Asia and Bayou getting their morning dose of exercise.

(direct link to video)

We usually do some activity like this at least once a day, if not more…..prevents ‘trouble’. Plus, Asia sort of insists that we have play time, bringing me an assortment of toys until we do something. Bet you could never have imagined that.

Here was the wand of choice today. They actually did not care for this when I bought it before…..as you can see, things changed.

Asia is helping me out, showing how she could be a ‘wand model’ if anyone is hiring. Any takers?

I thought it would be fun to share something we use actually quite often.

Specifically, we like ‘treat boxes’ to help simulate some of the activities outdoor cats would do in the hunt for food. They are great for burning active kitties energy, OR, great for getting a slightly more portly kitty moving a bit for food.

Here is a video of the Meadow Crew in action.

Direct link to video

As a note, some items work better for different cats. For example, Asia likes to tear egg cartons into little bits making it sorta pointless.

For treats, I use cooked chicken bits cut into teeny pieces and dried out for an hour or two in an oven (set on lowest temp with door open). We have used bonita flakes (too messy), and dehydrated chicken liver as well. You can use any treat that works best for your cat. You can even try gradually going from treats to their dry food. Be sure to reduce feeding calories at mealtimes to balance out the extra calories from the treat box.

Couple of tips when making these types of toys:
-Use a sharp knife, and ALWAYS cut away from human body parts (pretty please).
-For cats new to these toys, create plenty of large holes to reward often. You can always make another container or tape up holes later on.
-Use super yummy treats and a hungry cat in the beginning, placing treats right at the openings to show them what’s in store. Later you can phase in smaller treats or even dry food.
-For best motivation, put container away in between rewards and alternate types of containers to keep the cat motivated.
-For overweight cats you can even feed entire meals from a container to promote activity and spread out mealtime.
-For non food motivated felines, you could use a ball or toy in the box instead. Ping pong balls are great for this, make the holes big enough for paws but not large enough to let the ball out.

Please supervise all pets during the use of homemade toys, and use caution when cutting into containers.

If you want something a bit less homemade, here are some other ideas.

Treat type dispensers:

Toys that fill the need to search and find:

So the other day I was browsing videos, and stumbled on this video. (here is a link to the youtube version, I could not embed that one)

Link:

After seeing this video, I noticed quite a few others.

I did not know dogs enjoyed tramps so much.

But it got me thinking, what is their motivation here? Now the boxer in the above video can be seen a couple times just bouncing while looking at the owner, obviously enjoying the jumps JUST for jumps. But most of the time he is barking and chasing at the trampoline itself. I cannot tell if he is chasing say his shadow on the tramp, or maybe its the ‘feel’ of the tramp beneath his feet that makes him go after it.

Here are a couple other dogs….
Another boxer
A boston terrier
A bull terrier

Obviously their motivation looks to be initially chasing ’something’….either shadow, feel, or whatever. But what cracks me up is how all of them seem to LIKE jumping high. Like the boston terrier uses the tramp to get extra height and THEN pounces down on whatever the ‘prey’ is. He is definitely enjoying not just the chase but the jumping.

I am one who thinks you have to be a bit careful with some ‘games’. Like some dogs go from chasing laser pointers to obsessing over every flash of light they see in an unhealthy manner. Unfortunately some pets either through personality or through improper use of the ‘game’ end up with an anxiety based behavior that is no longer much fun. I tend to avoid videos where people take that anxious behavior and turn it into amusement for others.

But this trampoline thing is one I am on the fence with. Some of the videos I watched there was definitely more a sense of anxiety involved, but for the most part, the dogs really looked to be relaxed and enjoying the ‘game’ of it all (stopping when tired, getting off the tramp on their own, etc). I am thinking this is more a curious fun game for most dogs involved. Hrmmm.

Any thoughts?

Well, the idea behind my training for the month of April was fun, and went pretty well the first week. Unfortunately, being that I am dealing with four distinct cat personalities, things got complicated. Everyone (except Dexter), decided all the treats I was using were not motivating enough to continue ‘work’ on a daily basis multiple times a day. I shopped around for countless flavors of commercial natural treats, tried more human foods, and fed raw food for treats.

