Leash Training for Tanaka

I decided that if Tanaka and Akira are going to get along, I can't actually re-introduce them like new cats as they have lived together for 6 years. Tanaka's personality is not going to allow that and Akira is not going to go for it as she has seen through his shenanigans. So I thought leash training may work. I had done it once or twice before but I thought I should use this school vacation to do it in earnest. Of course it is still slow and I have just done a small part of it. Tanaka seems to take it quite well as he will not be locked up in the room and Akira takes it in her stride as she knows he would not be able to chase her as he is on a leash. I am going to introduce the clicker as well as rewards for calming signals should be immediate and by the time I praise him and give him a treat, he would not know what action the reward was for.  

 

   Here Tanaka is quite relaxed looking at her but sometimes he can stare at her wide-eyed and tense.

Usually in the day, Akira and Tanaka would take turns to be outside. Now that Akira is more confident, she wants to be outside for longer periods and she asks to be let out. So once I hear her, I would allow her out and Tanaka would be inside. This has gone on for some months and then I decided that I could make both their lives better. So once Akira goes out and after she has investigated the whole house, I would wait for her to rest. She would usually rest on top of the fridge in the kitchen or on top of the night cages in the living room. The length of the leash is also dependent on where she is. 

Tanaka knows that when I tie the leash to the gate, it's time for leash training. He would sit he until I put him in his purple harness. It's important that the harness is comfortable as he needs to be in it for an extended time. 

It is important that Akira is comfortable and resting easy on top of the cage so she knows she is safe from him. Of course without the leash Tanaka can get here in two leaps but she doesn't have to know that!

Tanaka likes to make a great show of walking about. Here he is not staring at her and I had praised him for it. But he would learn much faster if I had used the clicker to treat him for this action. My conversation with Laura was very educational in this aspect. If he knows this action is a good one, and he gets a treat, he would do it more. On hindsight I was silly not to have thought of such a simple thing. 

I had shown this picture before. He is quite alert and his mind is full of just playing with his ball. So he is not concentrating on her at all :). The fact that they are both outside and they can do this is a joy to know. Yes, he knew that Akira was on top of the cage but he chose to walk about and play instead which is a big thing for him. 

But notice, san did not give me a treat even when I behaved well. She really needs to step up on the treat thing!

                             

He does look at her many times but now he is more relaxed as he knows that he will not be able to chase her but I wanted them both to enjoy being with each other in the same space. Akira sometimes watches him from on top of the cage as well. So he is alert but calm which is a good thing. We have practiced this many times in 2 months.  He knows this is a good thing as he gets a treat. 

If we do the training in the evening, he likes to sit here and relax and sometimes he would nap as well. But this is usually when Akira is in the kitchen and there is nothing to see. The important thing here is that he is not stressed when in harness as he needs to be in training for many months before he could be in the same room as Akira without his harness and leash. 

This moment( last Friday 13 Dec) was a breakthrough as I had already set up this cat toy the week before. Tanaka likes sitting in it. I was sitting close to him reading and I was quite surprised to see Akira on the bookshelf. This was because Tanaka was in the cat toy for some time relaxing although looking up at her. She had told Fern that if Tanaka does not chase her, she would be more friendly to him so I guess she is keeping to her word. 

Tanaka did not move from this position at all. He sat here the whole time. Before he would have jumped at her, even with the harness and leash. 

Here Akira had more courage and came even closer. She sat here for 5 minutes and even groomed. So I gave her a great and of course Tanaka got a treat as well. But after 5 minutes she decided she would go up to the cage again to rest 

So for the first time in 6 years, I had the 3 cats all in the same space. It was very exhilarating to finally be able to make this happen for all of them, even if it was only for about 5 minutes. 

Thank goodness for a less blurry picture but I thought it would be nice to see her getting more and more secure. 

                                    THAT was something wasn't it?

Fern came to see them last Saturday and I had asked her to praise Akira for being brave. Akira said, ' I know '. I guess this shows the level of her confidence. Tanaka only said that he wondered if she was going to come down even nearer. 

He would sometimes sleep here when he is on leash training but I am always about as it is dangerous to leave him alone in his harness and leash. 

This is only a baby step for us. We would be doing more exercises of this kind. At least now I know it can work. All of them talked about the leash training with Laura and so I had detailed it here so that when I write about our conversations it is easier to understand why they said what they did.

I want some treat training as well. Can I have a treat every time I do a calming signal? Yup. 

So I have sent for a book on training dogs so I can try to teach them some tricks as well. Maybe if they learn tricks together, they would feel better being with each other. 

YOU started it san. I don't think you know what you're in for. I would help you but right now I feel like a nap.

   

You can't stop me but you can try

 I case the joint to see who is at home. If it is grandma then I know I can do what I want. If it is san, then...

