# I love my cats. Can I kill them now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2007, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295 "2007-05-16T08:01:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/21 "2007-05-16T16:30:57Z")
One of the Neville kitties managed to print something at the main printer where Mr. Neville works, in Berkeley, from our apartment. I figure it’s only a matter of time before they figure out how to use our credit cards to order all kinds of cat toys. > [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > Just like my Trudy when I’m doing the dishes. She sits on the window sill above the sink, and when I drain the water, it’s as if there’s food in the sink - she stares at the lowering water level, getting closer as it gets lower, eventually ALMOST touching the soap bubbles as it goes down the drain. She just wants to know what’s going on, to be in the middle of all the action… My Luna does something similar if one of us takes a bath. She likes to watch the water drain out of the tub. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/22 "2007-05-16T17:18:53Z")
Sorry about the lack of pics. I just tried uploading one to flickr, but the site is giving me problems - I can upload okay but then when I try to click on the picture I get some gobbledygook about Explorer having a problem. I think this is due to a sneak reconfiguration by my cats. Will try again later. > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Dragwyr > Squirt them with a squirt gun any time they sit on your desk. Heh heh, wouldn’t I just love to do that. Unfortunately, I am really scared of electrocution, so spraying water in an area filled with electronic equipment, extension cords, electrical outlets and so forth is totally out for me. Besides, I kinda like it when the cat sits on the desk and lays her chin on my wrists. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_I\_Am](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sam\_I\_Am](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_I_Am)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/23 "2007-05-16T17:22:53Z")
One day while I was pregnant, my sweet cat, instead of only leaving cat fur on the keyboard after napping, somehow managed to select my ultrasound picture and make it my desktop picture. He’s a keeper 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/24 "2007-05-16T17:35:43Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] [Steve Martin] So now I’m stuck with three thousand dollars’ worth of cat toys! [/Steve Martin] [/QUOTE] And you can’t take them back, 'cause they’re all covered in cat spit! Obligatory pics: [Callie & computer](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/Bookkeeper2/Cats/2003-11Calliepossessedbycomputervir.jpg) [Nixie & computer](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/Bookkeeper2/Cats/2004-01Nixiehatchingmouse.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/25 "2007-05-16T17:40:26Z")
I keep a can of that compressed air next to the computer. I didn’t buy it for the computer; I bought it to keep the cat out of the Christmas tree. It worked too. He hates the stuff. Normally, if he’s thinking about getting up on my desk, I just have to look at him and wiggle the can, and he vamooses. Once in a while, he needs to be zapped with it. From ten feet away; it doesn’t hurt him, he just hates the noise. He pretty much leaves my desk alone, even when I’m gone. I can leave tempting things up there like hair ties, and he doesn’t bother them. He can be all the lovey he wants, just not in my office. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/26 "2007-05-16T17:41:01Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Pixel does that all the time. She thinks the printer is giving her something to play with. [/QUOTE] Well you _did_ call her Pixel! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/27 "2007-05-16T17:53:04Z")
Okay, flickr (or my computer) is now cooperating: Here are [the indifferent, naughty cats](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7971087@N03/501011442/) having a little co-dependent grooming session, but that’s another story. I know they look pretty innocent, but: observe the fact that the cream cat is sitting on top of what can only be a pile of work-related papers (it is), and the tail of the tabby cat is almost certainly thumping on the object you can’t see to the right of the pic…my keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/28 "2007-05-16T18:15:50Z")
[QUOTE=Bookkeeper] [Callie & computer](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b305/Bookkeeper2/Cats/2003-11Calliepossessedbycomputervir.jpg) [/QUOTE] Playing Civ III no less! Cat has good taste. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/29 "2007-05-16T18:23:49Z")
Our vet has a couple of cats that would take up residence in various parts of the office/reception area, but by far their favorite spot was on top of the computer monitors. Recently, they transitioned to flat screens for their work stations, and it’s everything they can do to stop the cats from pushing the flat screens off the counter. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/30 "2007-05-16T19:54:41Z")
You guys are lucky. My cat is not as computer savvy with the keyboard as some of yours. The only thing she has done with the keyboard is throw-up on it, twice, in the last two years. So I no longer buy the neato-super-cool keyboards. I just stick with the $6.99 ones from wal-mart. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/31 "2007-05-16T20:47:27Z")
It’s a nuisance to have cat hair in your PC. It’s even worse when the hair is still attached to the [cat](http://www.mortalwombat.com/ElvisPussley/CatCase.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![AndLuna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@AndLuna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndLuna)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/32 "2007-05-16T20:54:56Z")
[TJ](http://sunlesslands.net/images/tjcell.JPG) has typed “NO” into an instant-message window before. I was impressed. He’s also Googled for “mmmmmmmmmmm,” and various other interesting combinations. [Xiao](http://sunlesslands.net/images/xiaocat.JPG), on the other hand, just likes headbutting the monitor. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/33 "2007-05-16T22:04:13Z")
[Cat typing detection software](http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/). If you’re using a PC, at least. Unfortunately, they still don’t have a Mac version. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/34 "2007-05-16T22:13:44Z")
I swear my cat has learned to hold down the button my laser printer that will print a diagnostic sheet. I came home once and found about five of those sitting on top of my printer. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/35 "2007-05-17T01:40:12Z")
[QUOTE=Dragwyr] Squirt them with a squirt gun any time they sit on your desk. After a few times getting squirted they will learn your desk is of limits. [/QUOTE] This worked so well with some cats I used to have that I could keep them out of a room by putting the spray bottle on the floor in the doorway. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/36 "2007-05-17T01:42:20Z")
[QUOTE=susan\_foster] You just be careful. One minute you’re hitting the delete key to clear what they wrote, the next you’re a blue skinned superhero, running around in your underwear. [/QUOTE] Freakazoid! Freakazoid! ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/37 "2007-05-17T02:25:55Z")
[QUOTE=Dragwyr] Squirt them with a squirt gun any time they sit on your desk. After a few times getting squirted they will learn your desk is of limits. [/QUOTE] Yeah, you know, I tried this with my cat who was jumping onto the nightstand and knocking everything over. Somehow she just doesn’t care that she’s being soaked with a squirt gun anymore. So, on to the tazer… -foxy ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/38 "2007-05-17T02:31:51Z")
My cat Shaku loves the computer too. I can’t use the “sleep” button anymore, he’s worn it out, it stays pressed down now. He used to love to watch the computer flick on and off, and on and off ad nauseam (for me, anyway). I am forever finding tons of windows open, and notices asking me whether I really want to delete such a program, or download such a file. I should teach him to type properly, and then I could sign him up for a messenger service and let him type away. He is, however, frightened to death of the compressed air can. He does link it with me though, I couldn’t fool him long, so all I have to do is reach for the can and he runs away like any speed cliche you can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/39 "2007-05-17T06:36:54Z")
One of our cats will check the answering machine for messages. This wouldn’t be so bad, if he’d just pass the messages on to the appropriate party! We know he does it because we’ve seen him do it. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295/40 "2007-05-17T06:46:45Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s a nuisance to have cat hair in your PC. It’s even worse when the hair is still attached to the cat. Hah hah, the cat goes in one side and out the other! Does s/he walk through walls, too? > [@](#): > > Cat typing detection software. Hey, that was FUN – I clicked on the “sounds that annoy cats.” Both cats, naturally, were nearby. Here are the results: (1) Harmonica – both cats looked momentarily scandalized, but quickly returned to their soporific state. (2) Hiss – one paid no attention whatsoever, the other momentarily opened her eyes. Oh well. It was worth a try. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-my-cats-can-i-kill-them-now/404295.md?page=3)