{"id":1115,"date":"2016-03-15T04:39:38","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T12:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1115"},"modified":"2016-03-15T04:39:38","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T12:39:38","slug":"newsday-tuesday-changing-your-cats-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1115","title":{"rendered":"Newsday Tuesday&#8211;Changing Your Cat&#8217;s Behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1116\" src=\"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1682-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_1682\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1682-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1682-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1682-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_1682.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/> Yesterday we had fun talking about cats and their thought processes. It\u2019s obvious to those of us who have lived with cats for many years (or even a short time) that cats can figure things out. Michelle wrote that her cat, after watching her turn on and off her bedside lamp many times, figured out how to do it. Michelle said it was quite a shock to be awakened one morning by a bright light shining in her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Lily likes to accompany me into the bathroom. But if I take too long in there, she gets antsy and wants out. Rather than vocalize her desire, she simply sits and stares up at the doorknob. She knows that\u2019s her way out and she\u2019s learned that if she stares at it long enough someone will turn it and the door will open. Some cats go beyond this and have figured out how to open the door themselves.<\/p>\n<p>My daughter\u2019s cat used the toilet once. Only once. Some cats, however, learn to use it and <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1051\" src=\"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lilymirror-1-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Lilymirror\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lilymirror-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lilymirror-1-375x500.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Lilymirror-1.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>prefer it. Other cats simply enjoy playing in the water or pulling the toilet paper off the roll. Please, if you have a kitten, keep that lid down!!<\/p>\n<p>Did you know there are cat circuses and most of them feature shelter cats. Some cat circus trainers and cat behaviorists use the clicker method of training and teaching cats. And this is something we can do at home. It\u2019s a matter of using the clicker (purchase at a pet store) and offering a treat when the cat engages in good behavior, such as scratching on the scratching post instead of the chair, using the litter box instead of the area rug, coming when called and so forth.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, cats can be taught, but there&#8217;s plenty that they learn on their own. Lily has a problem with twitching. We\u2019ve had her examined by three vets, including a holistic vet and none of them has figured out what causes her discomfort\u2014nerves, stress, diet, allergies??? But we notice that the twitching occurs most often an hour before dinner. When I see her skin beginning to twitch and she starts darting around the room as if something\u2019s chasing her, I\u2019ll get out her rubber massage brush and hold it up for her to see. She\u2019ll immediately come to me, lie down and stretch out so I can massage the area. It seems to give her relief and she knows it. Even though she really doesn\u2019t care to be combed or brushed, she will gladly accept the massage brushing and even come asking for it sometimes.<\/p>\n<p>There are a million stories about cat behavior and characteristics. We always appreciate it when you share yours.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, you can click on any of the dates to the right and see some of the other recent posts or some from a few years ago. Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-809\" src=\"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Purrfect-Lie-cover-web-188x300.png\" alt=\"The Purrfect Lie: A Klepto Cat Mystery, Book 12\" width=\"188\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Purrfect-Lie-cover-web-188x300.png 188w, https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Purrfect-Lie-cover-web.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 188px) 100vw, 188px\" \/>For those who would like an autographed copy of the latest book in print, I have copies in house. Order your autographed copy of <em>A Purrfect Lie<\/em> today. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/Klepto-Cat-Mysteries\/PurrfectLie.html\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/Klepto-Cat-Mysteries\/PurrfectLie.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday we had fun talking about cats and their thought processes. It\u2019s obvious to those of us who have lived with cats for many years (or even a short time) that cats can figure things out. Michelle wrote that her &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=1115\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1115"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1118,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115\/revisions\/1118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}