This is Poe. He’s 10 months old, and today he tried to kill us all by turning on one of the gas stove burners when he jumped on the stove while alone in the kitchen. Fortunately I discovered it before anything other than the burner lit up.
I’ve pulled all the knobs from the stove for tonight, and tomorrow I’ll buy child safety covers.
So, how is your pet trying to kill you and/or destroy your home?
Holy cow, is Poe ever a cutie. Look at those shmoogy paws!
My Cosmo (RIP), a Maine Coon who also had very shmoogy paws, used to sneak up behind me when I was doing the dishes and stand on his hind legs and put his forepaws on my butt(I’m short and he was very long). The first time he did it I was wearing boxer shorts and he effectively pantsed me. He also just about gave me a heart attack. I screamed, dropped a glass which cut me, and clobbered my knee on the cabinet.
The charges were reduced from attempted murder to criminal mischief.
This is Bartleby, somehow, he and I started the tradition that when I go down the stairs, he races behind me and at the last second, I lift my left leg and he shoots under it. What can I say? lockdown.
The other day he came racing down the steps, I lifted my left leg and he slammed into my right leg, sending us both down the steps. We don’t play that game any more.
Any time we let the dog pack outside, they go like a herd of Tasmanian devils. I tend to hold on to furniture or lean against walls as I accompany the seething mass to the door, otherwise I might get knocked down.
Our GSD Kali has toys she carries around sometimes. Every so often she’ll look down the stairs while carrying a toy and drop it. If it’s her oversized tennis ball it bounces down and she’ll fetch it. If it’s a stuffed animal it will tumble down a step or two and hide there, potentially leading to someone’s death.
About 10 days ago I was urging my dogs outside between thunderstorms. I was standing on the top step going down into the yard. They pushed me from behind, I slipped on the slippery step and fell, bashing my head on a gas pipe. I had an immediate goose egg the size of well, a goose egg. The gash on my head oozed blood for a few hours. My eye (which was probably 4" from point of impact) was blackened and is only now fading. I have had headaches since then. Probably a slight concussion.
I live alone. Between the horses, dogs and bees, I could be seriously hurt at any time.
Our cat loves to stretch out on one of the steps, taking up the entire step. My 6’10" husband, more agile than I am, has no trouble stepping over her. But I, due to knee and hip problems, have to turn into a contortionist to get by. I can see this resulting in serious injury. God forbid the cat should actually move to let us pass.
Our dachshund Max (a breed notorious as a tripping hazard) has a habit of starting down the stairs on one side then midway crossing to the other side. Once I actually had a foot on his back when he did this unexpectedly, but fortunately my balance was such that I could avoid bringing my weight down on him. Now, I start down with him, and hesitate enough that he gets in front of me, and proceed. Then? I watch him like a hawk.
My cat regularly tries to kill me on the stairs. The other day I carried a tin of her food downstairs and she managed to actually make me fall. Never going to do that again!
She’s far worse about this than the other cats I’ve owned. Sometimes she’ll even sleep on the corner step, leaving literally 3cm of space for your foot. I would genuinely not be surprised if she actually caused me great harm one day. If she killed me and I knew about it, then I’d be surprised, but not because of the killing!
Oh yeah the “cat in the middle of fill in the blank” murder. Mind like to run a head especially if I’m in a hurry. Then they look affronted when you accidentally step on them!
Our golden retriever/collie mix is a rescue dog, we got him circa age 5. He’s wonderful with all people, including infants. He gets along with our cat wonderfully. He’s sweet, mild, obedient, and charming.
Except when he sees or meets any other dog. Then he will try to kill it. No observed exceptions so far (tho we were told he was raised with a sister and liked her ok).
My wife has him trained up enough so that if she can focus his attention on her, he will sit staring at her, trembling with unreleased rage/fear until the other dog goes away.
He of course is never allowed to run free outdoors, sadly.
But he’s never tried to kill us. That’s the cat’s job.
Was awoke in the middle of the night by an awful electrical pop/crackle/sizzle sound coming from the adjacent room. Could smell the awful scent of burning electrical components when I entered the room and immediately tracked it down to a power strip that was smoking and sparking. After unplugging it it I noticed that someone who drank a bit too much water before bedtime decided to take a wizz on the thing at 2 a.m.
I’ll bet the cat could learn. Every time you walk down the steps when this is going on, hang on to the bannister or something, and reach down with one foot and shove it off the steps. Two or three of those, and the cat will figure it out. If your knee and hip problems make this impossible, use an implement of some kind. Or carry a squirt gun.
I’ve had cats, they responded pretty well to non-injurious discipline.
eta: since this isn’t a “fix my pet’s behavior” thread this probably counts as a hijack. Sorry.
Our Maine Coon cross is 22lbs and seriously fluffy and takes up a large amount of room when he sprawls out, as one does. Our house is a high ranch, so has steps up and down from the entrance. The steps up end at a crossroads - ahead into the kitchen, right to the bedrooms, left to the living room, and down to the lower level. This is, of course, his favourite place to lie, hence his nickname of “Obstacle Cat”.
The little Siamese just does the usual cat thing of whipping right in front of anyone going to the lower level. (And then screeching like a demon from Hell if you dare to touch her tail with your foot.)
A Maine Coon and a Siamese? Nice! Poe is of course a Maine Coon which is why he’s so big despite being a kitten still, and my other little guy, Linden, is a Balinese aka “long haired Siamese”. They’ve made my life interesting since October, even when not attempting to burn down the house
When I first rescued an energetic pair of cats, one of them would repeated try to kill me by bounding between my legs as I walked and he raced up the stairs. He considered this extra fun to do when I was carrying a large box, laundry or groceries. My shins were repeatedly black and blue from the hits they took.
I finally got smart. I live in a single level condo.