But alas, everyone turned up their noses eventually (except Dexter). The amount I was asking from them versus the reward value of the treats became too unbalanced.

I tried alternative rewards, petting for Bayou, and toys for Asia…both with some success. Training sessions became shorter and less productive each day. In the end, we have made progress in A LOT of areas, but the progress has really been made in less formal sessions. A few minutes of work here, clicker training on occasion, and sometimes just general positive interaction. All of my detailed plans and schedules were eventually tossed out with the cat litter so to speak.

In the end, if its not fun for everyone involved, we do not do it!

Cat motivation is an art form….seriously. I have more thoughts on that, but I will save it for another post.

I will continue to share updates on our progress in various areas. For now, I wanted to show where we are at on one fun trick we focused on this month.

Riding a skateboard.

Bayou & Asia made the most progress on this. They love riding in things around the house, so a skateboard was not a far stretch and why I chose this one. Asia mostly struggled with the fact she wants to chase the wheels….but she has improved on that over time. Dexter and Cosmo are getting more comfortable, and I can move the board ‘a bit’ with them on it.

Link to video clip.

Everyone was trained with positive rewards and shaping with a clicker.

If there is one thing I adore about the Pet Meadow crew, is that each is so unique. We had a guest stay at the house last week, and that always gives me a chance to watch the animals through another’s eyes.

Dexter and Cosmo have always been fine with strangers. Dexter on a rare occasion gets spooked, but in general, he loves attention far too much to hold out for longer then a few minutes.

Bayou, well, every person in the world is a friend in Bayou’s mind. If the UPS man hovers in the door long enough he is liable to have a 14lb bengal rolling around at his feet meowing at him to rub his belly. I feel a bit betrayed that he throws himself at others that way…….grumble……

Asia ‘appears’ to be the least social of the four, but really, she just considers strangers differently. Asia likes to be petted and hugged and loved on, BUT, only when it is not ‘business’ time. If it is play time, explore time, hunting time, then it is NOT petting time. Guests think that she is shy when she ducks to their attempts to pet her, but really, its just that she is BUSY.

When she arrived last summer, the first couple visitors to the house were a new event she was cautious of. I promptly stuck a feather wand into their hands, and she forgot everything and went to playing. After a few of rounds, she now assumes that visitors are here to entertain her. She has no use for pets, mom takes care of that…..she would prefer you use that empty hand to toss her favorite toy or make the feather wand ‘move’. Period.

When our guest arrived last week, we found out he actually threw away her most favorite fetching toy in the first few minutes! Egad! I promptly dug it out of the trash, handed it to the guest, and amends were made. She even plopped down on his lap the next day, so apparently she forgave him.

Asia still fetches like a fiend by the way. She has her favorite couple of toys, specifically the orange piece of weed eater plastic. Here was a quick session this morning….I still love that tail.

Link to video clip

If you ever have a cat that is wary of strangers, I HIGHLY recommend finding the most positive motivation you can and have the guest administer it. Food is great for this, or a favorite toy if that is what motivates the cat the most. Make sure the guests avoid eye contact, and if you have a really wary feline, they should just ignore them as much as possible. If the guest is there for a few days, you could even have them put down food at meal times. If you do not have guests very often, have a neighbor stop by with treats for just a minute or two. If they have pets you could return the favor .

Things are going well! Now, we have a LONG way to go, but we are trudging through school around here. I have laid down the basics for a half a dozen new tricks, and I have cleaned up a bunch of other behaviors they already know.

Cosmo is proving to be much more interested then I suspected, to the point I now have to separate her while I train the others because she prances into the middle of a session and insists that it is her turn!

Asia is back to being ’so so’ when it comes to treat motivation. She was this way when she was younger so I have employed a new tactic. We work with her favorite wand toy instead of treats! I will show how that works in upcoming videos. I sometimes use ‘pets’ as reward for Bayou since he loves attention so much.

