Posted by stjames on August 30, 2000, at 1:27:18
In reply to Re: Pets and depression, posted by stjames on August 29, 2000, at 16:19:54
I'm a student of animal behavior. Some of this is book,
some observation, and some comes from Racer. Hey, Racer !When a cat rubs up against your legs it is not love but marking behavior.
"This is MINE" Rubbing with the tail and hind quarters is marking but with
the face shows affection. Most animals main sense is smell or hearing. Cats,
and others, have an additional sense organ, the jackobsons organ, behind the nose. If
you have ever seen a cat pull back the sides of it lips and expose its teeth while
inhaling,you have seen it in use.The cat is pressing air
molecules onto the roof of the mouth with the tongue, tasting the air with
this additional organ. Cats can sense smells at the level of a few parts per million. If you
let your kitty out often, observe what the cat does for 5-10 mins from a distance. A pattern emerges,
this is your cats territory, marked in specific spots. While your kitty has
been living it up indoors another cat came by to say "Ha ! I pee on your
kitty marker, your fat housecat, this is mine ! "Cat, scents, and do they sense what we feel ?... Cats do pick up on the big
emotions, if I am mad, stressed, or really upset. I suspect smell
has something to do with this. Pheromones are a very new science. Humans do
make them. I was just reading that we have 18 genes that detect and 17 of them have
been ruled inactive. We start life with an extra smell organ but it is gone by birth. Maybe when
you feel whatever "vibe" from someone some of this feeling is from smells ? At this concentration,
you don't really smell it or anything, but parts of an olfactory (smelling) system could register it. This guy came in
today, a sweet guy and well mannered, to inquire about ISP service
and I was getting a funny vide. I felt the beginnings of fear/fight or flight
in my gut, this was more than a funny vibe, I guess. He was asking the
usual questions so I was on auto polite and could run some data. Body language was
relaxed, passive, He maintained normal amount of eye contact, well dressed
and groomed. No tract marks and eyes were clear. The more questions he asked
the more I wanted him to leave. Except for this weird feeling he was the
perfect customer. He was not high, I often pick up on that. Intrusting. He was not going to rob me, that is first thing
that I thought of, but that did not check out. Funny.Racers "Kitty Logic" as told be James who agrees with it.......
Cats leave little parts of their prey for you to teach you to catch food, not as a token of affection. In kitty logic your cat thinks "This system
of you leaving and coming back with food, on the thing that runs very fast but has no feet, is not to be trusted. Who killed
this food he brings in ? I would like to know who kills my food, thank you ! There are all kinds of PREY and even BIRDS out there. If I
can just teach him to hunt he will see his error and stop leaving on that dangerous thing that runs very fast but has no feet or wings. "Cats do have a range of emotions, their love of comfort is very human. Mirabien (Gandhi's adopted daughter) requires, once we fight at the door, 1 min of total attention if I am away all day. Then I can put down my keys and stuff. Or I will get a demonstration shortly. M is a skilled hunter. I have seen her shoot up a tall tree like lightning to get at a bird at the top. I yelled, and it flew before she got there. She was pissed. 'James, yes I know that was a bird, don't ever yell if you see a bird again ! "
I love a vocal cat, so Siamese are great. Mirabien is VERY loud if she is not happy but has a lovely voice if happy. She was a problem kitty, she went out of the box so someone got rid of her just after she had a litter. I could tell they had taken her away too early. Her glands were full of milk and she was loudly complaining. I had asked about Siamese but they, said none, and had not mentioned her to me because of the potty issue. They could not tempt me with others so they showed me the problem Kitty. I could not return her if I took her. Boo !, who had worked as a vet tech said "Its the gas, then, no one wants a cat that pee's out of the box" Earlier I had used this ploy to try to get Boo ! to take the deaf kitten, so this was payback. The gas chamber was in clear view from the parking lot. I opened the crate and a well marked lynx point was very happy to see me. They had said sort of Siamese but she was a good example of a Lynx point. A cross between a standard color point Siamese and a dark or black tabby. You get the standard points but in a muted tabby pattern. The tabby pattern is pronounced in the face, fades through the body, with a few top hairs that are dark and the under fur is a down color and texture, neat effect. The tail is cool. Like a coon, it has alternating bands of dark and light. Vivid blue eyes were very happy to see me. She stopped yelling the second I opened the door. Very alert. I reached in to get her out and she was cool with that. I held her and supported her feet and she was happy. I went into the next room to show my flatmate, Boo ! , her. Not a complaint. "This is the screamer you heard." I said. "Wow, you found your cat" , Boo ! said. She was purring, I had not noticed as this she does very quietly. She had to stay over to be fixed. They called me at 6:00 AM the next morning, saying. "Come get your cat, NOW!" I could not hear them well over Mirabien's yelling ! I showed her the box, she knew how it worked, no problem. I held a lesson every day for a week, but she got it day one. She just was not able to make it to the box and take care of her kittens because master did not put the box close by, I suspect.
Peace and love from the high desert of northern New Mexico,Saint James
mailto:the_saint_james@yahoo.com
"J'ai seul la clef de cette parade sauvage."
Les Illuminations, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891)
poster:stjames
thread:279
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20000813/msgs/326.html