S
seilerbird
Guest
I have two cats living with me in my motorhome, Tarzan and Jane, both about two years old. All my life I have owned dogs and birds so these are my first cats. I own cats now because they are much better at living in a small space like a motorhome. They both have a bunch of crazy habits that I have a hard time comprehending what they are thinking. I don't know if these are normal activites for cats or not. Here are some of the best.
Jane has a 10 second fuse. I pick her up and hold her, pet her and say sweet words to her and her motor starts running and she is clearing enjoying herself. Then the 10 second timer goes off and she jumps out of my arms. Same thing if I put her in my lap, 10 seconds and she is gone. She loves to lay on the floor and stretch all the way out while I scratch her back. 10 seconds later she is up and away.
When I wake up in the morning the cats are already up and playing. I like to lie in bed for an hour or so trying to convince myself to actually get up and start my day. At some point I will roll over on my back. About half of the mornings that I do this Tarzan will hear me roll over and come running in and jump on my feet. Then he walks down the whole length of my body and bangs the top of his head into my chin and then stands there on my chest so I can scratch his head. He will occasionally do this in the afternoon when I am lying on the bed watching a movie. Why he can't just jump on my chest to begin with and save walking my whole body is a mystery to me.
Jane is a conversationalist. She sees me walk into a room and she goes "burrrrup", so I go "burrrrup", so she goes "burup" and I go "burup", then she goes "burrrrrrup" so I go burrrrrrrup" and on and on. We are holding this great conversation. Of course I don't have a clue as to what she is saying and she doesn't have a clue as to what I am saying, but we do a lot of talking.
My bathroom is as small as a phone booth. When I go in to do a #2 I leave the door open which is normally closed and off limits to the cats. As soon as I am seated Tarzan jets into the room and jumps from the floor to my lap to the countertop. Then she stares into the sink waiting for me to turn the water on in a very slow drip so he can do battle with the drips, drink water from the drain and touch the water puddle with his paw. He has never shown the slightest interest in the kitchen sink. Reminds me of the old joke about the kid who asks his dad for a glass of water at midnight and when the dad delivers the kid sip it and says "That's kitchen water, I wanted bathroom water."
When I bring anything new into the motorhome in a box Tarzan gets all excited and stands right next to the box as I unpack it. He can't wait to get into the box. Usually he is trying to get into the box before it is even empty. Then when it is empty I will put it on the floor either with the open side up or on it side. Either way he gets right in, lays down and acts like he has just gotten accomodations at a five star hotel. He will stay in the box for a half an hour or so and then completely ignore it no matter how much longer it stays there.
Both cats make a very quiet "burrrrrup" noise as they land a jump, such as when they jump from the floor to the bed. It is like they are announcing that they have arrived.
I have bought just about every cat toy in Cats-r-Us and they will play with them for a minute maybe and then loose interest. However Jane has found her own favorite toy, a twist tie. Yep a twist tie. Not just any old everyday twist tie, it must be black (she is a black cat) and about 6 inches long and nice and wide, like the kind that come wrapped about power cords. If I unwrap one of these and set it down she will immediately come over and steal it and go play with it. She bats it around like a soccer ball, grabs it and gets up on her hind legs like Godzilla and bats it around, drops it and then pounces on it and plays some more soccer. I have seen her spend an hour at a time playing with the same silly twist tie. But give her a $15 track ball and she sniffs at it and walks away.
A friend of mine saw an ad on Craigslist for a free kitty so we went and got it. He was a tiny little thing, just a bit bigger than my hand, so we guessed he was about 6 weeks old. Turns out he had been abandoned and found in a car in that was being taken to a junk yard. I brought him home at 7pm and he didn't want to eat and only drank a bit of milk. My motorhome didn't have a heater and it was getting down into the 40s at night so I went to bed around 9pm and took him with me. I brought him under the covers and had him curl up against my chest. I was almost sleeping on top of him to keep him warm. Both me and my friend had our doubts he would make it through to the night. He did and I didn't even crush him. He spent the entire night there and didn't even get up to use the Poop Palace or get food or milk. Ever since then I go to bed and as soon as it starts getting cold in the motorhome he gets on my pillow to let me know to lift up the blankets so he can curl up on my chest. He never curls up to my backside, always my chest, and always in the same position. He is facing me with his feet on my thighs and the top of his head pressed up against my stomach. He falls asleep like that every night. So what I can't figure out is how does he fall asleep with his head on my stomach. Every time I breath my stomach moves in and out. I wonder if he dreams about being at sea in a boat. Some nights he gets into bed and his paws are really cold. Cold paws on my chest certainly gets my attention.
