Abelard's New Habits

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Pat - 27 Oct 2004 22:30 GMT

For the first time since I adopted him as a tiny kitten, Abelard is using
his voice on a regular basis.

He has realized that if I am not looking at him when he wants my attention,
he must make a sound with his vocal cords rather than doing a silent miaow.
He barely squeaks, but at least I can hear him now.

I love it! In the past the only time he ever spoke up was when I tried to
give him a bath, or else screaming when Eli or Tommy attacked him.

The other big change I am seeing recently is he will now push his face into
the food dish when there are other cats eating at the same time. He used to
just sit back and wait until he could be alone at the dish and would miss
out on goodies if I didn't give him a special bowl of his own in the
bathroom alone with the door closed.

I have no idea why he waited more than two years to figure these things out.
He's very bright in every other way.

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nospam@austin.rr.com - 27 Oct 2004 22:39 GMT

>For the first time since I adopted him as a tiny kitten, Abelard is using
>his voice on a regular basis.
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>I have no idea why he waited more than two years to figure these things out.
>He's very bright in every other way.

He is a strictly indoor cat now isn't he?

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Sherry - 27 Oct 2004 22:49 GMT

>>For the first time since I adopted him as a tiny kitten, Abelard is using
>>his voice on a regular basis.
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>>
>He is a strictly indoor cat now isn't he?

Sorry to piggyback, although I *am* scratching my head as to the indoors
comment. :-)
Pat, Bootygirl is just like him. But she meows a lot, you just can't hear it!
It's funny, I see her little mouth open, but don't hear a thing.
Then one day we go to the vet. She's yelling her head off all the way!
So she *can* meow. Just doesn't. Maybe Abelard just hasn't had anything to
complain about till now!! :-)
Give him a belly kiss for me. He's the cutest.
Sherry

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nospam@austin.rr.com - 27 Oct 2004 23:01 GMT

>>>For the first time since I adopted him as a tiny kitten, Abelard is using
>>>his voice on a regular basis.
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>Give him a belly kiss for me. He's the cutest.
>Sherry

Wasn't he the one that disapeared for a time and had a bad experience.
I believe that the OP aid that he was going to be an indoor cat from
then on. This was back in August.

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Pat - 27 Oct 2004 23:38 GMT

> He is a strictly indoor cat now isn't he?

He stays in at night now, and during the day he stays near the house. I
haven't had him disappear and stay out all night since the time he was gone
so long.

Another note about the voice thing: He squeaks only until I look at him,
then he goes back to crying silently.

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Ted Davis - 28 Oct 2004 01:39 GMT

Be glad he took only two years - my Spooky is twelve and has only
recently mastered competing for food and sleeping in a heap with
another cat. He quit purring when he grew up and didn't resume until
he was about nine or ten - he still just barely squeaks when he meows
(he can't be heard more than a couple of feet away).

For many years, his idea of group feeding was to approach the dominant
cat from the side and sneak bits from under her/his chin, and even
when eating alone, he pulled the food out of the bowl and ate it on
the floor. Now he just sticks his head in any available gap and eats
out of the bowl like a normal cat.

--
T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu)

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Pat - 28 Oct 2004 02:11 GMT

> Be glad he took only two years - my Spooky is twelve and has only
> recently mastered competing for food and sleeping in a heap with
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> the floor. Now he just sticks his head in any available gap and eats
> out of the bowl like a normal cat.

Cousin Ted? Wow, and I thought Abelard was weird! He also grabs a bite from
the bowl and moves it to the floor. But he does the same thing when he's
alone at the dish.

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Steve Touchstone - 28 Oct 2004 04:36 GMT

>Cousin Ted? Wow, and I thought Abelard was weird! He also grabs a bite from
>the bowl and moves it to the floor. But he does the same thing when he's
>alone at the dish.

LB does that all the time with the dry food. Sometimes, when not
really hungry, she'll stop and get a mouthful and carry it in the
other room to snack on while she there instead of walking back to the
bowl - yes she's a lazy girl.

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Bill Stock - 28 Oct 2004 04:45 GMT

> > Be glad he took only two years - my Spooky is twelve and has only
> > recently mastered competing for food and sleeping in a heap with
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> the bowl and moves it to the floor. But he does the same thing when he's
> alone at the dish.

Cali occasionally drags her meat onto the rug to eat it, not sure why.

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Marina - 28 Oct 2004 05:28 GMT

>>Be glad he took only two years - my Spooky is twelve and has only
>>recently mastered competing for food and sleeping in a heap with
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> the bowl and moves it to the floor. But he does the same thing when he's
> alone at the dish.

Nikki does that, too. Sometimes she sticks out her paw, snags a piece of
food on a claw, then shakes the paw vigorously so the piece of food
'flies' away. Then she gets to run after it and kill it before eating
it. The walls near their food bowls are decorated with little bits of
dried food. <sigh>

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