Dexter….well….Dexter loves food, so there is not much to stop him from accepting a treat. No issues there.

I picked up some new props, and I am excited to try those out. Here is a sneak peak of one that Bayou really likes:

I am learning quite a bit with these intense training sessions. Fine tuning some of my techniques, and overall, everyone has been super enjoying the time.

Here is one item learned……keep props far away from the training area or you end up with things you were not looking for.

One of the largest things I have learned in this process, is that I need to selectively video sessions. My camera storage capacity and battery life cannot match the decision making time required by a cat. So rather then start investing in additional hard drives, I have decided to choose what I film carefully.

As I start to solidify some behaviors I will start posting those complete videos up.

So far so good!

Training is going well so far, we have a long ways to go, but I have the basis down for several tricks. I will post updates, more information and video on Monday.

The crew is having NO problems with the training schedule, as a matter of fact, they are on overdrive right now. If I start cooking anything in the kitchen that could possibly resemble a treat, this is the gathering I get (Cosmo was just outside the kitchen…..I couldn’t get her in the shot).

Can we say attentive??

Dexter (the orange one in the middle) does NOT get along with Bayou (the one with the grumpy camera face).

Dexter tolerates the other cats, and on occasion he actually seems to like Asia, but most of the time he prefers to not be touched or bothered by anything feline……

Except…..

When he is being trained.

His tolerance level goes through the roof when treats and clicker are involved. This scene was only possible because he thought MAYBE we were going to start training. When I train everyone together, cats are leaping over him, he is leaping over them, and he doesn’t complain one bit. Its a very pleasant time (well….outside of the chorus of meows).

Yes, Dexter….I know your secret. Chicken is the key to your heart.

Asia is showing her wild side here. I love those big eyes and rounded ears.

…..and then there is Bayou and his grumpy camera face. If you saw the video from yesterdays post you know full well he is not this calm….or quiet…..or that serious.

Caught this photo of you Mr Serious………

HA!!! That’s what you get for trying to fool everyone!

It is time for a challenge!!! (and we need your help….)

I love to do something called 30 day challenges for all sorts of subjects. They are a great way to change habits and implement new ones (for hoomans and pets alike).

I have been toying with some ideas to get training fired up in the Pet Meadow house again. It has faded, and I have not formally trained anything in months. I still use positive methods in our day to day interaction which works great for shaping good behaviors (staying off counters, waiting patiently for food, ect) but as far as dragging out the clicker and training new or advanced items I have been slacking. Bad Mom.

So we are going on an intense 30 day challenge!!

I have decided to teach 30 new tricks in 30 days! Starting April 1st the Pet Meadow feline crew has gone back to school (would have posted this sooner but Youtube has been giving me some fits all day!).

I need your help to in deciding what all to train!

So for the challenge, lets look at a few of the boundaries. There are 4 cats in the house, and I will define a ‘trick’ as a solid behavior for any one cat that is on a ‘cue’. For example, saying the word ‘kennel’ and the cat will go to their crate and sit inside and allow the door to shut will be considered ONE trick. Some of the tricks will be more healthy behaviors (like the crate one), while I think I will mix it up with some fun tricks as well.

The cats all love training time, so they are excited for this challenge.

All four of the cats are at different levels though, so I put together a video just to give a baseline of the ‘formal’ behaviors they know.

Cosmo is the least exuberant around training, so while she may make some appearances, due to her age and arthritis I will only push her as far as she wants to.

I have a list of about 10 tricks to work on or need to clean up so far. After that, the sky is the limit!

Please toss out any ideas you have, and I will see what we can incorporate. Each cat has their specialty, so I can probably work just about anything in with a little creativity.

My favorite trick I have ever trained was for a lab, where when given the cue “do you want pizza?”, she would run to the phone book, flip it open, and slam her paw down on a page. Most cute, and I would love to do some items along those lines.

If anyone wants to join in a challenge of their own we would love to have you! It could be changing one single habit for the month, or trying your hand at training. Let us know if you are joining in the comments and keep us updated!

We are excited to get going!

