I'm just here for the cat conversation.
Last year while I was out in the barn smoking my pipe, a kitten, probably not more than a few months old, runs up to the door.
Whether it escaped from the nearby town or was dropped off, I don't know, but that poor thing has had to put up with me ever since.
He gets free choice food, but only gets water in Winter (the pond for the horses is nearby), has never lived indoors, and I am basically the only living thing that Animal (official name, it's on the veterinary card from when he got fixed) has ever interacted with that wasn't another cat trying to attack him.
So about twice a week I walk out to the barn, yell "cat" and he usually comes running, meowing the whole way, and is desperate to sit on my lap, purr, and try to bite me. Occasionally he swats at my face.
It's all very playful though, never drawing blood, he'll gently put my arm in his mouth an just look at me, as though asking for permission. Of course the aggressive behavior most likely comes from allowing that sort of thing when he was a kitten, so now I have to be careful to gently guide him to not view me as a play thing.
It's really bizarre trying to figure out how to give a negative reaction to a cat. If I grab him by the scruff or smack him, then the game is on, that means it's play time and he acts worse. If I push him off my lap when he bites me, he flops to the ground and looks completely clueless, and grabs some food. He knows well enough to stay in the barn, as I'll consistently chase him away from the house, but territorial rules are probably the closest I've ever come to teaching him something.
Last year while I was out in the barn smoking my pipe, a kitten, probably not more than a few months old, runs up to the door.
Whether it escaped from the nearby town or was dropped off, I don't know, but that poor thing has had to put up with me ever since.
He gets free choice food, but only gets water in Winter (the pond for the horses is nearby), has never lived indoors, and I am basically the only living thing that Animal (official name, it's on the veterinary card from when he got fixed) has ever interacted with that wasn't another cat trying to attack him.
So about twice a week I walk out to the barn, yell "cat" and he usually comes running, meowing the whole way, and is desperate to sit on my lap, purr, and try to bite me. Occasionally he swats at my face.
It's all very playful though, never drawing blood, he'll gently put my arm in his mouth an just look at me, as though asking for permission. Of course the aggressive behavior most likely comes from allowing that sort of thing when he was a kitten, so now I have to be careful to gently guide him to not view me as a play thing.
It's really bizarre trying to figure out how to give a negative reaction to a cat. If I grab him by the scruff or smack him, then the game is on, that means it's play time and he acts worse. If I push him off my lap when he bites me, he flops to the ground and looks completely clueless, and grabs some food. He knows well enough to stay in the barn, as I'll consistently chase him away from the house, but territorial rules are probably the closest I've ever come to teaching him something.
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