How Do You All Use The Computer While Your Kitties Want Pets?

[I_Wuv_Kitties]

Man I wish I had extra arms! Because I’d really like to type and put my kitties at the same time and it always ends up being where I’m awkwardly trying to use the mouse with my left hand or type or reaching across my body to pet or type.

I think I’m going to start using voice dictation. Wanted to know if you’ll have any recommendations. Siri is awful. She stupid and I hate her. But for real, Siri is terrible. I’ve had decent luck with Dragon dictation although it’s still hit or miss. Sometimes it’ll just forget about The back half of what I said.

 

[neely]

I know what you mean about cats and computers. Neely got her point across by literally laying on top of the keyboard, (note the pic of her in my avatar). Carleton will walk across the desk behind the computer so I can reach over to pet him. If I'm on my laptop Carleton will frequently lay next to me or by my legs when I'm sitting on the sofa. When he gets up in my face I just put the laptop down and pet him. Needless to say I can't get much work done but it's a great excuse.

 

[margd]

I I_Wuv_Kitties - You chose your user name well, I see! I've read many posts by people trying to figure out how to get their cats to leave them alone while they are using their computers but I've never read one by someone who wants to use dictation so the kitties can stay where they are!

This may be a stupid question but did you attune Siri to your own voice in settings? I only ask because a friend didn't know about that and Siri was giving her no end of a hard time. My own experience with dictation using Siri hasn't been too awful, although she's definitely not 100% accurate. The problem I find is that both Paul and Chula still hand me their paws unless I turn away from the computer and just pay attention to them.

I really hope you find a reliable dictation program because I'm going to try it as well. This is a great question!

 

[I_Wuv_Kitties]

I I_Wuv_Kitties - You chose your user name well, I see! I've read many posts by people trying to figure out how to get their cats to leave them alone while they are using their computers but I've never read one by someone who wants to use dictation so the kitties can stay where they are!

This may be a stupid question but did you attune Siri to your own voice in settings? I only ask because a friend didn't know about that and Siri was giving her no end of a hard time. My own experience with dictation using Siri hasn't been too awful, although she's definitely not 100% accurate. The problem I find is that both Paul and Chula still hand me their paws unless I turn away from the computer and just pay attention to them.

I really hope you find a reliable dictation program because I'm going to try it as well. This is a great question!

I did not know that you could attune Siri to your voice. Will try that! Thanks!

 

[ThePortMan]

I know. I work online from home, so I'm always having to move him off of the keys. Or I work in the bedroom with the door shut during the day and then spend time with him at night....... but it's sad because he always meows at the door. Sometimes, he just sleeps on the bed while I work. Plus, he LOVES my chair that I use while I'm working. Which is really cute. It looks like he's sitting in an office chair, especially when he sits up instead of laying down. He also loves to sleep on the keys because of the heat. If I let him, he'd probably sleep on the keys all day. The funniest was once when he jumped up on the keyboard, and he inadvertently typed something in........ some sort of search about Micahel Jackson or something, maybe because it was trending that day and he clicked on it? I kind of forget. But he gets that the keys do something with the screen and finds the whole thing fascinating. Although, I have to keep the computer out of reach whenever possible since I do work that involves things with HTML and other types of code....... and I feel like he'd probably tend to make a lot of mistakes haha. I could try to teach him maybe lol, since he really does seem to be VERY interested in the computer I have to say. When I'm not working, he loves to watch cat videos, as you might expect. Sometimes, he even paws at the screen when they're on.

It's really adorable, I think he legitimately is sitting there pondering what the computer is and how it is able to show images of events that are occurring elsewhere. Especially since one time, I took a cat video of him from a few minutes before........ I had never seen him so intrigued, as he remembered what he was doing before. Sometimes, something really gets their interest and they get really curious about stuff like that. It's amazing how they have such a never-ending sense of curiosity that really never goes away with age or for any reason, really.

