Cat wrangling -- a subtle art
Sep. 11th, 2014 11:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
untonugganAwhile ago partner put a cat noises app on my phone. Initially it was a way for myself and various family members who were not so familiar with cats to get a sense of different types of cat noises and what they might mean.
However, it has another very useful purpose, if one doesn't overuse it. That purpose is distracting cats.
For example, when Bubba and Chance were getting a little *intense* in their play (read: Chance mostly was the intense one), sometimes I would play random cat meows from the app. Both cats would stop what they were doing and go, "Wait, there's another cat? Are you making that noise? Where is that coming from? What?" It was enough of a distraction to kind of break the cycle of predator-prey-intensity and kind of reset things.
Note: use sparingly so as not to acclimate cats to random cat noises and render ineffective.
Another useful tool is random bird noise apps or YouTube videos. Your cat may or may not respond as mine has, but there have been times when we've needed to get Chance in a cat carrier or give him meds and he has (wisely) hidden under the bed or another difficult to reach location. Rather than doing the ill-advised move-the-bed or reach-under-to-meet-unhappy-cat-pull-out-of-hiding-maneuvers, at times we have played bird noises on the phone. This has sometimes led to cat coming out to go, "Wait birds? I like birds. Where are you hiding the birds? How did they get in the tiny box?"
Again, using sparingly is key. It also helps if the noises come sometimes not when cat is about to be trapped for medicine or the carrier, but also for fun things like investigating magic bird box or getting food.
I am guessing probably more experienced cat guardians have already figured these things out, but I thought I would share for kicks, in case people find this helpful, and because my memory is sometimes swiss-cheese-like.
However, it has another very useful purpose, if one doesn't overuse it. That purpose is distracting cats.
For example, when Bubba and Chance were getting a little *intense* in their play (read: Chance mostly was the intense one), sometimes I would play random cat meows from the app. Both cats would stop what they were doing and go, "Wait, there's another cat? Are you making that noise? Where is that coming from? What?" It was enough of a distraction to kind of break the cycle of predator-prey-intensity and kind of reset things.
Note: use sparingly so as not to acclimate cats to random cat noises and render ineffective.
Another useful tool is random bird noise apps or YouTube videos. Your cat may or may not respond as mine has, but there have been times when we've needed to get Chance in a cat carrier or give him meds and he has (wisely) hidden under the bed or another difficult to reach location. Rather than doing the ill-advised move-the-bed or reach-under-to-meet-unhappy-cat-pull-out-of-hiding-maneuvers, at times we have played bird noises on the phone. This has sometimes led to cat coming out to go, "Wait birds? I like birds. Where are you hiding the birds? How did they get in the tiny box?"
Again, using sparingly is key. It also helps if the noises come sometimes not when cat is about to be trapped for medicine or the carrier, but also for fun things like investigating magic bird box or getting food.
I am guessing probably more experienced cat guardians have already figured these things out, but I thought I would share for kicks, in case people find this helpful, and because my memory is sometimes swiss-cheese-like.
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Date: 2014-09-11 05:21 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2014-09-12 12:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-12 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-12 01:26 am (UTC)I use "Cat talking and kitten meow sounds" for iOS, but it took me longer than expected to find it because this appears to be a popular app type.