cats pushing our buttons..

Hey! I'm curious if any of ur cats likes to push ur buttons??

I noticed Sunni just LOVES to prevent me from doing any work on my computer desk! EVERY TIME I get ready to work on bills or study or wahtever on my computer desk, Sunni comes running and knows EXACTLY where to lay down - on the exact paper or book I am using.

She knows I don't have the guts to push her away so I just work around her.

Just wondered if any of ur cats have annoying habits like that or what?? Would love to hear of it!

Oh of course, but this is a sign that they love you very much. If they didnt get in the way, then they wouldnt be the center of your attention. Cats are very good at getting what they want when they want it. I have one who will follow me and cry until I pick her up. If I dont pick her up right away, when I do she will give me a love bite. There's the one who will follow me and squeek until I talk to her and then there's the one who will actually reach out and grab me. Their ablility to get what they want always amazes me.

Not only do they know how to push buttons in a winsome way, but they also know just where to use the knife. I am reading a book and two cats want to sit on my lap. The one that doesn't manage to either shove the first off or share the space will saunter away -- next thing I know there is a crash of glass from the kitchen, or a peculiar slithering sound of falling paper from the computer room. They are very, very clever observers of mood and body language, but egocentric enough to use this information mainly for their own gratification. I particularly love the talking -- of course you might not have noticed that I love to talk myself -- and most of my cats -- even the ones that originally were almost inarticulate when they first came to me -- develop a whole range of different sounds, which they repeat in similar situations. They also understand that when I am busy working at the computer or trying to edit a particularly complicated manuscript that sitting on the pages -- even the one I am actually marking -- threatening to walk on the keyboard or pounce on the mouse while yammering continuously in a hectoring voice will get me to react to them. The new cat, for example, talks almost continuously when he is near me.

He also has nightmares, by the way. I have never seen a cat with dog-like dreams, but he has them, whimpering in a low desperate voice and scrabbling with his legs. I sometimes sing lullabyes to him very softly and that seems to relax him.

This evening, one of the white cats -- a young female -- came in through the window while I was watching some TV, paused a second to see what I was doing, and then, since I didn't say anything by way of greeting -- we are very polite in my household -- she corrected my manners by walking deliberately to my glass of water and knocking it over in the direction of my lap. She then jumped down from the table and stalked off as if she were the injured party. What I should have said when she came in was something likek "Oh, hi, there, Astra. Did you have a good time outside?" at which point she would have come over and butted her head into my forehead (this is an affectionate hello in cat-speak), and after I gave her a few good long pats, she would jump down and check out the levels in the food dishes.

I totally understand how you feel. We (my bf and I)have 2 kittens and love them more then anything. But our little girl (Max) is a pain in the butt. She sits at our door at night and whines. If we open the door she knows shes in trouble but will keep on going once we try and go back to bed. We have lost so much sleep b/c of this. Any suggestions on how to make her stop? But the answere is YES my buttons have long been pushed!

I've never slept with a cat I didn't like In other words, my cats have always slept with me...I've never found myself having to make a decision otherwise. I guess I've been fortunate and have had good nite pals...but, it wouldn't hurt to try to let her sleep with you. They do make great cuddlers

Yes, Caterina, but note that MaMaof said "our" door, etc. I rather think she has something warm to cuddle up to. Knowing how jealous cats are of their particular humans, I would just bet that they would find ways of tormenting the "Other" human.

Occasionally, one of the smaller dogs will try to join his favorite cat on my bed at night, and the entire night/bed-sleeping group (from 1 to 4 regulars who have very quickly staked out sleeping territories on the bed (Vanity always against my stomach, Moth always against my back, Neptune down the back of my legs, and Lucky at the foot against the souls of my feet...) will attack the dog as if she were an unknown enemy.

If I turn over to my other side, Vanity and Moth change sides of the bed, as does Neptune, who arranges himself again along the back of my legs. Lucky just shifts a little, being at the foot. Picture this territorial behavior with a "significant other" in the bed as well. I think if MaMaof can establish the cats in baskets (plastic laundry baskets, for example, during the winter, when everyone is in the house at night, she might have some luck. But she would have to remember to leave the bedroom door open so the cats can go in and out to the litter box.

I like some of the other ideas -- feeding them a nice snack just before bedtime, tiring them with some interactive play... The other solution is to lock them in some distant part of the house with food, water, and a litter box - provided, of course, that you have a large enough house. My own is so small that I don't need carpets -- every available space is taken up by blankets and baskets for the cats and dogs during the winter, so no hope of a distant room. I don't recommend locking them out of the house at night -- there are too many potential emergencies from maurading dogs to cars (whose drivers tend to speed at night), and other problems. the animals need access for safety's sake.

