hellison | Cats and Doors

Cats and Doors

Following an converstaion beginning on email re horrendously cold weather approaching and impossibility of closing doors if you live with cats, Sarah (the anon posting on the NG post)has decided to create an exciting and educational website for cats to teach them how to close doors, leading to warmer houses for us all and freeing us from participation in playing Other Side, tho I suspect that will take a lot of the fun out of it for the cats.

Knowing that many of you are Cat owners (or owned by cats), obviously this was the best place to ask for assistance, since you will all benefit from this exciting new educational tool for your furry little overlords.

Anyway, to further this great aim the following would be of great help!

(from sarah)
Yeah, on second thoughts, if we could do something like
1. Cat
2. Door
3. Cat by open door with big red X
4. Cat by open door with big finger pointing at cat
5. Cat by closed door with big green tick

That would make me very happy.....
We could do a bit of promotional gumph - welcome to shutthatdoormiaow.com, THE place for cat door shutting training. In just 5 simple steps, we will show you how to get rid of that
annoying door-opening habit!!

also
Yeah, and then need to find a hoster and somewhere to do the page, and someone who can do html to do the text - Any ideas for promotional text for our new venture?

ETA hehe, a tutorial session? http://eatin.fotopic.net/p10857750.html

ps those of you from Scene (alas, poor Scene) may remember Sarah as Thesme ;)

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I can html if you want..

Great! Brilliant! Am getting very excited now (but obviously not as excited as EATIN who is getting a beet obsessed with visions of Cathy Bates and certain Cute Sci-Fi Authors being tied to beds but NO sledgehammers)

Anyway, I want to come up with some really powerful (MAN) promotional gumph for www.shutthatdoormiaow.com, any ideas/inspiration would be most welcome. My brain has run dry. shame.

you need to get a lj account, it is free and takes but moments to sign up :p

Then you too can spend your days posting angst and pictures of cats! It truly is a wonderful place.

I'll put my mind to it - after all I do work in marketing so I should be able to come up with something to help. Might be tomorrow though. Am flat today. :(

ooh yay ;) I'm pretty sure

heliotic had given me webspace at pgpl.net a while back, tho webspaces isn't exactly hard to find if you need it.

After all in these days of rising fuel costs and approaching Ice Ages, it is for the cats' own good as well as ours that they learn this vital new skill!

Hellison's photo is fab - a classic example of two many cats at one door. I prefer to train cats on an individual basis, otherwise the boundaries become blurred (see how none of these cats are focusing on the door). In the worst case scenario, the cats MAY TRY TO OPEN AND CLOSE EACHOTHER! DISASTER!

PS there is another Thesme on this site and that means that I am not a happy bunny.

(Sarah here, btw)

I have some space on my site if push comes to shove. I can also sense a session trying to get the cats to model with the door coming on. Sigh.

I found out last night that the lump in my icon has trained an old lady to carry him all the way down the road from her house to knowck on our door and get him let in.

He is a very bad cat indeed.

I was thinking of exactly the same thing. Close all the doors and lurk beside them with a camera til the inevitable happens!

And there's no hurry on this ;)

Heh cats are like magnets for old ladies. I know of at least 3 who feed one of mine because she turns up every day, regularly, actiing like she's never seen food in her life.

As does mine. Except with his tummy it is fairly obvious he's seen food more then once that day already.

Erm not a lot of help here

I do have http://www.welshfestival.co.uk/trouble.jpg which is Trouble checking out a door from the inside

http://www.welshfestival.co.uk/merlin.jpg - Merlin checking out a sort of door

http://www.welshfestival.co.uk/merlinpervert.jpg - Merlin being dirty (Not on topic but might come in handy)

and finally http://www.welshfestival.co.uk/soakydoggles.jpg merely cos it will make Reusses day even better

YAY DOGGLES. Did you ever get Soaky the cape?

Other pics are v. good, especially trouble ;)

Okok, a modelling session was on my mind, but only one - the bit after photo of cat beside open door (bad) and before cat beside closed door (goood)- i.e. I want a pic with cat, open door, and pointy finger. This may prove difficult though.

Otherwise, any situational images of cat-doorishness will suffice.

