Rookie Mistake

Anybody who has owned cats for long knows that a key cat tenant is “never give proof that you know your name”. Over time, many cat owners are able to gather sufficient evidence that we’re confident our cats do know their names. They may:

• Come when called, but
  • saunter up slowly so maybe they were just headed that way anyway
  • only when another enticement such as a toy, the crinkle of the treat bag, or the sound of a can being opened is also present
• Cock an ear or slightly turn their head when their name comes up on conversation. But you know… maybe it was the car passing outside, or a bug by the window that caught their attention.

They give it away bit by bit, such that in the aggregate, you can say they respond to their names more than would occur by mere chance. But cats rarely do something which indicates in a single moment that they must know their name.

Today, Pippin made a rookie mistake. He gave away that he totally knows his name.

We try to do correction and redirection with our cats as much as possible, and avoid punishment (the data increasingly shows this doesn’t work well and it’s nicer for all). While we may raise our voices a little, and use a stern tone, an actual shout is reserved for getting attention in a high-risk situation*. So, since we brought Pippin home, we’ve regularly removed “not-toys” and replaced with “toys” when he gets it wrong. Eg:

The dangling set of balls on his cat scratching post is a toy. The pull on the lamp? Not a toy. No matter how much fun he thinks it is, we never let him play with it. When he does, we pick him up, say “not a toy” and give him something else with “this is a toy”. So by now… he knows he isn’t supposed to play with the lamp.

This does not mean he never plays with the lamp. He is a kitten. Self-discipline is hard.

Anyway, this morning I was in the kitchen which is down the hall and away from any line of sight to the main room. I hear the tell-tale “tak-tak-tak” of a kitten batting at the lamp pull. If I was closer, I’d go pick him up and repeat the “toy / not-toy” and give him a toy. But I was all the way in the kitchen, and in the middle of preparing breakfast. So instead, knowing he knows he’s misbehaving, I raised my voice just enough to project down the hall and into the other room “Pippin!”

Now, there are two tried and true cat responses to a stern use of their name such as this.

1. Ignore it completely. Wait for the human to actually make you stop whatever you are doing
2. Stop, but pretend you were done anyway

In both instances, there is no proof that the cat understood, but there’s also no proof the cat didn’t understand.

Pippin stopped.

Then he gave a little squeak**.

Oops… Now I KNOW he understood me. He knew that was his name, not just some random sound from the “big people” that happened to coincide with him getting bored with the lamp. He acknowledged I was talking to him. Games up buddy.

Turns out we have a trouble maker, but an honest trouble maker.

*We aren’t perfect. We’ve messed up a time or two, but this is what we’re going for. We also use “Thank you” and “good girl/good boy” whenever they do something right.

**His squeaks are adorable, but I haven’t been able to record them so far.