Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Jamie, If the weather is nice and she's, what, 5 months old you say, she's not only interested in the weather but other cats.............MALE cats!!! She can get PG at this age I hope you know. Think about getting her "fixed" soon, unless you want a lot of extra little Mags around!

Don't just get a collar, get a harness if you are going to try to train her to walk outside with you. A cat can slip out of a collar easily, but not a harness since it goes around their tummy too. Besides, you don't want her to choke when she resists the leash�which she will.
Get her used to riding in a car at a young age��and staying off your lap or wrapped around your neck or legs when you drive. Just go around a block or two at first and work up to distances. Make sure she has the leash and harness on at that time and it's attached to something. Cats will dart out of a car once the door is open in the blink of an eye. That or keep her in a cage in the car��.something they, for the most part, hate. It's not the best way for her to get to actually LIKE riding in a car.

I know what you mean about them rising early. Some cats will drive you nuts doing that, and LOVE every minute of it. Others will sleep in as long as you do. You have a couple choices here��..shut her out of your room the minute she acts up so you can sleep in. (Be prepared for her to scratch at the outside of the door trying to get back in. Put something that smells like citrus on the door. They hate that.) or deal with it until she gets over it and goes back to sleep, or scold her (that usually never works�.lol.)

There are some great documentaries on cats from the discovery channel. They cover the history of, or the behavior or some other aspect of felines. See if you can't get these from a local library. (Or don't they have those where you are either?) or catch when they re-run them on TV. You'll find the info very helpful as being a first time cat owner.

Cats are very trainable if you start young. Mags is actually a little old to start, but she's a "ginger" cat and those have always been my smartest cats, so she should do fine, and be able to outsmart YOU when you least expect it!!! Be patient, very patient, and determined and send her mental messages. By that I mean try to make eye contact and send her a VISUAL message of what you want her to do, visualizing (not telling) her what you want her to do�start slow and send the message over and over and she'll eventually pick up on it. Cats really are no different than dogs in that they really DO want to please their owners. You just have to go about it differently with them.

You poor guy��no dates. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your description of where you live sounds like a cross between the old TV show, Northern Exposure, and the sitcom, "Wings". Am I totally off base here? What's the name of the town you said you were in? You got lots of good recommendations from the others, especially about making Mags the "Chick Magnet" (or is that "Chick Magneto"?)� so I won't add my 2 cents worth, but I did ask my husband, the 28 year veteran pilot, and explained the situation you were in. He said, "Never lower your standards, but you CAN raise your evaluation"��.��HE WOULD, having been quite the ladies man over the years.
I dunno��.I personally would stay away from the gym��to intimidating to have those body builder types around, besides a pilot NEVER needs brawn, only brains. It's your redeeming feature��capitalize on IT�.the brains, not the pilot thing that is.

Good luck Jamie,
We love you on these boards��..

Kandee

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