I guess we all have different views on where we draw lines with our 4 legged babies. I am very lucky(shhhhh dont tell him I said this) to have a great "other" person in the bed. He was a very light sleeper and yet put up with kittenhood very well. Of course I always told him he had no choice...LOL.

I guess my bf and I can try and let them sleep with us. But we both move around so much during the night. Not to mention these babies (that I love VERY much) let off so much heat. And that makes even harder to sleep with them. Maybe I'll try the basket idea. Thanx everyone!


kjjjjjjv u bv(Sorry that is my little boy "Tang" walking on the key board, Guess hes saying "HI" hehehehe)

We just cant sleep with our cats. We are both very light sleepers and have never had any pets sleep with us. From the moment we got these two they are put in the spare room when we go to bed.. There is food,water and litter boxes and a comfy chair they sleep on. They never make a sound till we get up.

As for pushing my buttons I find the worst time is when I am on the phone. Trying to climb the curtains or eat the plants or one time Rocky even hung up the phone. They are like a couple of little kids.

Dear Elinor :angel2:

Well, it still sounds as though you have perfect angels!

Love, Peace &

Well, for a very long time I resisted having any animals even in the bedroom as visitors! I had had allergies all my life and asthma as a child (and now again in my "advanced" years). Gradually I seem to have built up a resistance to cat hair, and the cats just sort of ended up on the bed, the dressers, the TV table, curled up on the floor with their favorite dog, etc. I think if ever a burgler tried to come in through the window, he/she would end up flat on the floor trying to wade through the density of warm bodies!

I guess the on-the-bed thing would never have arisen, because most of the cats had already some cat-training from their mothers and actually enjoyed other-cat company. But last winter (1999-2000) people began to bring me real nursing babies, and I reared them by hand without benefit of a lactating female cat. They all 6 attached themselves to me, rather than to cat-models, and most of them remain extremely bonded. There were lots of things that they didn't learn of cat lore, and even hanging around some of the older cats hasn't broken them of their fixation on me as mother.

And truth to tell, I respond to their dependency and love. The bond is definitely a two-way street!

So the cats on the bed are these little ones, now over a year or a year and a half old.

As to hot, boy are they. In the summer I have to keep easing them a little away from body contact. They are like small, furry furnaces. But in cooler or cold weather, it means I can save on heating bills. When I am up, they are on my lap or lying across my feet or curled against my back, depending on where I am sitting, and in bed, they keep my feet gloriously warm as well as acting as heating blankets for my back and legs. If they cost more in airconditioning in the summer, they certainly save an equal amount of money in winter heating.

But they do guard their individually preferred territories and will vigorously defend them against the older cats (not to mention the dogs, who are not allowed on the bed at night)...

I do think some of you are so lucky with your signif. others. I takes a lot of understanding to accept a load of cats or dogs on the bed at night. On the other hand, I really do understand people who would just not care for animals in the bed. But I have to say, I used to toss and turn a lot, but, like one learns if one takes a new baby into the bed at night if it is still nursing, the body seems to adjust to being very careful not to smother infants. Just as we filter a baby's cry for content and just screen out all the noises that are not threatening -- and leap out of bed at the slightest sound that means baby suddenly can't get its breath -- so, too, we seem to instinctively program our bodies not to roll over on the cats.

Hey everyone! Well we finally tried letting them sleep in the room. All went well until Tang decided at like 5 in the morning he wanted to play. We got mad at first. But he's so darn cute and loveable we can't stay mad at him long. Any who... we have just been leaving the door open now. So they can come and go as they please. Max (our little girl) gets hot and won't stay long. But when she wants to cuddle she gets right in between me and my boyfriend and there is no moving her. O-Well. As long as the babies are happy right? We took them today and got them fixed. SO are babies are a bit tired and sore. Well we are all off to bed now. It's been a long day for our family.

You can gradually teach them to shift to another spot on the bed, but it means a number of sleep-interrupted nights. Gently move them (with appropriate baby talk) to where you would prefer them. Keep it up until they agree. You can also keep your door shut until you are actually ready to go to sleep, but that is an obvious suggestion. For those times you don't feel like opening the door, you can put a more or less permanent laundry basket outside the door with a nice pillow and blanket. Sometimes they will welcome the change of venue.

But you've found the right ball park. Best solution with cats -- GIVE IN unless it is something that really matters to you.

Hi There :angel2::angel2:

The kitties will come and go as they please and trust me, they will probably not want to cuddle as much as they get older (remember, they are cats and very independent

I find that in the past mine have become quite comfortable and will feel safe around their own domain and do what they want. Sometimes, I wish they were kittens again because they were a bit more dependent on me. However; I wouldn't trade them for anything!

It's so good to hear that you're taking this in stride and seeing how much love they'll provide you with Many joyous years ahead!!!

Love, Peace &