It is the new rage: car wiper blades as an ideal cat toy to keep him distracted when he is in the car and fed up or anxious ;). Not really because very few cats sit on the dashboard. In fact I wouldn’t recommend it unless the car is static.
Of course it depends on the cat. Some cats might not like it but it is cool to see a cat on the dashboard having a bit of fun.
It made me laugh because this cat is so predictable. She’s Mei the Maine Coon, by the way although she is not typical in appearance of the Maine Coon, in my opinion. She is a grey tabby and white but her conformation is not long and rangy enough for a Maine Coon. The fur should be shaggier and longer for her to have the classic Maine Coon appearance.
You can see he does a bit of grooming mid-play. For me, in this instance, this is a sign of being a little unsure. It is a form of what is called “displacement behavior”. It makes him feel better. He likes the wiper blades but at the same is probably a bit unsure of them.
Affy used to sit on the bonnet to play with the wipers on my old Polo. I tried to use the washer spray (which fired from halfway down the bonnet of that car) to try to remove her, but all that happened was I got a wet cat playing with the wiper blades. That is also the cat that waltzed across the roof of my parents’ car one day and fell through the open sunroof. I shouldn’t laugh ….
Oh!lol. That is just too easy to visualize. (We’re laughing w/you, Affy, bless your heart!)
My mom’s cat used to slide off her car after iit was freshly waxed.
She is a brave cat not to be spooked by the wipers but I agree she seemed a bit agitated hence the washing mid way through. I wonder what she was actually doing sitting in the car like that anyway. Her human seemed to be enjoying the spectacle from the laughing in the background, sounds like just the type to deck her cat in ridiculous accessories. Poor cat, I pity all cats and dogs that are dressed up as mini-me(s)
I think she may be a bit frustrated by being unable to catch the wipers and grooming because of that and what is that stupid thing on the back of her neck?
Loose in a moving car is a dangerous situation for a cat and for the driver too, I hope she’s safely in a cat basket on any journey.
I always insist on them being in a container when driving. I actually went out and bought a huge massive collapsible dog carrier which is really nice and tall and I used to put both Pepi and Lilly in there together – they were much happier than alone each in a separate box as it was before. Some cats I have met are used to the car but most do not like it. For us the compromise was worth it because we were taking them from indoors all the time to a beautiful safe place in the countryside where they could play outside and there are no cars – just cows and chickens for eggs and milk on the farm next-door. IT does them so much good. Infact I just booked to go away for xmas for 10 days – a hell of a long time away from my cats but I have a friend who will live at mine and who they know well now. In Slovenia we will take the 5 cats (one new one from under a dumpster 2 weeks ago) out to the countryside for a whole week over xmas – they will love it they always do. Just a little worried for the new one but hopefully by then she will not decide to run off and not come back or something, It being freezing out will help her stick around no doubt. Thats a lot of cats for a 1h30min car journey. They’ve all done it except the little new one who must be around 6 months old.
She was under a dumpster that somebody had left something burning in. There were a couple of food bowls under the dumpster for the cat so clearly it was homeless and being fed by somebody kind and very nearby who saw the cat. My ex girlfriend called me and we both agreed that if the kitten wasn’t super frightened or anything then she should be taken home and either come to me, or one of the other cats, Piki will come to me, and she will stay there – she’s called May for now. Eventually she can be taken to the shelter where we got Lilly and Nushka and they will adopt her out. They don’t kill healthy animals in Slovenia 🙂
Sorry – for that tangent – I think the cat is a little freaked out by the wipers to begin with. The car is still so I guess its ok.
That thing is a bandana, meant to accessorize. Just another example of idiots wanting to
“paint the peacock”.
I agree that those wipers are too frustrating for a cat. I don’t like it, because I think it’s wrong to tease.
Why do idiots want to put things on cats! In the shops now we see Santa hats and jingly or tinsely collars and all sorts of cat accessories, why can’t people just let cats be natural, they don’t like or need to wear ‘fancy dress’ They are far more sensible and dignified than humans.
I also agree with you Dee that it’s wrong to tease a cat.
Ruth, this reminds me of a q. I had for my p-o-c friends: do you think it might help a kitten to adjust to being trained to accept and respect a leash/harness, if I sew it in to a chest-tightened sweater like anxious dogs sometimes wear? Maybe that sounds totally stupid, but I am trying to get Marco Polo acclimated to a leash, now that he knows he has to wear his collar when he goes out with Shrimp and me.
Do you mean those thundershirt things Caroline? I’m the wrong person to ask lol as I hate to see cats on any sort of restraint, yes I know it’s necessary in some circumstances and some cats accept it fine but I’ve never had any experience of our cats needing to wear collars or be on harnesses. We’ve always made sure to live in cat friendly places where our cats can have their freedom, ours are microchipped of course. Most cats here live natural indoor/outdoor lives.
I’m sure other PoCers can give you lots of good advice about this 😉
Most cats don’t like the feeling of restraint so a Thundershirt would increase their anxiety rather than decrease it. Another example of people (and marketing agencies) not understanding that cats are not the same as dogs.
How I agree!
Carolyn this is what you need. https://pictures-of-cats.org/cats-wearing-clothes.html
Monty used a harness from kittyholster.com when he was little and first going outside, before I knew how he would react. Very easy harness to put on and take off and he tolerated it just fine from the very first day. He would purr when I put it on him because he knew that meant he would be going out. Now that I know he stays in our fenced yard because we’ve blocked all the gaps in the fence and we’ve blocked access to trees he gets stuck in with no easy way to get him down, he doesn’t wear it anymore.
I wouldn’t bother with anything else to acclimate the cat to the harness– just get a quality, comfortable harness and let him wear that. Don’t bother with the cheapies. They are not comfortable, hard to put on and not secure. Even the one Monty had he could wriggle out of backwards. No tie outs with a cat– you have to be out there with him. Cats are Houdini and he will get away on you if you are not out with him. Depending on your location you can probably discontinue the harness eventually as he will have learned to stay by you out there. If it’s an area with a lot of traffic, no quiet place to take him out, skip it entirely. A scared cat can get out of any harness and bolt. The harness is probably most useful in protecting local wildlife from your cat if you are concerned about that. Monty’s saved a couple birds, but he was very upset with me!
You are so right Ruth about no tie outs, a cat tethered can strangle himself if panicking. My blood ran cold once to read of someone who put her cat out with a long string tied a washing line and to her collar. Worse was the people agreeing what a good idea it was! Of course I got pilloried for commenting it was a terrible and dangerous thing to do, but thankfully the person with the cat said she hadn’t thought of the danger and wouldn’t do it again.
A friend of mine had lots of bandanas like that for her dog. I didn’t know they made them for cats. Monty won’t be getting one. He needs no accessories. He is gorgeous just the way he is.
I observed that quick washing behavior in Monty recently. I always set our carved pumpkins from Halloween in the back garden after we are done with them. They just disappear eventually and it’s fun to watch as they shrink and shrivel and just eventually go back to the earth. But Monty seemed to be frightened by them. He was puffed and crouching at first. Finally he got brave enough to sniff one, but bolted mid sniff. Then he slowed to a walk, stopped suddenly to lick a paw, and kept on going. I interpreted the paw lick to mean, “I’m not scared. I may look scared of that thing, but I’m not scared.” He was scared.