Am I A Terrible Person? Or, Scare The Cats, Twopence A Bag.

[Arirang]

So, I was working on setting up my new humidifier for my hermit crabs. Autumn, ever the curious kitty (you know that saying about curiosity and cats?) decided the Lowe's shopping back the stuff came out of bore investigation. So... She investigated. And the loop got hooked on her collar. Which freaked her out, so she ran. And it, of course, chased her. Which freaked her out more. She did catrobatics I have never seen- my living room curtains will never be the same again and she almost tipped over my 55 gallon aquarium. I finally got her to stop and got the bag off of her (with plenty of claw punctures to prove my bravery). She made sounds I have only heard a Siamese make (she's a DSH)- the weird sort of talking sound. I saw, for the first time, a cat with a bottlebrush tail and the big floofy fur on the back. She was plainly terrified. I talked sweet to her and let her go calm herself in her favorite place- the laundry hamper.

Then I laughed because, in retrospect, it /was/ kinda funny... Does that make me terrible?

 

[KarenKat]

Not if you got floofy tail photos. I love a cat with a good floofy tail! Although if you were a good cat guardian you would put some anti-static cling laundry stuff in the hamper so his tail get's nice and soft.

Gohan is always making us laugh with his mortal dread. The one that keeps us laughing and cringing the most is when he was on an 8-foot tall cat shelf and rolled off onto a conveniently placed ottoman. He bounced 4 feet in the air and landed on the ground. His tailed was so floofy, but he tried to play it all cool like "Naw, bro, I totally meant to do that." Then he took a nap for, like, 3 hours.

 

[di and bob]

Well, you didn't do anything on purpose, and everything turned out OK, so I guess you are entitled to a laugh! (I bet you weren't laughing getting the bag off her! )

 

[Arirang]

No. I'm still not laughing. Hurts to type- daddy's little warrior-princess packs some mean equipment.

 

[di and bob]

I know how you feel, my little warrior got me good in the arm when a neighbor walked right up to us with a huge dog! Not bad until the next day, my arm was swelled up like a sausage and so were my lymph nodes, Cat scratch fever! (I still like the song though!)

 

[Arirang]

My cat chases dogs. Seriously. Absolutely fearless. Yet, when I tried introducing her to a kitten... She was PETRIFIED. Absolutely UNABLE TO BRAIN, OUT OF HER MIND TERRIFIED!

 

[DreamerRose]

Mingo did that once with a shopping bag. It was hilarious. It followed him wherever he went, and if he backed up, it flopped over his head. I had a hard time stopping laughing to help him out of it. He wasn't scared, though, just totally perplexed about his situation. It hasn't deterred him from diving into paper bags.

 

[dustydiamond1]

So, I was working on setting up my new humidifier for my hermit crabs. Autumn, ever the curious kitty (you know that saying about curiosity and cats?) decided the Lowe's shopping back the stuff came out of bore investigation. So... She investigated. And the loop got hooked on her collar. Which freaked her out, so she ran. And it, of course, chased her. Which freaked her out more. She did catrobatics I have never seen- my living room curtains will never be the same again and she almost tipped over my 55 gallon aquarium. I finally got her to stop and got the bag off of her (with plenty of claw punctures to prove my bravery). She made sounds I have only heard a Siamese make (she's a DSH)- the weird sort of talking sound. I saw, for the first time, a cat with a bottlebrush tail and the big floofy fur on the back. She was plainly terrified. I talked sweet to her and let her go calm herself in her favorite place- the laundry hamper.

Then I laughed because, in retrospect, it /was/ kinda funny... Does that make me terrible?

Yes/No.../...
I could picture it purrfectly through your words. We all know how terrifying it was because of the fear Autumn was feeling and what could have gone horribly wrong and we also all know how hilarious it was too.

 

[dustydiamond1]

No. I'm still not laughing. Hurts to type- daddy's little warrior-princess packs some mean equipment.

 

[bengalcatman]

I was out hiking with Makena, a large male Bengal. Makena is very bold and does not startle easily. He will normally head toward anything noisy to investigate.

About 100 yards away a forestry crew was taking down an oak with a trunk about 3 feet across. The guys yelling, the chainsaws and the tractor engines didn't bother Makena at all. But then that enormous tree started to fall with a swooshing noise, and shook the ground when it hit, limbs shattering. Makena flattened himself out on the ground with all four limbs outstretched: he looked like a cartoon cat squished by a steam roller.

I waited for him to get up, but he was frozen in position. I felt bad for him, so I said "Its okay buddy, don't worry." He stayed flat but screwed his head around to look at me with eyes the size of dinner plates. So I figured I would pick him up and put him over my shoulder until he settled down.

Except he remained frozen in that position when I picked him up. He was rigid as a stick, all four limbs stuck out with bits of dirt clenched fast under his fully extended front claws. After a few seconds he started to relax. Thats when I started to laugh. He flattened his ears down and glared at me. Still, he seemed pretty happy to rest on my shoulder, panting and heart still racing.

I am pretty sure if he could have talked, it would not have been something I could have posted here. And at the time, I am sure he thought I was a terrible person!

