Whistles and Pets

[celticmodes]

My cat would run from the other room to me and try to swat it out of my mouth. I never understood if this meant she thought it was a toy or she was trying to destroy the source of her pain. She was an evil cat...so I just moved to higher ground and kept playing.

[Anita]

Or she's now too deaf to notice!

Ha ha....although she is getting up there in age .......could be....... will have to take up the pipes and find out for sure I guess

[Anita]

well that didn't work right- Hoopy Mike wrote the bit about my cat being too deaf to notice

[caitlin ruadh]

Loving all the stories! Keeps 'em coming. It may not solve the problem but it certainly is helping to keep my spirits up through this!

Caitlin

[Zax]

Or she's now too deaf to notice!

Ha ha....although she is getting up there in age .......could be....... will have to take up the pipes and find out for sure I guess

[walrii]

Our two cats used to leave the room when I'd start playing. Now they seem to tolerate it. Cats and dogs hearing is not only more sensitive than ours but also goes much higher in pitch than human hearing. Animals can pick up tones or harmonics either a) in our range of hearing but too soft for us to detect or 2) above our range of hearing. So I'm wondering if these additional tones or harmonics could be another way of measuring the quality of our sound. If we had a sound program like Audacity that heard like a cat, what would it tell us about our playing or the quality of our whistle?

[squidgirl]

Our cat doesn't seem averse to whistling. Sometimes when I'm practicing in my room with the door shut, she will poke her paw under the door and rattle it open so she can come in and jump up in my lap, though her plan does seem to be to make me stop playing and pet her instead.

When nobody is home and I'm playing in the living room, she will sit on my lap and tolerate my whistling -- except that she distinctly dislikes the high notes from my custom Hoover quiet whistle. It's very sweet and pure toned, and definitely throws out some extra-high overtones. When I hit the high notes on that one, she gives me a dirty look and decamps.

The other day I was in my fave comfy chair, with my laptop and the cat in my lap, and a whistle in my hands, and I realized that I was extra-specially contented because I was in the best place in the house, surrounded by all my favorite toys.

[caitlin ruadh]

The other day I was in my fave comfy chair, with my laptop and the cat in my lap, and a whistle in my hands, and I realized that I was extra-specially contented because I was in the best place in the house, surrounded by all my favorite toys.

Sounds like we have a lot in common!

Caitlin

[bigskybri]

A friend came over for last weekends Irish Fair (14th Annual) and took this photo of my cat while I was playing a tune. I've been playing for a couple of years and it's never bothered her at all (except for the occasional shiver down her spine when I mess up the high B).

[mutepointe]

A friend came over for last weekends Irish Fair (14th Annual) and took this photo of my cat while I was playing a tune. I've been playing for a couple of years and it's never bothered her at all (except for the occasional shiver down her spine when I mess up the high B).

Read any good books lately?

[john_t]

Yeah man, all 4 of my cats friggin' love me playing whistle and I'm sheet at it.

Infact my blackbird whislte has cat bite marks on the flippin' fipple. Found that when I got back off holiday recently.(I think they play it when no one is around.)

[bigskybri]

Yeah man, all 4 of my cats friggin' love me playing whistle and I'm sheet at it.

Infact my blackbird whislte has cat bite marks on the flippin' fipple. Found that when I got back off holiday recently.(I think they play it when no one is around.)

I'm playing a Blackbird in the photo. Maybe Jerry can market these as cat friendly whistles. A possible logo could be a bunch of cats following a whistle player, sort of like the Pied Piper dude.

[bigskybri]

A friend came over for last weekends Irish Fair (14th Annual) and took this photo of my cat while I was playing a tune. I've been playing for a couple of years and it's never bothered her at all (except for the occasional shiver down her spine when I mess up the high B).

Read any good books lately?

Yes, but those behind me are all for sale. They pay the bills if enough folks decide they want to buy them. The shelf w/ the pottery bowl has a little nook reserved for the cat to sit and look over my shoulder at the computer. Tried putting books there recently and had an upset cat. They have to have their perches.

[Adrian W.]

I feed them....both. Cats. I don't especially like cats. I tickle them. I provide a pristine exterior envrionment filled with slow moving mouse and bird type creatures, and warm and dry interior shelter. Food and water. I scoop the poop (actually my wife does most of that). In a good mood, I've been known to kiss them on the lips. For that, they can put up with some whistling, or, they can try and find a better deal. Good luck.

I did have a dog that would freak when I took out an electic guitar (unplugged). Weird.

MT Guru; gawd, that made me laugh. Thanks.

[dagoose]

We have a cat who loves to come listen to us play and hangs around the whistlers.
We tried to make a nice video but I could not resist adding him to the mix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeSV8ej_bHI
(We're a mixed group of beginners and seasoned players)

Good luck with your kittie dilemma.