Teaching An Old Cat New Tricks

[MauriceMynah]

It seems likely to me that it will be when Timothie goes to a nursing home (sooner or later) I shall be able to get to my boat. I do however see a small problem.

This small problem is black, about 10 years old and is currently looking at me through bright green eyes as though some mutt must have dragged me in. His name is Taxi. Most of Rufus's cats have had odd names!

Now. I think it quite likely that Timothie will go into a home before Rufus is let out of his. When (if) that happens, I shall need to do something about Taxi. A one way trip to the vet isn't going to happen, so I think it likely I'm going to have to train him to live on a boat, and that therefore his home is not necessarily going to be where he left it.

I am a dog person. I understand little about cats, though I have learned that although neither of us has seen the boat, It's his boat, his home. My only purpose in life is to feed him when he instructs me to do so.

Now, what I need to know is How do I explain to a cat that this is where he now lives?

[ExSurveyor]

Have a word with Jaws Orca, I know Alan had cats when he was afloat.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Yes and now they have moved to a house  in Suffolk. And as far as I know they are all settled in well.

[JennyMorgan]

I had a cat afloat and on one idyllic, calm morning the water was as smooth as a mirror, stupid mutt thought it was capable of supporting his weight and jumped out of the boat. Nothing more pathetic than a half drowned cat. Cats have been known to travel hundreds of miles in order to return to their previous homes. 

https://www.cats.org.uk/norwich/feature-pages/adopt-an-older-cat

It is not easy to teach an old cat new tricks. 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Is Taxi an indoor cat or does he roam outside.

[MauriceMynah]

Mainly an outdoor cat OBB

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Oh dear MM, might be best to re home him.

[grendel]

is he litter trained, this will be a big issue if you transfer him to a boat, as he will need somewhere to go. all my cats are indoor cats, and they are generally a contented bunch, give them food, water and a lap to sit in and they are happy.

[Smoggy]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

is he litter trained, this will be a big issue if you transfer him to a boat,

That's what worries us all about MM on a boat Grendel, saves a fortune on pumpouts though.

[MauriceMynah]

Not litter trained, not anything trained really, except looking at me like I'm filth. He's highly trained at that.

I have noticed that each paw is loaded with five razor sharp flick knives. These he happily shows off to me when he sits on my lap. He demonstrates them paw by paw using my leg as a pin cushion. Rufus informed me that this is a sign of affection. Sometimes I wished he really didn't like me so much.

However, I mention this as another thing he's trained in, making holes in my thighs. 

Rufus told me once that he liked having his tail gently pulled. Taxi looked at me as if to say "Try it Pal ".

He hasn't finished training me yet.

[CambridgeCabby]

At ten years old and an outdoors cat sadly the chance of Taxi becoming a house (well boat) cat are virtually zero, and he won’t be happy being unable to roam , personally I would have a word with near neighbours explaining the situation and see if anyone would be prepared to adopt him .

That failing then you could try having him as a live aboard cat but be prepared for him to decide he would rather live a feral existence and for him to disappear.

 

[grendel]

we once adopted a cat that had been found living rough, he seemed to adapt to indoor life just fine, so much so that if you opened the door and showed him outside he retreated into the house, We reckoned he had learned how much nicer indoors was and didnt want to risk losing that.

[LizG]

My daughter adopted a rescue cat that certainly had been on the streets (certainly just before being rescued).

She adapted very well to living in her 4th floor flat with no outside access apart from a balcony.  The cats joints are pretty wrecked so she can't jump up and over the balcony thankfully.

She is currently living with us and is again quite content to spend most of the day asleep on the bed, be fed and watered, use a litter tray and go back to sleep or sit on the window sill!  She is behind a stair gate in a bed room and is allowed to wander around upstairs once or twice a day and then happily goes back to her room.

She has made her own decision to be totally anti-social with regard to the other four cats, and just spits and hisses at them if by chance she encounters one.  Her name is Grumpy Marge..............but she is capable of purring, biting and scratching!

