{"id":648648,"date":"2024-09-09T10:00:05","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T14:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/?p=648648"},"modified":"2024-09-06T13:24:39","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T17:24:39","slug":"are-cats-manipulative-olgas-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/are-cats-manipulative-olgas-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Cats Manipulative? Olga\u2019s Manipulation Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Christopher!\u00a0Read my introduction<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cats find creative ways to get our attention, but some of their techniques are more cunning than others. Although dogs are more famous for their begging skills than cats, Olga has developed a system that encourages me to feed her earlier than her usual dinnertime. It was unnecessary before I worked at home, and over the years, she\u2019s modified her methods.<\/p>\n

Most pet cats, even the affectionate ones, are somewhat manipulative. Their instincts influence their behavior, but their intelligence helps them discover new ways to irritate their owners. In the wild, they don\u2019t need to beg or depend on humans for food or entertainment.<\/p>\n

\"Please
Please feed me. I’m famished.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They may devise a plan to steal a rodent\u2019s carcass from a littermate, but most felines, except those in feral colonies, are solitary hunters. Wild cats don\u2019t need to be manipulative, but housecats have learned to prey on our emotions.<\/p>\n

They haven\u2019t been domesticated for as long as dogs, but the recently discovered grave of an 8-month-old cat buried next to their owner in Cyprus<\/a> suggests cats have been annoying humans for nearly 10,000 years. Like her ancestors, Olga knows how to influence people and makes Dale Carnegie proud.<\/p>\n

If she wants to sit on the windowsill, she starts by grinding her claws on the wood molding. Then, she stands on her hind legs and hits the blinds. If I don\u2019t open the blinds and let her sit down, she escalates her attack by jamming a paw into the blind and slamming it back and forth into the wall. If I shout or tell her to stop, she backs off momentarily before resuming the mischief.<\/p>\n

\"I
I attacked the blinds; my work here is complete.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She knows I have a breaking point, and even if I chase her away from the window, she won\u2019t relent until I pull the blinds up. Her begging routine<\/a> is subtle at first, but as her hunger grows, she becomes more impatient and bolder. Her normal dinnertime is around 5 PM, but the subtle begging begins around 2:30. She wakes up from her 10th nap of the day, sits near the entrance to my office, and stares at me.<\/p>\n

After an hour of ignoring her, she\u2019ll move closer and sit on the windowsill since it\u2019s to the left of my computer screen. I can see her glare in my peripheral vision when I\u2019m typing, but I\u2019ve learned to ignore her and avoid eye contact. She\u2019ll grunt and stand up if I return her stare, and eventually, she\u2019ll get tired of waiting and find other ways to grab my attention. She\u2019ll run into the bathroom<\/a>, jump in the bathtub, and howl.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think cats were intelligent enough<\/a> to understand the principles of acoustics, but Olga knows that her voice is amplified when she screams in the tub. Next, she jumps on the sink and knocks my toothpaste or contact lens case on the floor. I respect her for trying the gentle approach before resorting to violence, and while I don\u2019t like to be manipulated by humans, I don\u2019t mind when Olga is devious.<\/p>\n

This article is a part of Christopher and Olga's series.<\/div>
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