Just a cute story about my cat...

[Mickey Crocker]

I have a cat who we found starving as a kitten one night on our back deck. I have since then taken care of him (never being a cat person myself, always hated them). However this cat has taken to me very strongly, as I have to him.

He “always� sits on my lap when I am on the computer, he never really pays attention to the screen at all, and I play various games and not once has he ever been remotely interested in them (not even a glance). However I found what he did today kind of interesting. I was playing Luxor for the first time and he turned his head and seemed to notice the winged shooting thing at the bottom of the screen moving and he got right up on the desk as close to the monitor as possible and began to watch it go back and forth. He seemed to be following everything on the screen, from the ball that I was shooting, to the rolling balls that I was shooting at. He even watch each of the scores tally up at then end of each level (his head was just a movin). It almost looked as if he was just another person watching me play the game (because he was following everything so well).

I'm sure a lot of cats out there follow, things on tv and such, but I've never seen this one do it, and found it kind of funny that he seemed to take interest in the only game that I played which revolves around Egypt (where they worshiped cats)

[ggambett]

One of my late cats loved printers. We have an Epson Stylus 1520 which is wide, and he used to sit over it and watch the printing head going from one side to the other. He even tried to touch it! My current cat doesn't seem to be interested in technology at all, though.

[Frozen In Ice]

Nikki was never interested in the technology, just lying on my lap while I sat here. Amber (who I adopted after Nikki passed away), always seems interested to watching one specific thing on the screen... you guessed it, the mouse cursor. Weird or what?

[svero]

Well.. this is way off topic and I should really close or delete this thread.. but dammit.. wouldn't you know I have a cat story too!

I've never really been a cat person. When I was young had 2 dogs and I'm allergic to the buggers as well. However my new place has cats all around it. There's cats that belong to the neighbords and they sort of hang around the house. Well... after a while I started to take a liking to a few of them and before I knew it I was friends with this one white female siamese cat that was always hanging around. Eventually I noticed she was pregnant. So she'd come by every day her belly getting bigger. Sometimes I'd give her some food.

Well one morning not too long ago she comes by my office and starts meowling outside the door. So I open it to let her in and she sits near the computer meowling and meowling. So I figure she's hungry. I gave her some food but she didnt want it. Everywhere I go she follows. Won't leave me alone. Finally I'm working at the PC and she sits right at my feet. About 1/2 hr later I start hearing some tiny meow sounds. She's giving birth RIGHT AT MY FEET! 5 kittens right under the desk.

Well all the Thai people around said that to have a cat give birth at your feet is considered incredibly good luck. I did manage to finally locate the owner of the white cat and tranferred the kittens to her care.

Also the very night the cat gave birth I got a phone call that was really really good for my business. (and unusual as well as unexpected) So maybe the superstition has some merit?

[DGuy]

The only thing one of my cats get a kick out of watching (and not to be gross hear) is a flushing toilet. She'll put her front paws on the rim, and with wide eyes and circling head, watch the water swirl down.

DGuy

[Jack Norton]

I've never really been a cat person.

tsk tsk... think that goodsol guy is a cat lover... and he's probably the most successful indie developer... think about it!!!

[Indiepath]

Lovely cat stories.

[Gnatinator]

Very interesting.

I have two cats myself. I try to keep them out of my room which is where I do all of my programming and work for most of the day. Keeping them out limits the amount of dirt and hair floating around compared to the rest of the house.

[Anthony Flack]

Also the very night the cat gave birth I got a phone call that was really really good for my business. (and unusual as well as unexpected) So maybe the superstition has some merit?

I wouldn't say the Beetle Bomp story was one that has been marked with too much good luck.

[Mickey Crocker]

Well.. this is way off topic and I should really close or delete this thread..

Heh, well I was hoping it would get by since what caused my cat story was an indie game to begin with

I kind of wish there were an off-topic section for these boards myself.

[Sillysoft]

A user recently posted this in my forums. It's pretty funny:
http://danmax.net/video_files/crazy_cats.wmv (2.7 MB)

[C_Coder]

My cat likes to chew on cables so I have to keep her away from my PC!

[soniCron]

Well, since we're already on the subject...

My cat likes to take showers! As soon as someone turns on the shower, she'll run into the bathroom and lay on the edge of the bathtub. Occasionally, she'll get brave and get into the shower, but she'll stay behind the safety of the inner shower curtain. And here I thought cats hated water!

[Drake]

Cats hate being in water, but they love to watch it move! I think the cat brain works like this: the faster something moves, the better it will probably taste when you catch it. My mom has a cat that will only drink running water, so she leaves her bathroom sink trickling all day.

Why is this thread off-topic, anyway? If getting to know your pets better isn't part of "Indie Life" then I don't know what is.

[Abscissa]

Cats hate being in water, but they love to watch it move! I think the cat brain works like this: the faster something moves, the better it will probably taste when you catch it. My mom has a cat that will only drink running water, so she leaves her bathroom sink trickling all day.

My cat's vet once said that cats generally do prefer drinking running water, and really don't like still water. Not sure exactly why.

[Martoon]

My cat's vet once said that cats generally do prefer drinking running water, and really don't like still water. Not sure exactly why.

Cats are sensitive to the freshness of water (more sensative than humans, actually). In the great outdoors, running water tends to be fresher, while standing water is more likely to be stale.

I think cats are generally fascinated with water because bodies of water generally contain all sorts of tasty critters. One of our cats goes insane whenever a bubble rises in the clear plastic tank of the humidifier. He has yet to catch one of those elusive bubbles, but not for lack of trying. He was a rescue cat (beautiful Maine Coon found on the streets), and I have a strong suspicion that he lost his previous home due to helping himself to the aquarium.

[GBGames]

I had my cat on my desk while I was making a Pong game in QBasic. He was fascinated with the bouncing ball and kept trying to catch it. Really cute.

One day, I was playing Quake 3 Arena. Curto stepped on the keyboard power button. The game froze and eventually the computer went to sleep, but it took a LONG time. The system needed to be reinstalled because it never quite worked right after that. Still cute, but I swore off keyboards with fancy buttons like Power or Internet ever since.


I read that if your cat chews on the cables, it is probably because you aren't paying enough attention to him.

@Martoon: when I read "rescue cat" I had an image of a St. Bernard-style cat, with the barrel on its collar and everything.

[Pyabo]

My mom has a cat that will only drink running water, so she leaves her bathroom sink trickling all day.

Sounds like you should get your mom one of these:

Pet Fountain

[Savant]

We got our cat a fountain style water dish and she hated it. Wouldn't go anywhere near it. *sigh*

[Drake]

Thanks for the link.

Yeah, the pet fountain could be cool (filtered and everything!), but I can also imagine one of her (3) cats freaking out over it. Not as scary as a robotic litter box that cleans itself, but still different and weird.