(OT) Cat blackmail

2 years ago

One of our cats, Val, dislikes it when I practice on piano. It's not the quality of my playing; he also complains when DD plays, and she does know her stuff. He comes up to the music room and miaows and purrs, sometimes jumping up on the bench or even up onto the piano itself. So now, when Val comes and complains, I just throw him out the door. Fair enough. Only today, he stayed outside the window and continued to lament. The cat has thirty acres of interesting land to play in, yet he must sit outside the window listening to sounds he evidently hates, and complain. This was too much, so I got the cat cage, bunged him in it, carried the cage out of range of where I could hear him and left him on the terrace under the pergola, covering the cage with an old sheet so he wouldn't feel too exposed.

I wish cats understood consequences, but he'll probably never figure out why he has been so unkindly treated.

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User

2 years ago

It's funny about cats and music. While I've never had a cat who hated music, I have had cats who clearly love it. For example, my sweet Pauline used to very obviously come in and sit on the table to listen to my DH practice the piano! The two ladies I have now, Stella and Mina (short for Wilhelmina) don't give a flip about music, however. Though Stella keeps insisting on trying to sit in my lap when I practice shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). It's a vertical flute, too, so you hold it like, say, a clarinet. So it just really, really doesn't work to try to play with a cat in your lap!!!

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Comments (7)

jacqueline9CA
2 years ago
That is so funny (I know - not to you guys!). One of our three cats is very interested when the TV is on - she does not cry, but sits in my lap staring at it, and if there are animals or birds in it, sometimes she walks around the back of the TV to see if she can get to where they are (especially birds). Unfortunately, I agree that they do not understand consequences when they have been naughty, even though I carefully explain what they did wrong, and why they should not do that (my DH thinks that I am funny!).

Jackie
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fig_insanity Z7b E TN
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Melissa, as you may know, I'm a songwriter/musician. Of all the many cats I've had in my life, only two have been "appreciative" of my playing or singing. My current kitty will abide my singing...in the garden, although she thinks it's an invitation to plop at my feet for *pets*. If I sing in the house, she acts concerned and worried (do I sound like I'm in pain? lol). If I play the piano, she will sit on the deck outside the music room and beg to be let in so she can circle around and around my feet. Her one absolute red line is that I am NOT allowed to talk on the telephone in her presence. For some reason (I'm ignoring her while obviously giving some other less-deserving being my attention?) it maddens her to the degree that she'll bite my ankles, lol.

I think many cats are not fond of any music other than singing, possible because their range of hearing is so much greater than a human's. Not only is their frequency range larger, their hearing is about 12x more sensitive than ours. They just hear sooooo much that we can't perceive. And music may seem chaotic to them, as well. In the case of your kitty, it may be something akin to the jealousy mine shows when I speak on the phone. You're giving your undivided attention to something, while totally ignoring the kitty.

Oh, and by the way, the only other cat I've had that "liked" music would only listen to certain singers. His favorite was Nat King Cole's Christmas album....but he HATED almost all female singers except for Anne Murray, lol. He could take or leave most any instrumental music, from jazz to classical. It was only human voices he had an opinion of!

John
Melissa Northern Italy zone 8
Original Author
2 years ago
John, I didn't know that you're a songwriter and musician: thanks for the information! All the happiest people sing and dance. Val is the only cat we have who has opinions about music. I don't know whether it might be because it's live; he's undisturbed by the sometimes extremely loud recorded music DD plays.

Frances and Jackie, thanks for more cat tales. These animals' reactions to recorded sounds and images is interesting. I've seen one of our cats watching a video on the computer, but he doesn't recognize DD's face and voice when she talks with us on Skype. I've also seen reactions to pictures of cats.
MetteBee_Copenhagen8b
2 years ago
Your stories are so funny! I don't have cats - but my 3-year old son is a bit cat like sometimes... He will look at a flower, then look at me and then step on the flower to see my reaction! And talk for days after about how sad he was because I was sad. Kids (and cats) are funny...
Melissa Northern Italy zone 8
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
There are points of resemblance. I've seen both one of my cats and a small child play 'Monster': hide behind a door, then squeak and run away in fright when someone opens it.

Also, while cats may not understand consequences, I've observed a quite sophisticated understanding of house rules on the part of our old cats and dog (all since passed away, I'm sorry to say).
Melissa Northern Italy zone 8
Original Author
2 years ago
P.S. Three years old is a great age! But then they all are.