Your very nice blue lumpy icon reminds me of a black feline called Pedo (don't ask) who worked out how to use the front door knocker (she would leap up, hook her paws around the knocker and swing herself back and forwards). Sounded exactly like a human person and we spent so much '-ing' time running to the door only to find her ladyship walking daintily and smugly in. That kind of cat poses a serious threat in these chilly times, being the cause of much unnecessary door opening, but, GETTING OTHER PEOPLE TO DO IT FOR HER!

Should we feature the device known as a 'cat flap' and it's proper use (as opposed to its improper use as a weapon for batting at the neighbours cat during a feud)?

Heh, yours do that? Mine just either launch a a full frontal assault or occasionaly airbourne attack (JC) or come pelting at me at full tilt screaming (Lana) until I make it go away .

the 'cat flap' device has a fatal flaw - in that it allows the feline to waft draughts through the house resulting in chill. However, we could feature
1) draught proofing for cat flaps
2) the proper usage of cat flaps for well-behaved felines - not a weapon, not an invitation for catty chums to move in and get free dinner, not a route for interested toms to come in and pee all over the gaff.

My step-dad's cats appear to think that the proper use of a cat flap is for a human to come along and hold it open for them...this must also be targeted.

Another example of Incorrect Usage of Cat Flaps
http://eatin.fotopic.net/p6052797.html

It should be stressed that 'draught proofing for cat flaps' does not involved getting wedged as one tries to drap in a dead kebab (don't ask)

Presumably tho that's at least better than them dragging in a live kebab...

Not when you tread on it in the dark.

To this day I can feel chilli sauce between my toes.

A live kebab would have had the sense to get out of my way ;-)

BTW those of you who wish to understand the reason why it is necessary to train cats to close doors can go to the one and only entry in my journal.

Mivvvv
vvv
v

Photo number 1 is PERFECT! Classic example of our problem, how can one keep warm and keep fuel bills down when one's feline companion insists on doing that! Trouble indeed!

The one of Merlin advertising his wares is certainly intriguing and could indeed show the end result of the slippery slope that door opening cats are at risk of falling down?
Last one - well indeed it seems a bit canine, but on it's own merits I think it is a work of art. Or Fart, possibly?

- we have three images, and web space, so now we just need to come up with some text. Any ideas? Here's some:

Welcome to Shutthatdoormiaow.com!
The website designed to tackle all your cat-opening-doors problems!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As we are all aware the coming winter is forecast to be pretty chilly
(LINK TO MET OFFICE SEASONAL FORECAST). This, combined with rising fuel costs, means we all have to look after our draught proofing needs.

HOWEVER, Cat owners face a particular problem - the Opening-but-not-Shutting-the-Door behaviour so sadly exhibited by too many cats in our Modern Consumerist World. This results in all efforts to adequately heat one's home ending in failure. [IMAGES OF BAD CATS BESIDE OPEN DOORS - MIV'S TROUBLE HERE?]

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Luckily, we at Shutthatdoormiaow.com have come up with an easy 5(?) step behaviour modification programme which will eliminate unwanted door opening in weeks!!!!!!

(MUST DESIGN PROGRAMME)

??
Any ideas on the recommended behaviour modification programme?

A system of reward for correct behaviour?

I think we all know negative reinforcement doesn't work with cats (eg yelling "stop opening the bloody doors and stay in one place!" rarely has any effect), so we shall have to go with Positive.

Of course positive reinforcment won't be easy either since the subject's notion of what constitutes 'reward' will be different every time.

Sooo...a step-by-step programme is taking shape

1. find cat by open door [red cross] [images]
2. intervention [positive reinforcement??????????????? any ideas here?]
3. cat closes door [green tick] [images] (PS I think I can get one of Sam, the step-dad's ginger marshmallow, asleep stretched along the door, thus acting as a draught excluder, excellent)

Of course this is just one element in the site - others being do and don't examples as an intro
1. Cats beside open doors (baaaad)
2. Cats beside closed doors (goooood)
3. The proper use of the cat flap
4. Improper cat flap usage

Some facility whereby people can provide feedback and post calls for help (this may be too ambitious)

http://www.perfectpaws.com/train.html

http://cat.lifetips.com/cat/57338/cat-training/index.html (see especially Pet Door Introduction)

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Cats and Doors

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Not Anonymous at all! Why can't I put my name in???!?!

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Re: Not Anonymous at all! Why can't I put my name in???!?!

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Many cats - one door

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Cats, Doors and Models

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Chilliness, cats, doors

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www.shutthatdoormiaow.com

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positive intervention