I will behave like the good boy that she finks I am. I fink I am furry smart. I look at my haus and then decide. Nuffing passes by my keen eyesight and nose and offur course my brain...hahaha. san knows I will do many fings to get what I want.

san thot she was furry clever and did this BUT I, Tanaka climbed the mesh.. 

and actually managed to put my head through the curtain gap!Then she took away the mesh but she didn't think I would throw myself onto the curtain. Once the flimsy tape fell, I was inside in a flash!

I must say san was better the next time. She put stronger velcro and removed the gaps! I was quite confused and tried to jump the gate but I have to say, it was not furry successful. But I threw myself on the curtain anyway - just to see :)

 Then on Tue we had a delivery. Actually san broughted it home. Bujang and I examined it carefully but we didn't know what it was. I cannot read the writing well and san did not tell us what it was.

 WHAT!?? I DON't BELIEVE SAN WOULD DO THIS!

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A better version of the gate. I had inverted a second gate so Tanaka would not be able to come up with any more shenanigans! Thanks dell for the suggestion.

(I had posted this pic before but I think it serves a better purpose here)

I can't believe that san could be so devious. But I will think offur somefing. You can depend on me fur this.

san: Yup. I think you will try. That is why I love you so much as you keep me on my toes :)

Walking in the park and an update

After a series of rainy evenings, Bujang went for a walk yesterday. He has not been out for some time and he is a little pudgy. The grass was a little wet in patches but I decided we should take the chance. There was no other kitty about so Bujang had the small field all to himself. But of course the mosquitoes were quite relentless but they did not disturb him, only me :)

 Bujang walked slowly choosing the right grass to eat.

 Then he chanced upon a broken branch and there were investigations, sniffing, turning around of evidence. All in all, he walked for 45 minutes until I told him we had to go as the day was getting darker and the mosquitoes busier. I was grateful that he didn't kick up a fuss or showed me his daggers!

This morning...

 Tanaka decided he wanted to eat breakfast closer to Ms Akira. Ms Akira was not very bothered by this and the two of them ate breakfast quite amicably, in full sight of each other. I had removed  the wire mesh as grandma told me Tanaka had used it to try to climb over the fence! In its place I had tied a plastic gardening rod used to train plants.This would discourage both Tanaka and Megat from trying to squeeze themselves into the room.

The wire mesh from Tuesday...now history!

 Tra-la-la-lala

Tanaka resting infront of the room after breakfast this morning. He was much more relaxed about it but I know his brains are whirring for the next best thing he could do to get inside the room. Ms Akira did not hang around long near the door but settled for treats and her window cat seat.  

 I an furry smart!Everyone says so and so do I. I will figure out my next best move later.

Will that kid never give up?

Bujang sitting with grandma after breakfast.

Wondering Wednesday

I finally set up my plan to get the kitties used to each other. I had seen Jackson Galaxy from Animal Planet's 'My Cat from Hell' and thought he gave good advice about how to kitties to behave better to each other. First I needed a screen door and then a gate of some kind. Needless to say I could not get a screen door easily in Singapore and so settled on my niece's baby gate to put across the doorway to Ms Akira's room. This created a lot of consternation and excitement for Tanaka. He walked right and left and went up the boxes to see if he could jump over the gate and into the room. So we (my niece and I) decided to put a shower curtain to cover the top half. But since we could not find my old shower curtain, I chose one of my transparent curtains and my Sister S helped with the sewing of the borders. This told Tanaka and Megat that there was no way they could jump over the gate and get into the room. Since the door would now have to remain always open (because of the baby gate), this would be added security for Ms Akira.

I had to put the wire mesh at the side as both Tanaka and Megat decided to test it to see if they could get into the room. The tested it for hours and decided that none of them were small enough for this.We left them to it for several hours.

After dinner

I gave Ms Akira some grass as she likes it. We sat infront of the gate and close to the door. Ms Akira decided to use me as as shield against the boys.

 At the other side of the gate, Cousin R fed Tanaka with grass. You can see that he ate grass WHILE keeping an eye of Ms Akira, all at once :)

 Bujang was not bothered but Tanaka spent the next 5 minutes just watching Ms Akira. 

I chose to give them the wheatgrass as they both enjoy it. I thought that if they see each other in a more joyous situation, they would get used to each other. But I realise this would take some time. Ms Akira had spent 4 years in her room so I think it is worthwhile trying to do this. 

At Night

 Tanaka (smiling): Neffur mind. I can wait.

He sat here as he had the door in his line of sight.

THIS morning- Wed 7 Nov

 Tanaka and Ms Akira ate breakfast in plain sight of each other. This is an encouraging step.

 Megat saw Ms Akira and decided to visit. She made a quick jump to her cat seat by the window and away from his line of sight.

 Tanaka kept watch but he was more relaxed. We had to move the cat furniture as well so he would not be bale to climb on any surface to jump into the room (even with the curtain) as he very curious and I know he would spend long hours trying to figure out a plan.