[finny]

We have had cats nearly all our family life and whilst you can re- train a dog to a degree you have absolutely no chance in training a ten year old cat to live on a small boat in comparison to what they are used too ,personally i think through fear the cat will dart on the first chance it gets ,there is chance it would not dart far from a house and would return but a boat is not a house 

my advice .re-home the cat to an environment that has its best interest at heart 

finny  

[JennyMorgan]

I have to agree entirely with Finny on this one. I grew up with cats and had them in my life for just over fifty years. I really don't think you would be doing Taxi any great favours in taking him onboard, indeed I will repeat Finny's last line:

20 minutes ago, finny said:

my advice .re-home the cat to an environment that has its best interest at heart 

as well as that from OBB.

22 hours ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

Oh dear MM, might be best to re home him.

only I'd replace 'might' with' would'.

 

[Islander]

Keith, our cat (it’s a long story but he was a rescue cat)was 14 years old when we moved on to our boat. He had always been an outdoor cat but was more than happy on board. We would take trips around the broads and as soon as we moored would want to have a look round. He would often come for walks with me usually following close behind. He never got lost although we did manage to leave him behind on one occasion at our home mooring. We both thought we had seen him asleep on our bed. A quick turn around and as we approached the quay there was our Keith stood waiting. Just as we pulled in he decided to just walk away and it was a good hour before he came back. We never left him behind again. On one occasion he decided he would jump from our boat to the bank only to find the long grass was in the water. He only got wet that one time. He died when he was 19 years old and is buried on Thorpe Island. He adapted very quickly from being an urban cat to country life.

To be honest MM, you won’t know how well he will adapt unless you try it. As I said earlier, Keith was a rescue cat so had already had to adapt to a whole new household any way. If he doesn’t cope then look at getting him rehomed. There are many boats with cats, mostly live aboard. Several here on the island.

There we go, that has put a spanner in the works.

Colin 

p.s. should you decide to have taxi onboard then be sure to cat proof your boat.Keith managed to get into the engine bay while we were out shopping. He had found a gap at the top of a cupboard backboard and slid down the side of the hull. He was in no hurry to come being such a nosey cat.

[finny]

I dont think you have put a spanner in the works .far from it .most live aboard I suspect would hardly move from the mooring providing a stable base for any cat to adapt . I cant speak for john only he knows his future plans and if he wants to fully commit to ensure this cat gets the best chance it  can get .so the more opinions the better 

Finny

[YnysMon]

I liked this YouTube video from a couple who continuously cruise on a narrowboat who own a couple of cats. Some good tips on how to manage that. They helpfully also featured another couple who also continuously cruise who have a dog. 

 

[JennyMorgan]

A few cats might swim, a few cats might like water, but non of the cats that I have ever homed have shown any great desire to get wet. They might lick their nether regions for absolute hours but that is not the same as actually getting wet.

 Unlike a dog, a sensible cat won't bother to retrieve a stick, least of all one that is thrown into the river. If MM/John insists on taking Taxi afloat then may I suggest that lifelines and cat proof netting be fitted around the new Nyx. I suspect that a cat be fitted with a lifting harness but a lifejacket is probably a step too far, unless John wishes to be clawed to death! A cat overboard drill would be a wise precaution, perhaps with a large landing net near and handy. Perhaps dunking Taxi into a well filled, cold bath will give John the answer to his question.

I don't envy Taxi his potential adventure afloat, or his dunk in a cold bath, brrrrr!

[grendel]

cats can actually be taught to fetch, if you have enough patience, to be honest it will all depend upon the cat, some will take to it, others wont, the oldest one we have taken on was 15 (but the oldest we have had died at 24), an older cat will be quite content sleeping 23 1/2 hours of the day (spending the rest eating to get enough energy to sleep- its hard work) and wont care where it is as long as it has ownership of the chair/ sofa/ bed.

[SteveO]

We had a cat that my dad taught to fetch the screwed up wrapper of his morning chocolate biscuit. Very good at it she was too.  Friends of mine in the USA rescued a cat who could fetch and before long the rescued animal had passed the skill onto their two other cats. The favourite game was to throw a handful of toy corduroy "mice" down the basement steps into the furnace room and the cats would race after them and bring them back, dropping them in a pile by your chair so they could be thrown again. I had never seen anything like it and was surprised that the cats, which were adult animals,  had learned from each other.