bumping in the night doing this kind of marking as he explores the house.

jules said...

That's the cat's chin, not my chin? And what's the cue for "not on this counter" - my armpits? There's certainly a lot of rubbing of underside of his jaw on all corners going on.

Humans claim to get quite lost in our house - and the cat has only explored 3 rooms to any level of comfort, although he did venture into a 4th room last evening in order to entertain us with a minimalist modern tune on the piano.

Initially he took fright at every sound, but he's getting used to it. I didn't realise cats are so auditory.

He's a big guy so does thump when he jumps off things but there seems to be little bumping or talking in the night at present.

Hank Roberts said...

> not on this counter

Only method I've heard of working is to cover the counter with armed mousetraps, and cover those with several sheets of newspaper.

It works on the principle Mark Twain observed: that a cat that has once jumped onto a hot stove will never again ever jump onto a stove, hot or otherwise.

Our informal equivalent was, just once, leaving a countertop overnight with a barely stable pile of recycling meant to go out the next day. This in fact taught both the cat and us memorable lessons ...

Steve Bloom said...

I have a feeling Riley may have found a home by now.