CynthiaWVirginia
Posts: 1915
Joined: 2/28/2010
From: West Virginia, USA
Status: offline
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Aneirin, I just realized what your tree pic looks like.  Don't tell me it's just me and it was a test for dirty minds.
Now for the questions:
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But I wonder about that creature and there the creatures we have, do they provide a model for ourselves to learn from their behaviour ?
From my cats, I learned to trust my instincts. Run first, ask questions later. I also learned to take more downtime and nap when I'm tired, and to seek out small things that are fun and remind me that even though I'm a grown up, it's okay to act like a kitten...er...kid. Walking through mounds of crunchy leaves, pouncing at bugs (so okay, it was actually catching nightcrawlers after a rain by using a flashlight), and making snow angels were fun, even if I was doing all of this after I was 40 years old. 
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Are we learning from them and are they learning from us ?
Yes. Mine know about a dozen words. Griz has had problems with using the litter box so each time I catch him using it he is rewarded with half and half...he knows what cream means, lol, and expects some whenever he hears the word. Even if I am merely asking my son if I should put it on our grocery list. He loves coffee and gets all excited when he hears the coffee machine dribbling out water.
I had a disaster in my house one time because of what my kitties learned from us by watching. I made the mistake of dribbling water in the bathroom sink to let them drink while I was in there. It is an old fashioned simple handle, not a dial. They watched. They learned. Then I started coming into the bathroom and seeing...the water was on. Told my son to be more careful, lol. We were at Walmart for about 2 hours and came home one day to see water racing down our staircase. The water in the sink was pouring down like gangbusters. I had to chase out every cat from the bathroom and shut the door after that for half a year, and when I was in there, started giving them water from the bathtub spigot instead. Trouble or Griz did this.
I had forgotten that when I lived in another apartment, Angel used to stand on the edge of the bathtub and stood on the handle a little so it bent down and some water came gently streaming out. One time I was in there when she stepped too hard and it roared out and scared her to death. She has stayed away from water faucets ever since.
Anyanka is trying her best to learn how the DVD player works. She has been riveted by it for the past year, goes nuts with excitement when that drawer opens up. I kept warning Nick not to leave it open because she might stand on it and break it off...but...he left it open a few times anyway. With a disk in. The little imp grabbed the disk out with her teeth and went running.
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So what is it with the creatures we invite into our homes, are we more to them than a hassle free feed and a place to sleep ?
Some of my furbabies had very harsh lives before I adopted them and they have taken years to blossom. Trouble was a garbage pail kitten and hates being picked up...the wildness is still there but she has learn to covet all the comforts of being a beloved house cat. She also likes to sleep under the blankets with me. Griz was raised with a dog and was treated with dignity, used to wearing a sweater and going out in the yard to do his business, and it took years before he became a belly up drooler who loves catnip and cuddles and lots of lap time. I'm still working on Willow, she was a dying wild born kitten when I found her and she keeps growing socially in baby steps. She is an omega, but so was Angel...and after over ten years Angel will finally growl at Trouble and Anyanka to stand up for herself.
When I was growing up, we had cats that had their required can of catfood each twice per day. The animals lived for food and ignored us the rest of the time. I keep dry food out in huge containers (years ago when I only had 3, I put it into a punch bowl), now I keep them in bee hive type containers I bought at Walmart.
The obsession with food is ended, since they can nibble all day long. When they come to me it's for attention or because they are greedy and want a piece of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, cheese, sour cream, or ham. They are terrible gourmets now...one loves spaghetti sauce and another loves Chinese food...will even eat yucky bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, blech. Griz loves coffee and hot cocoa and I have to watch him like a hawk so he doesn't try to steal any, same goes for doughnuts and icing. A friend of mine visits once per month on average and buys a box of doughnuts...Griz crushed them by standing on top of the large, flat box while trying to rip it open with his teeth.
Years ago, I had a cat who didn't like it when I read books and didn't pay her enough attention, so she would jump onto the desk or bed and lie down on my book or writing pad. This is love, not just cupboard love.
When my son plays outside with the neighbor's boy, his cat, Anyanka, cries pitifully at the door and windows for him to please come back to her. Sometimes this goes on for two hours until I have a roaring headache. Our neighbors have said that when we go on vacation (our friend comes to stay the night with them every other day), Anyanka cries the entire time. They hear her from my son's bedroom window.
Griz, Angel, Anyanka, Willow, and now Trouble love me to pieces. Anyanka, Willow, Trouble, and Cyrano love my son.
Through our pets, my son has learned how to be more gentle and to watch over those who are smaller than he is.
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The pets we live with ? - 
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RE: The pets we live with ? - 
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