Harriet - STF (single tabby female)

Harriet & Stinky are the two cats at work. They've been here for 7 years
now, since Stinky was 3 months and Harriet was 1 1/2 years old. In the past
4-5 months, Harriet has slowly been copying Stinky's behaviors & habits.
Stinky used to eat in my office, in a corner by two filing cabinets.
Harriet ate on her rug at the front of the basement. In the morning they're
fed at different times. Stinky is fed when the first person gets here, but
Harriet waits until I get in (she gets medication). One morning, Harriet
led me into my office, right to Stinky's spot. I let her eat there. She
wanted to eat there every day after that. Stinky is an excellent ladder
climber, and she climbs ladders in the basement and then walks on the pipes
and a/c ducts up by the ceiling. Back in january we had boxes of books
piled up, and Harriet used the boxes as steps and managed to get up onto
Stinky's favorite pipe. I can't describe the look of pure satisfaction on
her face when I discovered her up there. She was able to get up one more
time, until the boxes were emptied of their books and taken away. She did
not attempt using the ladder.

In my office there's a big pipe that runs right through (high enough so
nobody walks into it, of course). Stinky always jumped onto the counter,
onto the copy machine, up onto the pipe and then onto the top shelf. She
walks across the shelf, steps onto another pipe in the corner, turns around
and enters the cat carrier on the shelf for a nap. Harriet noticed her
doing this and one day decided to try it herself. She is really a spaz and
it takes her forever but she insists on doing it. Now if she wants to go up
I pull out the top drawer of the filing cabinet to keep her off the copy/fax
machines.

Today, I came in and got Harriet's food ready after medicating her. I asked
her where she wanted to eat (sometimes my office, sometimes her old spot up
front) and she led me to the back of the basement to Stinky's safe area.
She went to Stinky's feeding spot between two filing cabinets and looked at
me. Stinky was just as flabbergasted as I was. I told Harriet she couldn't
eat there and convinced her to follow me to the front, where she began
eating. I gave Stinky her dry food treat in her area and went back to my
office. Two minutes later, Stinky comes in crying. Literally crying, not
her normal whiny "I want attention" voice. I follow her back to her area
and there's Harriet with her head in Stinky's bowl. Stinky began crying
again and Harriet ignored her.

Just a little while ago, while Stinky was in the cat carrier on the shelf, I
caught Harriet coming out from Stinky's safe zone. In 7 years, Harriet
never went there. Harriet never tried to climb on pipes or shelves. She
always ate at the front of the basement, or upstairs. Now she just wants
everything Stinky has and wants to do everything Stinky does. My boss tells
me that at night, Harriet gets very jealous if he pays any attention to
Stinky. So, Harriet has started hanging out in his office, which she never
did before (but Stinky did). I wouldn't be surprised if Harriet dips her
paws in bleach so she can have white boots like Stinky.

Is this where the term "copycat" came from?

--
Liz

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:21:15 -0500, Elizabeth Blake wrote:

Harriet & Stinky are the two cats at work. They've been here for 7 years
now, since Stinky was 3 months and Harriet was 1 1/2 years old. In the past
4-5 months, Harriet has slowly been copying Stinky's behaviors & habits.
Stinky used to eat in my office, in a corner by two filing cabinets.
Harriet ate on her rug at the front of the basement. In the morning they're
fed at different times. Stinky is fed when the first person gets here, but
Harriet waits until I get in (she gets medication). One morning, Harriet
led me into my office, right to Stinky's spot. I let her eat there. She
wanted to eat there every day after that. Stinky is an excellent ladder
climber, and she climbs ladders in the basement and then walks on the pipes
and a/c ducts up by the ceiling. Back in january we had boxes of books
piled up, and Harriet used the boxes as steps and managed to get up onto
Stinky's favorite pipe. I can't describe the look of pure satisfaction on
her face when I discovered her up there. She was able to get up one more
time, until the boxes were emptied of their books and taken away. She did
not attempt using the ladder.

In my office there's a big pipe that runs right through (high enough so
nobody walks into it, of course). Stinky always jumped onto the counter,
onto the copy machine, up onto the pipe and then onto the top shelf. She
walks across the shelf, steps onto another pipe in the corner, turns around
and enters the cat carrier on the shelf for a nap. Harriet noticed her
doing this and one day decided to try it herself. She is really a spaz and
it takes her forever but she insists on doing it. Now if she wants to go up
I pull out the top drawer of the filing cabinet to keep her off the copy/fax
machines.

