Pet behavior

G

gwb72tii

Steelhead
I didn't find another thread about pets and things they do out of the ordinary, but if there is one apologies in advance.
I grew up with dogs, but when I married the girl of my dreams, it was pretty obvious we were going to have cats as pets. At first I wasn't sure about cats, but after 48 years of marriage, we are on our third set of cats, Siamese to be specific. I still love dogs, but now like cats just as much.
Our current cat Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) is now a single cat as Hobbes didn't come home one evening. Calvin is very much bonded to me. He will jump on my lap as soon as I sit down and fall asleep.
So here's the behavior, and I'm curious if your pet has done something similar.
I caught a nasty cold from my wife. I am pathetic when I have a cold, but this one put me in bed for 2 days. Calvin normally sleeps with us, and my wife slept upstairs away from me when I first got sick. When I went to bed, Calvin crawled up so we were basically nose to nose, put his paws across my arms, started purring, and we both fell asleep.
Never did it before, and as soon as my cold started going away he sleeps by our feet which is normal. It's like he cared that I was sick.
Maybe I'm reading too much into his behavior?
 
Your cat is normal. When I had a fixed male black tabbie with a mix of Maine Coon, he would let me know when it was bedtime. He would lay by my head and put a paw on my arm until both of us were asleep. He knew when I was upset about something by laying in my lap with the loudest purr and knead his bread on my tummy.. But don't touch his paws with clippers! Those murder mittens will get ya!
 
Our cat has the worlds best internal time clock…
She’ll let you know it’s time for normal feedings at 5a, 11a, and 5p. A second late (we have an automatic feeder and the time slips a minute a month) and she is all over us walking stiffly (she has boney feet). Let’s us know when it is snack time too 7a and 3p. And, “soft food” Saturdays and Sundays.
She lets us know it’s time to play at 7:30p, just before her bath and bedtime by 8p.
Miss any of the prescribed times and she’s a spoiled two year old and does stuff to get attention…like scratch the furniture right in front of us.
She’s a great cat!! 😁
 
FinLuver said:
Our cat has the worlds best internal time clock…
She’ll let you know it’s time for normal feedings at 5a, 11a, and 5p. A second late (we have an automatic feeder and the time slips a minute a month) and she is all over us walking stiffly (she has boney feet). Let’s us know when it is snack time too 7a and 3p. And, “soft food” Saturdays and Sundays.
She lets us know it’s time to play at 7:30p, just before her bath and bedtime by 8p.
Miss any of the prescribed times and she’s a spoiled two year old and does stuff to get attention…like scratch the furniture right in front of us.
She’s a great cat!! 😁
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You feed your cat 3 times a day, plus snacks? I like cats and dogs, at least I always thought I did, but no cat or dog of mine has ever been allowed to "own" the clock. It's not time to get up until I get up, and it's feeding time when I get around to feeding them. Once a day. They always seemed to love me, but maybe they secretly thought I was an azzhole.
 
We had a cat named Archie. He was a real jerk but we loved him nonetheless.

Archie would jump on the bed in the morning to tell you he wanted his food. If he was really annoyed and especially demanding about it, he'd bite us on the nasal septum! He only did that to me once because I had no problem whacking him hard when he did. My partner however had too much of a tender heart and she paid the price for it with a tender nose.
 
Zoey is my girl. She was a born a feral and was destined to be outside. When she was a baby she would sit on my lap. After she was older she was whining to go outside. I tried the leash on her but she fought that. After a few years she was difficult to get back in the house. I finally trained her with treats to always return home a 4pm during the winter and now by 5pm so I don’t have to go look for her at night anymore with a flashlight and making my neighbors think I crazy. She usually sleeps with us at night except during the hot summer. Every morning she has me brush her while I have my coffee at 5:00am and wakes me up by 5:30 if I don’t get out of bed. She knocks on the window to come in every night.IMG_0513.jpegIMG_0538.jpegIMG_1063.jpeg
 
Along with the sound generated by treats inside of a plastic or cardboard package . . . and the sound of a refrigerator door opening . . .
 
Cats are interesting pets. I never had one until I got married. Only dogs up to that point. When we brought the 8 week old kitten home, it went right at our golden retriever with no hesitation. Hissing, back arched and giving no ground. That should have been a clue right there. She was white with one black whisker and eyebrow. She was also the only kitten to survive her litter. The other two died shortly after birth, so she was a survivor.
The cat ended up hating pretty much everyone except me. She would attack my ex quite often. When people came over, I’d tell them don’t touch the cat as I don’t have blood in the fridge for a transfusion.
When we got divorced, the ex took the dog and the other cat and I got left with Zoee, the mean kitty. Not having anyone else around seem to change her and we had a good existence, though she’d still at times randomly bite the shit out of me while I’d be petting her. Not often but still enough to remind you who was the boss of the house. I miss that cat. She had a good 18 year run.
SF
 
Had a cat like Mark's growing up, cool. Only bad part was he would bring live prey home. Mom would freak when a bird or mouse got loose in the house. More a dog person now.
At 13 Emma's got a large vocabulary. She understands what we're talking about. Spelling words no longer works. "SQUIRREL" is not spoken! Even if you say treat in a grouchy voice she'll make her way to her treat spot by the pantry. She knows when we're talking about the kids coming over. Not much she doesn't get.
She can't jump onto my bed anymore, but she's figured out she just needs to stand up from her bed at the foot, look over the end to find my feet, then touch my feet, and I'll get up to let her out to pee. She's got lots of ways to let us know what she wants. She really quiet though, only barks when someone comes to the front door.
 
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We have two cats, and they have us trained quite well. They both have impeccable internal clocks and know exactly when it should be time to eat. At dinner, one will hop on top of the left speaker (a nice high vantage point) while the other sets up on the couch back. They look like owls with the intent stare and swivel their heads as we move. They do this until we get the message.

I love wnen the clocks change and I get to mess with their minds. Payback!
 
Dogs view their owners as part of their pack. Cats consider them servants.
 
Jim F. said:
Dogs view their owners as part of their pack. Cats consider them servants.
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Yeah, and I always thought that meant that the owner was the Alpha of the pack, but now I see that many are Beta, while the dog is Alpha. Crazy people!
 
We lost our beauties, Frigg and Freya, in Dec '24 and Jun '25. We now have Marceline, who loves helping tie flies and playing fetch, and Mira, who loves snacks and sneaking outside. Four cats, four incredibly unique personalities. Pair that with Hella and Skathi, our two mutts, and we've got a lot of characters in our house. Four critters in the house may qualify us as a small zoo; but I wouldn't have it any other way!
Marcie.jpgMira.jpg
dogs.jpg
 
Salmo_g said:
Yeah, and I always thought that meant that the owner was the Alpha of the pack
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Folks who believe that they are always the "trainer" and the dog is always the "student" are sadly mistaken . . .
 
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