Jane loves to be scratched while she eats dinner. She will come over to me and meow at me like she wants to be petted. When I start to pet her she runs over to her dish and starts eating. She is trying to lead me over to her dish. So I go over and start scratching her while she is eating. Her motor runs wild. And of course she always obeys the 10 second rule and after 10 seconds of eating and scratching she usually walks around me in a circle and rubs up agains me on the way, then goes back to her dish for more eating and petting.
Tarzan and Jane love to play tag in the motorhome. They will start at the dash (Janes favorite hangout)(a human being could sleep on an RV dash it is so big and the view out the window is fantastic) and then suddenly one will chase the other to my bed in the far end of the motorhome. When they get they they will stop and then return the chase back to the dash. After a few trips back and forth they will end up either wrassling each other or licking each other's heads and ears.
Jane thinks that under the dashboard is the greatest place in the entire world. Of course I don't want her there because she could mess up the wiring. And of course when you tell a cat "NO" they think that means to try it one more time. So I have had to build a dam to keep the cat from going under the dash. Of course I have tried a number of different solutions and they don't help a bit. I have bought the spray that keeps cats away from an object, Jane thought it was salad dressing and just kept right on going under. I put a motion detector that let off a high pitched siren but she just figured out to walk real slow. Every dam I have built she has breached. So currently I have 3 large pieces of heavy cardboard, a pillow and their carrier that I use to build the dam. She hasn't breached this one yet but she reminds me of the T-rex in Jurassic Park that kept on testing the electric fences until they found a way out. Every time I start the motorhome I must remove the dam and then replace it when I park.
I have a nice large covered Poop Palace for Tarzan and Jane to use. It is one of those with a sieve on the bottom so all I do is remove the top, sift out the little presents, scoop them into a bag and put the PP back together again. Takes me about one minute and I do it once a day, usually in the morning. Jane waits for this moment. As soon as the lid is back on and I slide it back into place she goes in to inaugurate it. My friend who found Tarzan for me has 5 indoor cats. He told me that when he changes the litter in his house there is sometimes a line of cats waiting their turn to get in. Kinda like a cleaner station out in the ocean.
I got Jane about a year after I got Tarzan. I wanted Tarzan to have a buddy (not that kind of buddy, both are fixed). She had been living outside of my friends house and unlike most feral cats this one was friendly. So I thought I would take her in and see how she and Tarzan got along. She must have been abandoned because she was so thin we thought she was about three months old. I was shocked when I too her in to get her shots and get fixed that the vet said she was about a year old, the same as Tarzan. She had probably been living outside for a while and she was probalby not a good hunter. Their food and water dish is located right at the door to the motorhome. I go in and out of the door a dozen or more times per day. Each time I make absolutely sure that no cat leaves with me. I cannot have an outdoor cat in my living situation. Tarzan has managed to sneak past me 3 times, and each time I was able to get him back with out too much of a problem. If I leave the door open a bit too long he starts getting interested in trying to sneak out. Jane, on the other hand, sits eating quietly as I come and go and never even looks out the door, and has not attempted to escape even once. Her attitude seems to be "Been there, done that and got the t-shirt. No thanks." She knows she has the best thing going, a food and water dish that is never empty.
