If you have a small pet.....

[nancylebov]

http://www.partiallyclips.com/pages/archive.php?id=1263&c=1

This applies to cats, too. From what I've read, cats are prey animals as well as predators (Disney over-simplified matters--who knew?)--that's why they're apt to hide if they're lost instead of coming running if they're called. See The Lost Pet Chronicles.

Link snagged from stoutfellow.

Comments

I had a rabbit who was as bossy as a cat

[mouseworks.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, he didn't figure out how to boss dogs, but he would come when we called if he felt like it.

He used to wake me up so he could get me out of bed and sleep in the spot I warmed.

And he would sneak up behind people and lick the backs of their ankles. People never expected a rabbit's tongue there.

Rabbits' tongues are skinny and slightly rough.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

"[C]ats are prey animals as well as predators... that's why they're apt to hide if they're lost instead of coming running if they're called."

That's a good point, though it may not always hold true for all cats. Sugar will come if she hears us and is outside--once she's decided she wants in. And I've heard of at least one former feral cat who got out, was lost for a few weeks, and then came home (though I admit that's different than coming when called).

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I wonder how many people have cats who will come when called at all. The three here will pretty much come a short distance if they're called several times--and they weren't explicitly trained.

Sidetrack: I was hanging out in a park where people took their dogs off the leash--the level of obedience from the dogs wasn't much better than I see from the cats.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

I couldn't say. My cat, like yours, will come a short distance when called several times but, as your button slogan says, she prefers to answer rather than coming.

Apparently it is possible to *train* cats to come reliably when summoned. My boss has trained his two cats to come when he whistles (he can do that ear-piercing finger whistle). This is useful because he can let them out to roam a bit, but reliably summon them indoors when convenient without canvassing the neighborhood for them.