Today, I came in and got Harriet's food ready after medicating her. I asked
her where she wanted to eat (sometimes my office, sometimes her old spot up
front) and she led me to the back of the basement to Stinky's safe area.
She went to Stinky's feeding spot between two filing cabinets and looked at
me. Stinky was just as flabbergasted as I was. I told Harriet she couldn't
eat there and convinced her to follow me to the front, where she began
eating. I gave Stinky her dry food treat in her area and went back to my
office. Two minutes later, Stinky comes in crying. Literally crying, not
her normal whiny "I want attention" voice. I follow her back to her area
and there's Harriet with her head in Stinky's bowl. Stinky began crying
again and Harriet ignored her.

Just a little while ago, while Stinky was in the cat carrier on the shelf, I
caught Harriet coming out from Stinky's safe zone. In 7 years, Harriet
never went there. Harriet never tried to climb on pipes or shelves. She
always ate at the front of the basement, or upstairs. Now she just wants
everything Stinky has and wants to do everything Stinky does. My boss tells
me that at night, Harriet gets very jealous if he pays any attention to
Stinky. So, Harriet has started hanging out in his office, which she never
did before (but Stinky did). I wouldn't be surprised if Harriet dips her
paws in bleach so she can have white boots like Stinky.

Is this where the term "copycat" came from?

Great story.! Maybe is Stinky had a better name he could defend his
territory better. MLB

"mlbriggs" wrote in message
news

Great story.! Maybe is Stinky had a better name he could defend his
territory better. MLB

Stinky is a girl, and she's twice Harriet's size and has all of her claws
(Harriet was adopted from a shelter and they didn't even tell me she was
declawed when I got her). In the past, Stinky would swat/attack Harriet if
she came anywhere near her private area, but now she just seems confused by
it.

--Liz

"D." wrote in message
ink.net...
In article ,
"Elizabeth Blake" wrote:

Is this where the term "copycat" came from?

That is hilarious. It sounds like Harriet is doing well.

Harriet is doing okay, although she's now been having more incidents of
eliminating outside the box (and there are 4 boxes). Mostly she'll poop on
the rug or the base of her cat tower. I put a wee wee pad on the base of
the tower, and she wee'ed on it. Normally she pees in the boxes but I guess
she figured she might as well take advantage of the pad.

--
Liz

"Elizabeth Blake" wrote in message
...
Harriet & Stinky are the two cats at work. They've been here for 7 years
now, since Stinky was 3 months and Harriet was 1 1/2 years old. In the
past
4-5 months, Harriet has slowly been copying Stinky's behaviors & habits.
Stinky used to eat in my office, in a corner by two filing cabinets.
Harriet ate on her rug at the front of the basement. In the morning
they're
fed at different times. Stinky is fed when the first person gets here,
but
Harriet waits until I get in (she gets medication). One morning, Harriet
led me into my office, right to Stinky's spot. I let her eat there. She
wanted to eat there every day after that. Stinky is an excellent ladder
climber, and she climbs ladders in the basement and then walks on the
pipes
and a/c ducts up by the ceiling. Back in january we had boxes of books
piled up, and Harriet used the boxes as steps and managed to get up onto
Stinky's favorite pipe. I can't describe the look of pure satisfaction on
her face when I discovered her up there. She was able to get up one more
time, until the boxes were emptied of their books and taken away. She did
not attempt using the ladder.

In my office there's a big pipe that runs right through (high enough so
nobody walks into it, of course). Stinky always jumped onto the counter,
onto the copy machine, up onto the pipe and then onto the top shelf. She
walks across the shelf, steps onto another pipe in the corner, turns
around
and enters the cat carrier on the shelf for a nap. Harriet noticed her
doing this and one day decided to try it herself. She is really a spaz
and
it takes her forever but she insists on doing it. Now if she wants to go
up
I pull out the top drawer of the filing cabinet to keep her off the
copy/fax
machines.

Today, I came in and got Harriet's food ready after medicating her. I
asked
her where she wanted to eat (sometimes my office, sometimes her old spot
up
front) and she led me to the back of the basement to Stinky's safe area.
She went to Stinky's feeding spot between two filing cabinets and looked
at
me. Stinky was just as flabbergasted as I was. I told Harriet she
couldn't
eat there and convinced her to follow me to the front, where she began
eating. I gave Stinky her dry food treat in her area and went back to my
office. Two minutes later, Stinky comes in crying. Literally crying, not
her normal whiny "I want attention" voice. I follow her back to her area
and there's Harriet with her head in Stinky's bowl. Stinky began crying
again and Harriet ignored her.

