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Pros and Cons of having cats

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auntblabby
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12 Jul 2012, 12:05 am

Moondust wrote:
Con: beware learning how to scratch their jowls right; you'll be a scratcher 24/7 forever. Like me. Ever seen that crazy woman sitting on the park bench at 2 am with a line of stray cats awaiting turn for a jowl scratching? That was me.:-(

the secret is to do it vigorously, firmly, with a scrolling motion of each finger in term in waves of movement, from finger to finger. vigorously so the cat will KNOW it's being scratched good and hard and will get its fill in a short time.



Moondust
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12 Jul 2012, 2:33 pm

Oh, I see!! They indeed seem to prefer more vigorous, but I never dared. But can you explain more in detail what you mean by "a scrolling motion of each finger in term in waves of movement, from finger to finger"?


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auntblabby
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12 Jul 2012, 8:23 pm

Moondust wrote:
Oh, I see!! They indeed seem to prefer more vigorous, but I never dared. But can you explain more in detail what you mean by "a scrolling motion of each finger in term in waves of movement, from finger to finger"?

you can tell if they like it or not if they push their head into your hand as if to say "HARDER!" the scrolling motion means you look at your individual fingers like a cascade of motion, first your pinkie finger curls into position and scratches, quickly followed by the ring, middle and index fingers, all in a row, over and over. that is what i mean by "scrolling motion." not all at once, but one finger at a time starting with pinkie then ring middle and index, in that order. they don't seem to like it as much if you do it backwards, from index to pinkie. if you're doing it fast enough it should be 4 or 5 scratches per second. does this explantion make sense to you? you use this scrolling motion on the jowls, neck, throat, chin, forehead and around the ears where the ear mites like to bite 'em and make 'em itch and scratch.
p.s., some cats like it harder, others softer, trial and error.



Moondust
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13 Jul 2012, 1:16 am

Thank you soooo much, auntblabby!! !! I have NLD so I require very precise instructions and only verbal, and your explanation is just perfect! I've copy-pasted them to my Cats file and as soon as they finish eating I'll start practising.


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auntblabby
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13 Jul 2012, 1:21 am

Moondust wrote:
Thank you soooo much, auntblabby!! !! I have NLD so I require very precise instructions and only verbal, and your explanation is just perfect! I've copy-pasted them to my Cats file and as soon as they finish eating I'll start practising.

a little clarifying note is in order here- when i said "4 or 5 scratches per second" i meant the whole of 4 fingers having gone through their cascade of motion 4 or 5 times per second, for a total of 20-25 total finger-movements per second. does THAT make sense?



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13 Jul 2012, 1:29 am

auntblabby wrote:
Moondust wrote:
Thank you soooo much, auntblabby!! !! I have NLD so I require very precise instructions and only verbal, and your explanation is just perfect! I've copy-pasted them to my Cats file and as soon as they finish eating I'll start practising.

a little clarifying note is in order here- when i said "4 or 5 scratches per second" i meant the whole of 4 fingers having gone through their cascade of motion 4 or 5 times per second, for a total of 20-25 total finger-movements per second. does THAT make sense?

This sounds like an effectivly hidden stimming for when you have company over. :)


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Moondust
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13 Jul 2012, 1:58 am

Yes, that's how I'd taken it. It's very fast, so with my fine motor level I'll have to practise a lot. Which is very good news for the cats. :-)

I just tried it and they like it a lot better!!


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auntblabby
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13 Jul 2012, 2:26 am

Moondust wrote:
Yes, that's how I'd taken it. It's very fast, so with my fine motor level I'll have to practise a lot. Which is very good news for the cats. :-)

I just tried it and they like it a lot better!!

but a caution is in order here, don't be surprised if they get overstimulated.



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13 Jul 2012, 2:57 am

It actually caused them to relax!! And it solved the problem that they never stay still while I scratch, moving their heads in different ways. This must be the perfect way, because they stayed immobile enjoying it!


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auntblabby
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13 Jul 2012, 2:59 am

Moondust wrote:
It actually caused them to relax!! And it solved the problem that they never stay still while I scratch, moving their heads in different ways. This must be the perfect way, because they stayed immobile enjoying it!

you will find that they move their heads/bodies in order to center the scratching exactly where they want it. they know which side their bread is scratched on. :wink:



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13 Jul 2012, 2:59 am

Blownmind wrote:
This sounds like an effectivly hidden stimming for when you have company over.


Hahahahahahahaahahahaaaa!! !! ! Loved it ! !


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auntblabby
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13 Jul 2012, 3:02 am

i guess a "stim" [whatever it's called] for me would be to bring out the red and green lasers and stimulate the cats with 'em.



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13 Jul 2012, 3:13 am

One of my cats is so unique as to finding ways to communicate with me that when he wants his jowls scratched (which is all the time), he scratches MY cheek gently to tell me. I find this amazing.


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Blownmind
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13 Jul 2012, 3:15 am

auntblabby wrote:
i guess a "stim" [whatever it's called] for me would be to bring out the red and green lasers and stimulate the cats with 'em.

nono, I meant for us to de-stress while we have company by stimming "hidden" by having our cats in our laps. :) Socially acceptable stimming, so to speak. :)


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auntblabby
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13 Jul 2012, 3:34 am

Blownmind wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
i guess a "stim" [whatever it's called] for me would be to bring out the red and green lasers and stimulate the cats with 'em.

nono, I meant for us to de-stress while we have company by stimming "hidden" by having our cats in our laps. :) Socially acceptable stimming, so to speak. :)

having cats chase around laser dots destresses me. :)



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13 Jul 2012, 3:36 am

auntblabby wrote:
Blownmind wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
i guess a "stim" [whatever it's called] for me would be to bring out the red and green lasers and stimulate the cats with 'em.

nono, I meant for us to de-stress while we have company by stimming "hidden" by having our cats in our laps. :) Socially acceptable stimming, so to speak. :)

having cats chase around laser dots destresses me. :)

Hehe, speaking of... I once lay down beneath the coffee table to pet our dog, while we had visitors. They commented on it and said it was abit weird for a grown man to do so, but hey, it de-stressed me. :)


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