 After about 15 minutes, he decided to take a break and watched the bird from grandma's room :)

I know this is a long process but we will persevere. I think if the kitties can see each other continuously, they would accept each other more. I do not think they would suddenly become best friends but as long as they can live with one another and Ms Akira be more confident, it would be ok. 

We would be grateful for some advice on how to best proceed or anything else on how to re-introduce kitties together.

The Many Faces of Bujang

In the space of a few minutes Bujang went through more than 3 poses of sleep.

Bujang made a lot of noise this morning - MEOW! MOW! RORROOWWWW as he wanted to be let out very early in the morning. My first instinct was just to let him out but then I remembered Ms Akira, whose insistent whining can really plaster anyone to the wall! I made the mistake of indulging her one too many times and I have had to relive it again and again :) I wonder if she can be re-trained.

However Bujang would meow very loudly if he threw up somewhere and would only be quiet when I clean it up though.

Also, I also noticed that Megat also meows loudly at dinner from the very beginning. So he is with us for 3 years already and he still meows at dinner, afraid of being left out. The good thing is I noticed once or twice when he was very quiet at dinner and both these times were because he was not well at all and I was able to get him help.

So maybe re-training the kitties may not be the brightest idea :)

To answer a burning question...

Its not all that fun really, when a cat brings you for a walk. He wants you to allow him to walk all by himself but you know _that_would be foolhardy, not to mention reckless. However in your head, you would probably be thinking ...if only I can do that. Life would be so much simpler with kitty. But you _know_ you would never ever do that to your kitty because it would break your heart if something happens to him then.

So you find an appropriate dress (not too fancy but it should still how off your kitty well), give him firm advice and a set of consequences that he would have to suffer from if he breaks any of the rules. Your cat would listen patiently, nod his head and ever so softly tell you that he would love you more if you would just hurry up and get going for the walk.

You settle him in _his_ own carrier, bring the kibble (in case he gets hungry), the gloves (in case you have to remove dangerous objects like razor blades from the grass as they would hurt his paws), plastic bags (in case he decides to hack up the grass that he has just eaten), a book (to read (in case he decides to stand or sit and stare at nothing and you would not appear foolish in the eyes of dog lovers and humans in general), a camera (in case he does something too cute), an energy bar (in case you feel faint from standing so long under the sun as your cat might decide to meditate and contemplate the meaning of the universe) an finally your cell phone (as you might need to call for an ambulance just in case you feel a heatstroke coming on and your cat may not have the time nor the inclination to call for help).

Once all this is settled, you wheel him in his carrier (on top of a stroller that you have bought online) and bring him to the very small plot of grass that pretends to be a park. You menacle the stroller to the rails (in case strange women decide to make away with the stroller that had bought online for your cat). You invite your cat to step out of the carrier and then prepare for the V_E_R_Y long 45-minute meander.

You may have to suffer stares from the much saner people who have dogs that they walk instead of cats that walk you :)

Finally, you bring your cat upstairs, attempt to clean him up (watch those sharp claws that even the vets are scared of) and watch him stroll up to his favorite rug and his nap.

And suddenly you feel a strange sense of well-being and satisfaction that indeed your cat seems happier now than before. You realise too late that your cat has trained you very well but no matter. The sight of your cat peacefully sleeping is reward enough.

So to everyone who has asked me if it is possible to walk a cat - It would probably be the case of your cat walking you :) and _that_we know is entirely possible.

Tuesday Tricks

I am not sure I like what you're writing about me san...

You can't blame me for that...blame my previous human bean...

The culprit napping away the afternoon...

Things have been happening in the house with no explanation. I had once blogged about finding a pool of urine in my shower stall, near the drainage hole. I had uspected Megat (poor thing) as he sometimes just hits and runs when he goes to the litter. Then there were no more of these incidents. Of course intemittently I would smell ammonia from the kitchen bathroom as this was the most used one but surely not immediately after I had washed and scrubbed it! The mystery was too much for me to unravel. The bathroom in the kitchen is near their 3rd litter and we clean the bathroom twice a week.

THEN.....

This morning at about 7 as I was cleaning out the litter in the kitchen (after I cleaned the 2 litter boxes in the room), I saw Toro entering the bathroom and squatting at the drainage! UHUH! My brain screamed. Caught you! I watched him doing his business after which he calmly tried to bury the evidence. He then took one sniff and walked out.

So thereby hangs a short tale of how you may not be able to re-train a kitty 100% . Toro came to live with us when he was 1.5 years old and he will be 4 in March 2009. Before he came to live with us and before Bujang had re-trained him, he was actually trained to go at the drainage hole. I wonder what had triggered this in his brain and experience that he now sometimes does it at the drainage hole. It does not happen often though. I am only surprised that it did happen :)