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Well, we decided to quit locking the cats in their house at night. We'll just have to take our chances on whether they get attacked by coyotes or something else at night. That's the way it's going to have to be if we go on vacation anyway. Where they poop remains to be seen (and smelled!). Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll both wander off and never come back.
Your cats will be a lot happier now and I'd bet your problems will start to go away. The thing to remember with cats is that they aren't dogs. They are willing to take food from us and live in the same place we do, but thats it. Most can't be trained to come when called or to do tricks. However, even if you don't see carcasses around rest assured that they are hunting and busily killing and eating as many birds and rodents as they can catch.
AndyF - I hope you're right. But, I'm not optimistic.
I was unaware that cats are nocturnal. They were still here when I left for work this morning. I have no idea where they were all night. I didn't take them out to the sand pile or feed them or anything this morning. I've decided to disown them - I have better things to do with my time! My wife and kids can deal with them from now on.
I'll keep the moth balls in the flower beds and hope that keeps them out. I have no idea what I'm going to do if I find poop in the yard or flower bed again. It will probably take 2 strong men to hold me back and keep me from strangling them!
Anyway, thanks for your help and ideas. Unfortunately, cats are just not trainable.
Danny,
Cats just allow you to share their home, not the other way around [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Jerry
Mosey:
I've sat her with tears rolling down my face from laughting at this, give it up!....train a cat...never!!!!...you may win some battles but the cats will win the war...
psssst a little tip for ya "pets" have owners...cats have servents...
You could be right, but I almost won the war on one, see Clutch fan saves cat's life!. Next time I just need to let the engine run a little longer ...
Danny, the problem is not that cats are not intelligent, actually, they are quite intelligent. The problem is that cats are not social animals. Their behavior patterns are different than dogs. Dogs are social animals, and their natural family arrangement is in a pack. There is one leader of the pack, and all the other dogs attempt to do whatever is neccessary to make the leader happy. When you train a puppy, you are actually training the puppy that YOU are leader of the pack, and their job is to make you happy. They will usually do anything within the realm of their understanding to please you, with the proper training.
Cats are, by nature, solitary animals. They don't live in packs, and have no leaders to please. It is not in their nature to yield to one individual to make that individual happy. Training cats is more more difficult, than training dogs, and you are very limited in what you can make them do, as you have found out.
They are not stupid, nor are they trying to annoy you. They are just being cats. There's nothing else they CAN do. People who like cats, generally accept them as they are. They can be loyal and loving companions, but they are not usually obediant.
If you want pets that will listen to you, and look at you as their leader, stick with dogs or horses. I have dogs, horses, cats and goats. I love them all, but you have to accept them for what they are.
Rich, The frustrating thing is that I researched cats before I got them for the kids. No one I talked to mentioned any of the stuff I've learned about them or any of the stuff you just told me. I read that cats were the most common kind of pet in the US. Now that I have some, I can't understand that! If I would have known what they were like, I would never have gotten them. But, now the kids are attached to them and I'm stuck with them until they get killed or wander off.
...or die of old age in about 16 years! [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]