 

[EmmiTemmi]

As you can witness in this snapstory photo below, it will ALWAYS be awkward to use the computer with cats around. My two boys pile onto my lap and immobilize one (or both) arm. Every time they decide to honor my arm as their nap spot, I must use only a single hand to type and move my cursor around. It's difficult, but how can I refuse my cats a resting spot?! Haha, although in all seriousness, if I have a deadline to meet I'll push them off with a pet and quick snuggle and make it clear that I'm in business mode. So they'll nap between the sofa and my legs when I do that, or run off and play with eachother.

I love my boys dearly, and if I ever have enough time for them to sleep on me while I work (and still get my work done!) I will let them. They make me so insanely happy when they cuddle up to me! You have more than two, right? So I can't imagine the kitty piles on you when they all want to be pet! I've never tried any voice to text options before, and honestly, like I said before, if I really need to get something done, the cats can wait for their pets. I'll get them occupied with one of their favorite toys or encourage them to chase each other up and down my apartment so I get some alone time with my laptop. Good luck finding a software that works for you though!

Below: Orange cat = Colby Jack, Brown Tabby = Monterey "Monty" Jack, the two loves of my life

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

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Typing around a caat is rwalllY EASyy - in faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaact I'm doing it righ t now. It'''''s all a matTter of....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 

[Kreatorcat]

Cat trumps computer. Whatever I am doing online can wait.

 

[mama africa]

I have a spare laptop...

 

[DreamerRose]

Mingo crawls in my lap while I'm on the computer, and he's so affectionate that I can't put him down. It's the only time he's really lovey, so I hold him with one arm and peck with the other. I love those moments.

When I really need to type, I put him on the bed behind me, and he just keeps me company.

 

[aliceneko]

Haha, Fudge loves to take up residence on my lap when I'm using my laptop. They like the warm space the heat from the screen creates. DreamerRose a bit like your Mingo, Fudge's affection is too cute to resist! I often move my laptop in a position that's comfy for him. He loves to rest his head on my arms when I type (doesn't seem bothered when I move to type at all! He's quite a heavy sleeper).

Toffee also loves to sit on keyboards. He's accidentally ordered three eye creams and turned down the screen brightness before

 

[sabrinah]

I either hold my kitty hostage in my lap so I can still reach the keyboard with one hand, or I open a bunch of textbooks so she'll go lay on one of those and still feel like she' getting in the way. Of course, if I need a book I'll open the laptop, and if I need both I'm screwed. The worst part is my dog does the same thing so they gang up on me sometimes and force cuddles.

 

[I_Wuv_Kitties]

I wanted to share this video of Bruce while I was on the computer. He was so funny.

 

[vyger]

One thing that helps is a wireless keyboard so you can let them have the spot and type elsewhere.
This is Jet being where she wanted to be.
It's also Jet on the monitor. When she was little I used her as a model for stuff I was putting up for sale on EBay.

This is actually a fairly old picture. Jet is a lot bigger now. She let her figure go just like many models do.
You can read an article about it and her modeling work here:
Taking E Bay Photos That Get Attention

 

[I_Wuv_Kitties]

I’ve excepted the futility. So Mandy likes to sit on my laptop. At first, I thought it was because it was warm. So I got out my old laptop, and ran a CPU intensive game to warm it up. Nope she still want to sit on my laptop. Then I went to the store to get her a heating pad which I put right next to me. Nope she still wants to sit on my laptop. I even started using the old laptop again, but she clearly wants to just use whatever laptop I am using.

 

[epona]

I sit at the computer desk with my hands on the keyboard. Sonic is resting with his front end on my left arm, and his rear end on my right arm - basically draped like a hammock between one of my arms and the other.

I can just about type while this is going on!

 

[mightyboosh]

It's hard work. Oliver waits until I start using the laptop then...........
Ah well, he's the boss.

 

[aliceneko]

Toffee is on my lap right now as I'm typing - the boys are quite well behaved when it comes to sitting on laps whilst I'm using the computer, as they will often just sit there and have only occasionally tried to sit on the keyboard (though one time, three products got ordered by Fudge, and Toffee turned down my screen brightness!), though when they do I normally turf them off. I often put my arms around them so they can't wriggle around on the keyboard.