proof that I need a proper camera - and a very bemused cat

[11krage]

YouTube - a few of my cat's favourite tricks

Only have the webcam, so terrible quality but I personally think my kitteh is cute on any media. Just a short video of my cat Nyx performing a couple of her tricks while wondering what the heck I'm pointing in her face. Oh and that last one when she runs is actually her fetching a red rubber band though its a bit difficult to see it. You can see it clearly at the end when she gives it to me the second time.

Must be overtired if I'm producing half baked videos like this one so I'm off to bed. Anyone else have a trick inclined feline?

[feorag]

What a pity it's so dark - a lot of the detail is lost, but you can see most of what he's doing.

I taught my first cat, who was an Abyssinian to sit, lie and roll over.

A lot of my cats fetch too - they all have their favourite toys, but the long very fluffy pipe cleaners and great long leather bootlaces are their most favourites.

Harry chases the hosepipe -he is obsessed with water!

YouTube - Harry, my Somali cat chasing the hosepipe

YouTube - Harry, my Somali cat chasing the hosepipe

[11krage]

Originally Posted by feorag

What a pity it's so dark - a lot of the detail is lost, but you can see most of what he's doing.

I taught my first cat, who was an Abyssinian to sit, lie and roll over.

A lot of my cats fetch too - they all have their favourite toys, but the long very fluffy pipe cleaners and great long leather bootlaces are their most favourites.

Harry chases the hosepipe -he is obsessed with water!

YouTube - Harry, my Somali cat chasing the hosepipe

YouTube - Harry, my Somali cat chasing the hosepipe

Aww, he's cute. I think its silly how people think dogs can only learn tricks, even my applied behavioural modification lecturer commented on how difficult or near impossible cats are to train and how they never look you in the eye or pay attention to you. Nyx practically trips me up keeping track of where I am and hardly takes her eyes off me. Even started doing tricks for just praise recently which even I thought impossible.

Sorry about the quality, it was a spur of the moment thing.

[feorag]

Originally Posted by 11krage

Aww, he's cute. I think its silly how people think dogs can only learn tricks, even my applied behavioural modification lecturer commented on how difficult or near impossible cats are to train and how they never look you in the eye or pay attention to you. Nyx practically trips me up keeping track of where I am and hardly takes her eyes off me. Even started doing tricks for just praise recently which even I thought impossible.

That's cos most people are experienced with non-pedigree cats which are a mix up. Pedigree cats and half pedigree cats come from the same lines and some are more intelligent than others. If you choose a people oriented breed like your half Bengal, Abys, somalis, Siamese, Burmese, Orientals (there are loads of them) they interract with people much more and can be taught tricks.

This is not meant to be detrimental to non pedigree cats, because lots of them are equally as intelligent and clever, (before the non-pedigree people jump on me!!), I'm just pointing out that you can make that choice with a pedigree, but you can never know with a non-pedigree.

[earth-tiger]

I've noticed that you can almost always tell the difference between cats that have been brought up by someone who talks to them and expects them to interact with them, and ones brought up by someone who doesn't, because cats that expect to be talked to are really good at making eye contact, and often talk back too. Regardless of their breed (or no particular breed)! They don't make eye contact so much if their owners haven't interacted with them enough.

Our lovely, scruffy, lop-sided-faced rescue-centre cat Boris is quickly learning to talk to us (and hits us if we don't listen - he knows how to make us behave ourselves). He makes loads of eye contact when he's asking us for something, or when we are talking to him.

I love your videos! They are gorgeous cats

[earth-tiger]

Oh and I'm not disagreeing with you feorag about the pedigree thing, you do at least know what you're getting with a pedigree. I love my mum's Serengeti - he has so many different sounds for different things that you always know just what he's trying to tell you. And he always has something he wants to say too...

[feorag]

You've actually got it in a nutshell, because to look a cat directly in the eyes is very threatening to a cat. So if a cat doesn't learn that this behaviour is non-threatening as a kitten it will never accept eye contact as anything other than a threat and therefore will not interact with anyone trying to make eye contact.

This is the reason why so many people who dislike cats say that every cat they see is attracted to them - that's because, not liking cats, they don't look at them, so cats see their behaviour as non-threatening, therefore friendly and go to them!!