Several times a week I prepare myself a snack of tuna fish salad and crackers. I give the tuna water to Tarzan and the tuna can with a few bits of tuna in it to Jane. To prepare it I must get a can of tuna, a bowl, a bag of crackers and a paper towel from the pantry, then I get a fork and the can opener from the silverware drawer and the mayo from the refer. That is 7 items and I never get the in the same order. It doesn't matter what order I get them out in, by the time I have the fourth item out both cats will be purring and rubbing up against my ankles waiting for their treat. It doesn't matter if they are sleeping in the next room they always figure out that tuna is coming. I go to the refer, the pantry and silverware drawer many times during the day and they never budge unless they figure out that it is tuna time. I have tried to fool them. I go into the kitchen and pull out one item and then do something else, then pull out another item and do something else. Doesn't matter, by item four they are there. I think that on top of being crazy they are pyschic. Of course this means they have very acute senses of hearing. So what I can't figure out is why is Tarzan's favorite afternoon sleeping spot on my bed by my ankles while I am watching movies on my tv. She is laying less than three feet from the left front speaker and my hearing is not so good so the volume is never subtle. How can he sleep right next to one of my speakers?
A few weeks ago I had a visitor to my motorhome. Tarzan was asleep on my bed 12 feet from the door. The visitor knocked three times, knock, knock, knock. At the first knock Tarzan woke up. But the third knock he was standing by the door. I was suprized not only by the blinding speed he displayed going from the bedroom to the door, but also by the fact that I only get about one visitor a month and he knows that when there is a knock at the door that means someone is there.
Tarzan loves people and he also likes to dominate them. If anyone comes to visit me he will jump up into their lap as soon as they sit down on the couch. This surprizes people because most of the time when you go to visit someone who has cats they usually all hiding under the bed while they visit. But the really weird thing is Tarzan never jumps into my lap.
Jane spends most of her day sleeping on the dash or in the passengers seat, about 5 feet from my computer. About a dozen times a day I turn it on to check email and read forum posts. When I push the button to turn the computer off Jane hears it and immediately jumps up and runs over to me and meows so I can pet her. I don't know if she is watching for me to turn it off or she hears it, but she never misses.
A few weeks ago Jane was on the dash and she started coughing. Tarzan heard her and immediately woke up and ran over to the dashboard. He got right next to her and as she was coughing he started licking her head. She coughed a few more times and stopped. Tarzan stuck around for another minute and then decided she was going to live and went back to sleep. True love.
Jane has a 10 second fuse. I pick her up and hold her, pet her and say sweet words to her and her motor starts running and she is clearing enjoying herself. Then the 10 second timer goes off and she jumps out of my arms. Same thing if I put her in my lap, 10 seconds and she is gone. She loves to lay on the floor and stretch all the way out while I scratch her back. 10 seconds later she is up and away.
When I wake up in the morning the cats are already up and playing. I like to lie in bed for an hour or so trying to convince myself to actually get up and start my day. At some point I will roll over on my back. About half of the mornings that I do this Tarzan will hear me roll over and come running in and jump on my feet. Then he walks down the whole length of my body and bangs the top of his head into my chin and then stands there on my chest so I can scratch his head. He will occasionally do this in the afternoon when I am lying on the bed watching a movie. Why he can't just jump on my chest to begin with and save walking my whole body is a mystery to me.
Jane is a conversationalist. She sees me walk into a room and she goes "burrrrup", so I go "burrrrup", so she goes "burup" and I go "burup", then she goes "burrrrrrup" so I go burrrrrrrup" and on and on. We are holding this great conversation. Of course I don't have a clue as to what she is saying and she doesn't have a clue as to what I am saying, but we do a lot of talking.
My bathroom is as small as a phone booth. When I go in to do a #2 I leave the door open which is normally closed and off limits to the cats. As soon as I am seated Tarzan jets into the room and jumps from the floor to my lap to the countertop. Then she stares into the sink waiting for me to turn the water on in a very slow drip so he can do battle with the drips, drink water from the drain and touch the water puddle with his paw. He has never shown the slightest interest in the kitchen sink. Reminds me of the old joke about the kid who asks his dad for a glass of water at midnight and when the dad delivers the kid sip it and says "That's kitchen water, I wanted bathroom water."