Makena resting on my shoulder after a long hike

 

[dustydiamond1]

I know how you feel, my little warrior got me good in the arm when a neighbor walked right up to us with a huge dog! Not bad until the next day, my arm was swelled up like a sausage and so were my lymph nodes, Cat scratch fever! (I still like the song though!)

 

[1 bruce 1]

No, it doesn't make you terrible. You did what you needed to do to stop the problem...all was well...and then relaxed and laughed about it. =)
The problem lies in cats with heart disease, and I was barely a kid but a cat with a severe heart problem of ours did the same thing...got caught up in a bag, and by the time my parents cornered him to remove it and calm his panic he was in severe cardiac arrest from the panic. He was drooling and yowling. He did not survive the car ride to the vet.
This is one of those "totally out there" scenarios that's probably 1 in 1,000 or more, but food for thought for anyone with a cat that might have a genetic predisposition to heart disease.

 

[dustydiamond1]

I was out hiking with Makena, a large male Bengal. Makena is very bold and does not startle easily. He will normally head toward anything noisy to investigate.

About 100 yards away a forestry crew was taking down an oak with a trunk about 3 feet across. The guys yelling, the chainsaws and the tractor engines didn't bother Makena at all. But then that enormous tree started to fall with a swooshing noise, and shook the ground when it hit, limbs shattering. Makena flattened himself out on the ground with all four limbs outstretched: he looked like a cartoon cat squished by a steam roller.

I waited for him to get up, but he was frozen in position. I felt bad for him, so I said "Its okay buddy, don't worry." He stayed flat but screwed his head around to look at me with eyes the size of dinner plates. So I figured I would pick him up and put him over my shoulder until he settled down.

Except he remained frozen in that position when I picked him up. He was rigid as a stick, all four limbs stuck out with bits of dirt clenched fast under his fully extended front claws. After a few seconds he started to relax. Thats when I started to laugh. He flattened his ears down and glared at me. Still, he seemed pretty happy to rest on my shoulder, panting and heart still racing.

I am pretty sure if he could have talked, it would not have been something I could have posted here. And at the time, I am sure he thought I was a terrible person!

Makena resting on my shoulder after a long hike

Oh poor sweet Makena!

 

[1 bruce 1]

My cat chases dogs. Seriously. Absolutely fearless. Yet, when I tried introducing her to a kitten... She was PETRIFIED. Absolutely UNABLE TO BRAIN, OUT OF HER MIND TERRIFIED!

I had a large dog that liked to sometimes bully other dogs but got the **** kicked out of him by a kitten over a piece of smelly freakin' fish.
That was probably the most hilarious sight these eyes have ever seen.

 

[dustydiamond1]

No, it doesn't make you terrible. You did what you needed to do to stop the problem...all was well...and then relaxed and laughed about it. =)
The problem lies in cats with heart disease, and I was barely a kid but a cat with a severe heart problem of ours did the same thing...got caught up in a bag, and by the time my parents cornered him to remove it and calm his panic he was in severe cardiac arrest from the panic. He was drooling and yowling. He did not survive the car ride to the vet.
This is one of those "totally out there" scenarios that's probably 1 in 1,000 or more, but food for thought for anyone with a cat that might have a genetic predisposition to heart disease.

 

[1 bruce 1]

This isn't a scare tactic thing, trust me =) But every time I see a handled bag + a cat I go into super high alert and make everyone in the room think I'm crazy.
Plus, cardiac problems in cats oft go un-diagnosed until a serious problem/symptoms arise(s). So I'm a li'l jumpy =( I'll never forget that sight, the cat crouched in a corner and my mother crying "Dear God not my (cats name)". Ugh. =(

 

[dustydiamond1]

This isn't a scare tactic thing, trust me =) But every time I see a handled bag + a cat I go into super high alert and make everyone in the room think I'm crazy.
Plus, cardiac problems in cats oft go un-diagnosed until a serious problem/symptoms arise(s). So I'm a li'l jumpy =( I'll never forget that sight, the cat crouched in a corner and my mother crying "Dear God not my (cats name)". Ugh. =(

 

[1 bruce 1]

Thank you.

 

[Kal_shadowsmom]

You are not a terrible person, I laugh whenever Shadow does something completely hilarious and dumb. She ran head first into a wall one time chasing a fly. My dad would text me while I was at work because the cat would sleep on this tiny stool and fall off of it. She was never seriously injured.

Its like those cat fail videos on YouTube. The ones where a cat is trying to jump to a higher piece of furniture and they just flop to the ground. We all laugh at those... well I do at least. lol

 

[di and bob]

The funniest story I have, and the most surprising is when we lived at the lake, a paradise for our cats. We have all seen our cats sit by the bird feeder or bird bath and often laugh at them because they are 'hiding in plain sight'. Well, Chrissy was 'hiding' behind a low wall on our front lawn and we were laughing at her because she was plainly seen! Right at that moment a bird flew over the wall, she jumped up, popped her head just over the top, opened her mouth and the bird flew right in! I didn't know who was more shocked the bird or us! She walked off triumphfully and threw us a disdainful look.