For whatever reason, I have had Widespread Panic’s “Makes Sense To Me” going through my head since 6:30 this morning when Tunch decided it was time for me to get up and feed him. Both of us are fat and watching our weight (well, trying to), but he is driving me absolutely insane with his incessant whining, to the point I may break out the spray bottle again and fill it with water. I have tried to play with him every time he hassles me, but the bitching is non-stop. I may have to get him a puppy for Christmas to occupy his time.
At any rate, here are some sweet looking cats, unlike the tyrant who dominates my existence:
Claim your pets.
David Hunt
That may not be a good idea. He’ll probably just eat the poor thing one morning when he doesn’t think you’re feeding him promptly enough. j/k
Vince
now you got me listening to Panic!
Morgan
That’s my boy Leon on the bottom!
jnfr
Pretty Leon! Those two up top are gorgeous, too.
Calouste
Hey Cole,
I just got a virus warning surfing to this site. You might want to switch to a host that serves less dodgy ads.
Bubba Dave
So you have now trained him that the way to get positive attention is to hassle you, and you’re surprised that he keeps hassling you?
Joshua Norton
You should try one of those timer-feeder thingies. I had one and set it to drop food for those predictable cranky cat periods. End of problem.
Of course, he’s probably getting paranoid because you keep disappearing on him so he’s climbing all over you to make sure your still there. That’s why I had to stop having animals. I was away more than I was home for a while there and they’d howl and sit all over me whenever I was there. Poor things.
Comrade Kevin
@Bubba Dave:
Where’d you get the idea that a cat needs to be trained to do that?
Incertus
We had a problem like that with Eliot, especially if Amy and I were gone for most of a day, so we got him a pet kitten. Now Eliot and Wally gang up on us, but at least they keep each other amused most of the time.
libarbarian
I haven’t listend to WSP in ages.
My favorite was "Hatfield"
The Moar You Know
@Bubba Dave: Like this?
JimPortlandOR
Dogs, and cats (to a lesser degree) are social. They really need a buddy or two in the house to feel complete. Right now you are the buddy (instead of the pack leader, which by definition is not a buddy).
Be a pack leader! Provide Tunch with another cat that will stand up to his dominance at least some of the time. You will both be better off, but you’ll also have to stop being the patsy to whines and wiles designed to control you. The pack leader determines when feeding occurs, not the pack.
I suggest viewing the Dog Whisperer (Cesar Milan) on National Geographic channel on Friday nights to find out what a pack leader does. Dogs and cats are different, clearly, but leader behavior is the same.
JimPortlandOR
to The Moar You Know
great synopsis of pet/keeper relations. Pets Rule! Consistently!
lib4
One of my favorite right leaning bloggers and a Panic fan
Right on bro…
Laura W
Done.
Check email.
You’re welcome.
Laura W
@Morgan: Does Leon have white mittens on the front paws too? Adorable.
Silver Owl
Tunch is a talker and he’ll only teach the new guy/gal to talk too.
Both cats and both of my dogs are talkers. From the time I get home until the time I go to bed, at least one is talking. lol Cassondra has been talking for 19 years, Miesha for 16 years, Kyri for 8 years and Nanuk for 7 years.
Best learn to tune him out.
comrade rawshark
Don’t do it for that reason. You’ve seen the pics of my cat and dog play fighting (you posted one here once) but you shouldn’t think that means a dog puts a cat in it’s place. The dog does that for it’s own amusement not to help you out. And eventually the dog and cat learn to work together to get what they want from you. You never win. I used to own my house, now I’m a doorman, kitchen help and couch policeman.
Mac G
Great Classic WSP tune.
I was talking to a homeless drunk about religion
He said "It’s all I got, but it ain’t much
‘Cause the way I feel these days,
I’d rather have a gun than a crutch"
Well, that makes sense to me
It makes sense to me, I must confess
That makes sense to me
It makes sense to me, I must confess
You can listen to streams of Live Panic shows at
http://panicstream.com/vault.htm
This is one of the main fan sites: http://panicstream.com/
Volum
Bottom kitty is as cute as they come.
Morgan
@Laura W: He sure does.
@Volum: Thanks. :)
John actually already posted both my cats (Scamp is the other one) about a month ago.
AnneLaurie
Well, you could try putting carrot shavings or peas in his food bowl. He probably won’t eat them, but the threat tactic shuts some cats up for a while…
Seriously, though, he needs another cat around as an "exercise buddy" and a distraction.
Laura W
Yeah, he needs a cat, not a puppy.
When you go away, the dog can’t stay home alone with Tunch, so then he’d be all alone yet again and he’d miss the both of you. And wreak double destruction upon your home.
Mean Gene
At least I know that Ernie the Cat isn’t the only feline driving his hooman crazy.
Steve Balboni
28 days until Panic NYE and this year they are coming to me…
That One - Cain
@comrade rawshark:
Haha.. that’s is so true. I’m nothing more than a doorman for my cats. The little bugger comes in, does a quick scan as to see what’s going on here, goes to his food bowl. Eats for like two minutes, and then scratches on the front door again. Luckily that’s only his summer routine.
cain
J.C.
You need to give credit where credit is due.
"Make Sense To Me" is a Bloodkin tune written by Daniel Hutchens that Widespread Panic covers.
Jim
Note: I have about 35 complete bootleg shows of theirs just on DVD. If you ever want any hit me up from the email I was required to leave.
Alaskan Pete
Talkin to a black man from Atlanta
Said I’ve come to take what’s mine
If I must bust some heads to achieve justice
My righteous cause will well explain the crime
And it makes sense to me
It makes sense to me, I must confess
Damn, I must have seen 200 panic shows in the 90s. Partied with the boys themselves in New Orleans, Macon, Columbia, and ATL and played in a jam session once with Schools. Also by coincidence sat next to Schools at a Phish show.
Ecks
This is behaviorism 101. Whining is a response that you reinforce by providing food and/or attention.
What you need to do is called temporal conditioning… Feed him ONLY at set times, and never at any other time (and I mean NEVER), and after a while he will learn that whining at non-feeding times gets no reward and the behavior will extinguish.
Plus, for bonus points, he’ll never let you forget a real feeding time, because he’ll start bitching 15 minutes in advance. Still, 30 minutes of bitching a day beats 24 hours.
Better still, get the automated feeder someone mentioned above, and a buddy for him to play with.
We used to have this exact problem with our cat at home. I came back from psych 101 with this solution, it worked beautifully, and my mom never questioned my studying psychology again :)
Esther
The top two are Spencer and Lorelai and they are brother and sister. It’s amazing that Spencer isn’t twice as big as he is because that cat has never met a food that he doesn’t like. He’s a real garbage pail cat. Lorelai is the opposite, a real finicky eater and is very lithe.
That is a wonderful picture of Leon! He a very handsome guy.
I’d vote for Tunch having a fellow feline. Cats are more sociable than you’d think, Spence and Lori are part of a five cat bunch. Of course, you have to watch out for all of them expecting breakfast in the wee hours! I’m with Ecks, it definitely works to establish a set feeding time.
Comrade Darkness
That is the most adorable f*cking cat picture I’ve ever seen. (The bottom one.) And that’s not the NZ sav blanc talking, really. Kudos to the photographer–you really are one; few are.