Can we help Sparta and Cory?

I saw this follow-up video by Cory, slave to Sparta, the legendary YouTube
"Mean Kitty":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDJNuypavq8&NR=1

Sparta's an Egyptian Mau, and as you can see VERY energetic, and not exactly
gentle (like those Bengals we hear about-- fortunately, Sparta's a little
guy).

But as I watched Cory and Sparta, it became clear to me that although Sparta
does bite a lot, he is definitely NOT a mean kitty. He's young,
extra-playful, and basically treats his slave Cory like another kitten.
Cats bite when they play unless they're taught not to as kittens. Sparta
just never learned not to bite at the right time. That's how Cory got
Sparta-- the little girl who had him before had to give him up because he
played too roughly.

I can see that Cory really appreciates Sparta-- a great cat slave in the
making. But Cory is just inexperienced with cats. We should nurture people
like Cory! We don't want Cory to get discouraged with all the biting, and
possibly give up on Sparta and other cats in the future.

He does ask in the video how to deal with all the biting. Can we use our
experience with all kinds of cats to come up with some good advice for Cory?
Maybe get a few pointers and pass them on to him?

Kreisleriana wrote:

He does ask in the video how to deal with all the biting. Can we use our
experience with all kinds of cats to come up with some good advice for Cory?
Maybe get a few pointers and pass them on to him?


I did write a comment to his video and tried to give him some advice,
but I had to cut out a lot of what I'd written, because the comments are
restricted to 500 characters (IIRC).

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:59:26 -0400, "Kreisleriana"
drtmuiratearthlink.net wrote:

I saw this follow-up video by Cory, slave to Sparta, the legendary YouTube
"Mean Kitty":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDJNuypavq8&NR=1

Sparta's an Egyptian Mau, and as you can see VERY energetic, and not exactly
gentle (like those Bengals we hear about-- fortunately, Sparta's a little
guy).

But as I watched Cory and Sparta, it became clear to me that although Sparta
does bite a lot, he is definitely NOT a mean kitty. He's young,
extra-playful, and basically treats his slave Cory like another kitten.
Cats bite when they play unless they're taught not to as kittens. Sparta
just never learned not to bite at the right time. That's how Cory got
Sparta-- the little girl who had him before had to give him up because he
played too roughly.

He's not 'mean'... he's absolutely adorable and a bundle of energy...
but he wants somebody to play with, and he hasn't learnt the
difference between playing with a person and playing with another cat.
Probably the quickest cure for his human attacks would be to get
another kitten! Then they can wrestle and pounce and chase each other
and leave their owners in peace (at least occasionally :P)

The 'Mean Kitty' video is adorable... I've never seen it before.

I am glad to see someone admit they bit their cat back. Piglet was an
aweful biter. My husband was ill and the last couple of months of his life
and he spent a lot of time in bed and the cat was his guardian. After he
died and we moved she decided to bite me, I mean hard. One night I yelled
NO and grabbed her and bit her on the ear., non too gently either. She
honestly NEVER big me again. Gramby
"NeeCee" wrote in message
...
could i put my 2 cents in? now,granted,this was a long time ago,& it was a
dog . Prince was a biter,he bit me pretty hard one day,i said "NO" in a
firm voice,then i bit him back,VERY GENTLY , on his ear,he never bit me
again,played gentlier too!!!
"Kreisleriana" drtmuiratearthlink.net wrote in message
...
I saw this follow-up video by Cory, slave to Sparta, the legendary YouTube
"Mean Kitty":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDJNuypavq8&NR=1

Sparta's an Egyptian Mau, and as you can see VERY energetic, and not
exactly gentle (like those Bengals we hear about-- fortunately, Sparta's
a little guy).

But as I watched Cory and Sparta, it became clear to me that although
Sparta does bite a lot, he is definitely NOT a mean kitty. He's young,
extra-playful, and basically treats his slave Cory like another kitten.
Cats bite when they play unless they're taught not to as kittens. Sparta
just never learned not to bite at the right time. That's how Cory got
Sparta-- the little girl who had him before had to give him up because he
played too roughly.

I can see that Cory really appreciates Sparta-- a great cat slave in the
making. But Cory is just inexperienced with cats. We should nurture
people like Cory! We don't want Cory to get discouraged with all the
biting, and possibly give up on Sparta and other cats in the future.

He does ask in the video how to deal with all the biting. Can we use our
experience with all kinds of cats to come up with some good advice for
Cory? Maybe get a few pointers and pass them on to him?

"Granby" wrote in message
...
I am glad to see someone admit they bit their cat back. Piglet was an
aweful biter. My husband was ill and the last couple of months of his life
and he spent a lot of time in bed and the cat was his guardian. After he
died and we moved she decided to bite me, I mean hard. One night I yelled
NO and grabbed her and bit her on the ear., non too gently either. She
honestly NEVER big me again. Gramby

While I wouldn't recommend it, it sounds like it worked. (I mostly have
doubts about getting my face close enough to bite anything with 20 claws and
teeth)

However, more than one parent has had to resort to that in order to teach a
toddler not to bite. With some, it is simply the only way to teach them
that it hurts.

Jo

Ha ha ha Sparta isn't half the biter Nox is.

Nocturne has dominance issues. Sparta looks like he just wants to
rassle and he is playing with his owner like another kitty. Sparta
will be cured if he gets bitten back or squirted to say that's not
appropriate.

I just put up with Nocturne biting because she does it when she feels
insecure. I would rather have a bite or two than deal with Nox being
upset and hiding in the closet for days on end.

What a sweet video (the mean kitty song)

--Fil

He does ask in the video how to deal with all the biting. Can we use our
experience with all kinds of cats to come up with some good advice for
Cory? Maybe get a few pointers and pass them on to him?