Just a little while ago, while Stinky was in the cat carrier on the shelf,
I
caught Harriet coming out from Stinky's safe zone. In 7 years, Harriet
never went there. Harriet never tried to climb on pipes or shelves. She
always ate at the front of the basement, or upstairs. Now she just wants
everything Stinky has and wants to do everything Stinky does. My boss
tells
me that at night, Harriet gets very jealous if he pays any attention to
Stinky. So, Harriet has started hanging out in his office, which she
never
did before (but Stinky did). I wouldn't be surprised if Harriet dips her
paws in bleach so she can have white boots like Stinky.

Is this where the term "copycat" came from?


Probably! Cats do learn from each other-- especially how to be bad! lol

I love to watch how cats interact with each other in the colonies and at the
shelter.

Great story! How's Harriet doing-- or should I say going?

Phil

"Phil P." wrote in message
news:j2cNf.5556$FE2.3388@trnddc01...
Is this where the term "copycat" came from?


Probably! Cats do learn from each other-- especially how to be bad! lol

I love to watch how cats interact with each other in the colonies and at
the
shelter.

Great story! How's Harriet doing-- or should I say going?

Phil

Harriet, unfortunately, has been going on the floor a lot. Her poops tend
to be short & wide. She's on 3ml lactulose twice a day. If I up it to 3.5,
sometimes she ends up with diarrhea. She does go in the box, but if she's
having a little trouble she goes elsewhere. She has a cheap cat condo, and
has pooped on the base a couple of times. I've cleaned it. Then we had to
dismantle her furniture for awhile when it got very busy at work, and on
Saturday I put it back up. I put one of those doggie wee wee pads on the
base, just in case, and she decided to wee on it. Now I have a big
cardboard box there. I found evidence that she pooped in her favorite box
this morning, though, and normally she uses the boxes for urination. She
has gone in/on large plastic bags and a crinkly cat sack in the past, so I
should have known better than to put the wee wee pad down. She loves peeing
on crinkly plastic for some reason. Never did it on the rugs or bare floor.

Other than that, and trying to steal Stinky's life, she's doing well. She
has calmed down a lot and hasn't attacked anyone in ages. She's become a
total lap cat, crawling into any available lap whenever she can. She's
getting better about eating canned food but still prefers dry (especially
Stinky's Science Diet Light dry).

--
Liz

"Elizabeth Blake" wrote in message
...
"Phil P." wrote in message
news:j2cNf.5556$FE2.3388@trnddc01...
Is this where the term "copycat" came from?


Probably! Cats do learn from each other-- especially how to be bad! lol

I love to watch how cats interact with each other in the colonies and at
the
shelter.

Great story! How's Harriet doing-- or should I say going?

Phil

Harriet, unfortunately, has been going on the floor a lot. Her poops tend
to be short & wide.


If I were you, I'd be happy to see her poop *anywhere*!



She's on 3ml lactulose twice a day. If I up it to
3.5,
sometimes she ends up with diarrhea. She does go in the box, but if she's
having a little trouble she goes elsewhere.


That's understandable: she's associating the discomfort or pain with the
litterbox.


She has a cheap cat condo,
and
has pooped on the base a couple of times. I've cleaned it. Then we had
to
dismantle her furniture for awhile when it got very busy at work, and on
Saturday I put it back up. I put one of those doggie wee wee pads on the
base, just in case, and she decided to wee on it. Now I have a big
cardboard box there. I found evidence that she pooped in her favorite box
this morning, though, and normally she uses the boxes for urination. She
has gone in/on large plastic bags and a crinkly cat sack in the past, so I
should have known better than to put the wee wee pad down. She loves
peeing
on crinkly plastic for some reason. Never did it on the rugs or bare
floor.

Other than that, and trying to steal Stinky's life, she's doing well. She
has calmed down a lot and hasn't attacked anyone in ages. She's become a
total lap cat, crawling into any available lap whenever she can.


Sure! She's obviously feeling a lot better. Pain and discomfort can make a
cat *real* cranky- its called "pain-associated aggression".



She's
getting better about eating canned food but still prefers dry (especially
Stinky's Science Diet Light dry).

She sounds like a real character! lol!

I'm really happy she's doing better- I was worried your boss reached his
limit with her.

Thanks for the update.

Phil