Wonderful article, I howled aloud when I passed this "It was the best and worst day for Sprocket.".
Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
291–300 of 302 posts
Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
#292Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well said. My wife and I personally think it's borderline inhumane to keep a dog by itself all day, since they are extremely social. While we usually don't keep solitary cats, I don't think it's that uncomfortable for cats to be alone, though per your DM interpretation, they will commonly get into things. Which they will do in groups too.
Some cats do much better when they have other animals or cat friends to socialize with. It depends on a number of factors, and much like human, not every cat is the same. The amount of desired human attention sought from cats in our household has has decreased as the number of cats in the has increased. That's not to say they don't still want our attention, or that we don't give it to them. Having friends to keep bus…
I have a pair of cats (sibling boy and girl), girl cat is cuddly and wants attention, boy cat is solo and likes been on his own and rarely wants a fuss, both miss the other if they aren't their even if they rarely bother with each other.
When the boy went to be neutered, the girl spent the whole day going from room to room meowing and looking in his usual spots.
When she went to be fixed, he did the same.
I'll probably never have a single cat again (some of that is that they are used to each others presence I'm sure) since they are excellent company for each other.
Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
#293This should give a moment's pause to anyone who thinks we could keep a superhuman AI in a box.
You're joking, but let's not forget that we had to reset the universe the last twenty-three times this happened.
Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
#294The problem-solving abilities of that cat are pretty impressive. I couldn't imagine my cat bracing himself against a table and picking up the whole feeder with his teeth, I wish there had been a video of that. The creativity and versatility of even a "simple" biological intelligence is a humbling reminder of how much work we have ahead for AI research.
You can make squirrels do amazing things to get bird feeding nuts if you incrementally add obstacles.
Here's one example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMtn25zxT10
Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
#295Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cats don't like being in cages, and they are nocturnal animals. Personally, I just put him with food and water in the garage (and a trapdoor to go outside), but then I live in the countryside. If I forget, he wakes me up to go outside anyways...
That sounds like a better solution. Does the cat have issues with wild animals?
Well, apart from killing small rodents (which isn't a problem AFAIK in France), and small territory fights with other cats, there have been not problem.
Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
#296Man did I get lucky with my cat when reading all these comments here... She always has a bowl of food available, only touches it when she's hungry and rarely finishes it completely. I fill it up once or twice a day, and she mostly ignores me when I do. The most she does is come and smell the freshly poured food from time to time, but with little interest in actually touching it at that point - even when her bowl had been completely empty. And when she eats, she's always very calm about it, like there's no rush.
And it doesn't stop there. She knows how to use the litter-box, but she prefers to go outside - which means I rarely have to clean it - like once every month at most, only when she has been left inside for too long. I should find something to notify me when she actually used it.
She probably spends 70% indoor, 30% outdoor, which is when she terrorizes the other, more tame (but much larger) cats of the neighborhood or goes hunting. I should also find something that addresses here hunting nature, because the rate at which birds and mice are dropped at my back-door is quite alarming. A collar with a bell didn't seem to affect her hunting success-rate at all, and only gave her an allergic reaction to the collar - so we removed it.
Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
#297Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or maybe a bunch of dogs will entertain themselves by killing the cat.
I wanted to downvote you, but this is part of why letting cats out is cruel. They're best off living a life of leisure indoors. Make sure it's a good life by entertaining and caring for them. That's what pets are supposed to experience in the modern era.
I have 5 cats in my home right now. All of them healthy and since they constantly play among themselves, I would assume they are happy too. Our family is financially well off, considering all things, so we had the time and resources to modify our home so that a bunch of cats would be comfortable living with us.
With regards to your comment, forgive me but I find such a way of thinking to be extreme with no middle ground. I am from India and all sorts of people keep pets here. In many cases the pets are strays who just wander into people's lives. Since everyone does not have the money to provide for an indoor animal, your way of thinking would deprive a lot of animals of some measure of human kindness. Considering the short brutal lives they would have otherwise, any human help is better than none at all.
Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
#298Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wanted to downvote you, but this is part of why letting cats out is cruel. They're best off living a life of leisure indoors. Make sure it's a good life by entertaining and caring for them. That's what pets are supposed to experience in the modern era.
> but this is part of why letting cats out is cruel. Because they might die relatively quickly and painlessly at some point? How is that cruel? Given the choice, cats always prefer to go outside, even after being exposed to hostile animals outside. Presumably their walnut brains have evolved heuristics w.r.t. the utility of being eaten. Plus, I think I'd rather be killed by a dog than slowly grow arthritic, tumorous,…
In my case I got sick of cats coming into my life and then promptly dying within a year of that.
As far as keeping them happy goes, I have found that they tend to do well if they have other cats for company. Solitary cats usually don't make great pets.
I am however, talking about stray cats with no breeding history. I have heard that many pet cat breeds are bred for specific behavioral traits which make them better suited for an indoor only life. I also don't condone such practices.
Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
#299Re: Cat-proofing a cat feeding machine
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