Cat Office Assistant

How many of y’all work at home? If you do, are the cats allowed in the office? Are they helpful--or not? As she’s grown older, Seren has mellowed a bit. During her kitten years, she ‘helped’ with everything, checking out my wastebasket, dipping a paw into my coffee mug (and then shaking it to shower everything), and even answering my phone. Oh yes, if I left the little dickens alone in my office and the phone happened to ring, she’d hook the receiver off with her paw. I’d come back to find clients trying to phone me, and lord-knows-what sort of cat-curses were hurled at them by my sedate, sweet kitty. Most every page of every book written has at least one tooth-mangled page I nust replace. Seren still puts her paw-stamp on everything, and at least has stopped chasing the mouse-curser on the computer screen. But she’s resurrected her old habit of “playing” all the buttons on my fax machine by tap-dancing across the console--and taking it offline, of course. That’s a sure-fire way to get attention, and she knows it. Cats have an instinct for knowing how to train owners to do what they want. Seren quickly learned that rattling the wooden blinds got a rise out of my husband, so he’d chase her (what fun!) while yelling, “Amy, come get your cat!” I tried to tell him that by chasing, he’d rewarded her behavior better than a fishy-treat-snack. And the longer you hold out and ignore such aggravating behavior, and THEN give in, the better the kitty learns not to give up. I told him. After all, I’m supposed to be a cat behavior expert. Did I mention cats are easier to train than husbands?