When I bring anything new into the motorhome in a box Tarzan gets all excited and stands right next to the box as I unpack it. He can't wait to get into the box. Usually he is trying to get into the box before it is even empty. Then when it is empty I will put it on the floor either with the open side up or on it side. Either way he gets right in, lays down and acts like he has just gotten accomodations at a five star hotel. He will stay in the box for a half an hour or so and then completely ignore it no matter how much longer it stays there.
Both cats make a very quiet "burrrrrup" noise as they land a jump, such as when they jump from the floor to the bed. It is like they are announcing that they have arrived.
I have bought just about every cat toy in Cats-r-Us and they will play with them for a minute maybe and then loose interest. However Jane has found her own favorite toy, a twist tie. Yep a twist tie. Not just any old everyday twist tie, it must be black (she is a black cat) and about 6 inches long and nice and wide, like the kind that come wrapped about power cords. If I unwrap one of these and set it down she will immediately come over and steal it and go play with it. She bats it around like a soccer ball, grabs it and gets up on her hind legs like Godzilla and bats it around, drops it and then pounces on it and plays some more soccer. I have seen her spend an hour at a time playing with the same silly twist tie. But give her a $15 track ball and she sniffs at it and walks away.
A friend of mine saw an ad on Craigslist for a free kitty so we went and got it. He was a tiny little thing, just a bit bigger than my hand, so we guessed he was about 6 weeks old. Turns out he had been abandoned and found in a car in that was being taken to a junk yard. I brought him home at 7pm and he didn't want to eat and only drank a bit of milk. My motorhome didn't have a heater and it was getting down into the 40s at night so I went to bed around 9pm and took him with me. I brought him under the covers and had him curl up against my chest. I was almost sleeping on top of him to keep him warm. Both me and my friend had our doubts he would make it through to the night. He did and I didn't even crush him. He spent the entire night there and didn't even get up to use the Poop Palace or get food or milk. Ever since then I go to bed and as soon as it starts getting cold in the motorhome he gets on my pillow to let me know to lift up the blankets so he can curl up on my chest. He never curls up to my backside, always my chest, and always in the same position. He is facing me with his feet on my thighs and the top of his head pressed up against my stomach. He falls asleep like that every night. So what I can't figure out is how does he fall asleep with his head on my stomach. Every time I breath my stomach moves in and out. I wonder if he dreams about being at sea in a boat. Some nights he gets into bed and his paws are really cold. Cold paws on my chest certainly gets my attention.
Jane loves to be scratched while she eats dinner. She will come over to me and meow at me like she wants to be petted. When I start to pet her she runs over to her dish and starts eating. She is trying to lead me over to her dish. So I go over and start scratching her while she is eating. Her motor runs wild. And of course she always obeys the 10 second rule and after 10 seconds of eating and scratching she usually walks around me in a circle and rubs up agains me on the way, then goes back to her dish for more eating and petting.
Tarzan and Jane love to play tag in the motorhome. They will start at the dash (Janes favorite hangout)(a human being could sleep on an RV dash it is so big and the view out the window is fantastic) and then suddenly one will chase the other to my bed in the far end of the motorhome. When they get they they will stop and then return the chase back to the dash. After a few trips back and forth they will end up either wrassling each other or licking each other's heads and ears.
Jane thinks that under the dashboard is the greatest place in the entire world. Of course I don't want her there because she could mess up the wiring. And of course when you tell a cat "NO" they think that means to try it one more time. So I have had to build a dam to keep the cat from going under the dash. Of course I have tried a number of different solutions and they don't help a bit. I have bought the spray that keeps cats away from an object, Jane thought it was salad dressing and just kept right on going under. I put a motion detector that let off a high pitched siren but she just figured out to walk real slow. Every dam I have built she has breached. So currently I have 3 large pieces of heavy cardboard, a pillow and their carrier that I use to build the dam. She hasn't breached this one yet but she reminds me of the T-rex in Jurassic Park that kept on testing the electric fences until they found a way out. Every time I start the motorhome I must remove the dam and then replace it when I park.