My crew has become picky over the years. They have decided all catnip toys are a waste unless they are the Yeowww! Catnip Brand ones. Now, granted, I don’t blame them. Yeowww packs the whole toy with catnip which is hard to find in anything else. Plus there is something about Yeowww! Catnip itself…..

BUT, being that we are on a budget, and being that I have destructive beasts who go through toys quickly……I decided it was time to make some catnip toys on my own.

Here is a VERY easy sock catnip toy.

Step One:
Leave purchase of new catnip in bag on counter while you go upstairs and check emails real quick.

Step Two:
Gather supplies and contemplate why you should probably do this in a room away from the cats, but instead decide you are glutton for punishment.

Step Three:
Make a mess.

Stuff the socks with catnip and filling material. I dumped 2-3 tablespoons of catnip in the bottom, stuffing, more catnip, stuffing, and then topped it off with another 2-3 tablespoons. The meadow crew prefer heavy on the catnip.

Because my socks were a little small, I turned them mostly inside out, and used a deep spoon to scoop the catnip inside. I still made more of a mess then my cats though.

Step Four:
Tie a knot in the end…..tightly

I made four out of the one bag of catnip.

Step Five:
Prepare for destruction.

The crew at this blog have a ‘kick pickle’…and since I cannot get the pickle name out of my head…..Well, I think these will be pickles as well! (hope you don’t mind Tanj, Vladi, and Uschi)

BEHOLD….the Pickle!!!!

HUG….the Pickle!!

EAT….the Pickle!!

Step Six
Quickly clean up all trash associated with the project, or you may find a cat playing with sock wrappers rather then the toys you just spent time and love putting together!

Additional Links

Here are some various sites showing how you can make your own cat toys at home:

Squidoo – Make your own cat toys

Green Cat – Flappy Flag

Sausage T-shirt

Sock Spider Toy

Crochet Patterns

The husband asked me awhile back what I would like for Christmas. We are not very big into exchanging much between each other, we usually focus any gifts on family and friends first. This year I asked for his handyman skills to help with a problem in our office.

Working from home has been great, but alas, my office is not very big. All four cats prefer to be in the same room as me, which means we all pile into the office together. The crew argues over the small amounts of horizontal space available, piling into the favorite beds whether there is another cat in there or not.

I have an unused corner of the office though, where the desk is deep and there is no real way to reach the wall above it. So I asked him to put up a few shelves the cats could climb on to help create more room.

So the day after Christmas, I cleared the office, and construction began.

I originally planned on taking more pictures of the building steps, but I was not around for the entire construction process. So here are a couple I was able to snap in between steps.

(reminder: click on any photo for a larger version)

The plan had been to build smaller non connected ledges they could leap back and forth from, but the amount of studs in the wall to connect the shelves to proved to be lacking. So we ended up linking the walking ledge in with the two sleeping ledges for better support. Having two bouncing bengals playing on these shelves is always in the back of my mind.

We ended up putting support between the two sleeping ledges, as Asia is checking out above. I wanted the ledges large enough to put nice comfy cat beds on them, so we needed extra support for that depth.

Here is the completed ledge system.

I really like what my husband did. If you couldn’t see the carpet, you might say it was just a normal shelf on the wall.

There is a carpeted pole to the right that goes to the floor. The cats have a similar pole on a ledge in our family room, so this is nothing new to them. We wrapped the carpet over the top edge of the shelf to give them grip to get up and over. It is made of just two 2×4’s screwed together and then covered in carpet.

We put trim up around the shelves, and then carpeted the inner ledge. This pretty much hides the carpet when you are standing in the office, and gives the shelf a clean look.

Above you can see the carpet inside the walking ledge area. It is stapled down, but not so much so that I cannot remove it and change it out later on.

Above you can see the sleeping areas have been lined in carpet as well. I need to do a bit of touch up paint, and then will put one of their cat beds in this slot.

Bayou and Asia checking out their new digs. Asia spent the evening racing up and down the pole and picking on anyone else who attempted to go up or down. Officially its a hit.