I have a nice large covered Poop Palace for Tarzan and Jane to use. It is one of those with a sieve on the bottom so all I do is remove the top, sift out the little presents, scoop them into a bag and put the PP back together again. Takes me about one minute and I do it once a day, usually in the morning. Jane waits for this moment. As soon as the lid is back on and I slide it back into place she goes in to inaugurate it. My friend who found Tarzan for me has 5 indoor cats. He told me that when he changes the litter in his house there is sometimes a line of cats waiting their turn to get in. Kinda like a cleaner station out in the ocean.
I got Jane about a year after I got Tarzan. I wanted Tarzan to have a buddy (not that kind of buddy, both are fixed). She had been living outside of my friends house and unlike most feral cats this one was friendly. So I thought I would take her in and see how she and Tarzan got along. She must have been abandoned because she was so thin we thought she was about three months old. I was shocked when I too her in to get her shots and get fixed that the vet said she was about a year old, the same as Tarzan. She had probably been living outside for a while and she was probalby not a good hunter. Their food and water dish is located right at the door to the motorhome. I go in and out of the door a dozen or more times per day. Each time I make absolutely sure that no cat leaves with me. I cannot have an outdoor cat in my living situation. Tarzan has managed to sneak past me 3 times, and each time I was able to get him back with out too much of a problem. If I leave the door open a bit too long he starts getting interested in trying to sneak out. Jane, on the other hand, sits eating quietly as I come and go and never even looks out the door, and has not attempted to escape even once. Her attitude seems to be "Been there, done that and got the t-shirt. No thanks." She knows she has the best thing going, a food and water dish that is never empty.
Several times a week I prepare myself a snack of tuna fish salad and crackers. I give the tuna water to Tarzan and the tuna can with a few bits of tuna in it to Jane. To prepare it I must get a can of tuna, a bowl, a bag of crackers and a paper towel from the pantry, then I get a fork and the can opener from the silverware drawer and the mayo from the refer. That is 7 items and I never get the in the same order. It doesn't matter what order I get them out in, by the time I have the fourth item out both cats will be purring and rubbing up against my ankles waiting for their treat. It doesn't matter if they are sleeping in the next room they always figure out that tuna is coming. I go to the refer, the pantry and silverware drawer many times during the day and they never budge unless they figure out that it is tuna time. I have tried to fool them. I go into the kitchen and pull out one item and then do something else, then pull out another item and do something else. Doesn't matter, by item four they are there. I think that on top of being crazy they are pyschic. Of course this means they have very acute senses of hearing. So what I can't figure out is why is Tarzan's favorite afternoon sleeping spot on my bed by my ankles while I am watching movies on my tv. She is laying less than three feet from the left front speaker and my hearing is not so good so the volume is never subtle. How can he sleep right next to one of my speakers?
A few weeks ago I had a visitor to my motorhome. Tarzan was asleep on my bed 12 feet from the door. The visitor knocked three times, knock, knock, knock. At the first knock Tarzan woke up. But the third knock he was standing by the door. I was suprized not only by the blinding speed he displayed going from the bedroom to the door, but also by the fact that I only get about one visitor a month and he knows that when there is a knock at the door that means someone is there.
Tarzan loves people and he also likes to dominate them. If anyone comes to visit me he will jump up into their lap as soon as they sit down on the couch. This surprizes people because most of the time when you go to visit someone who has cats they usually all hiding under the bed while they visit. But the really weird thing is Tarzan never jumps into my lap.
Jane spends most of her day sleeping on the dash or in the passengers seat, about 5 feet from my computer. About a dozen times a day I turn it on to check email and read forum posts. When I push the button to turn the computer off Jane hears it and immediately jumps up and runs over to me and meows so I can pet her. I don't know if she is watching for me to turn it off or she hears it, but she never misses.
A few weeks ago Jane was on the dash and she started coughing. Tarzan heard her and immediately woke up and ran over to the dashboard. He got right next to her and as she was coughing he started licking her head. She coughed a few more times and stopped. Tarzan stuck around for another minute and then decided she was going to live and went back to sleep. True love.
