Classical Conditioning. in Whey and Sonic Screwdrivers.

So anyway, my fourth cat is rather vocal. Alice is a stray who adopted me about two and a half weeks ago. And by vocal, I mean she meows all the time. The only way she stops meowing is if I passively ignore her for a bit. I don’t really want to ignore her. She’s adorable, and clearly attention-seeking. She’s less than a year old, and is like a kitten in terms of needing course-correction for her behavior.

I’ve considered, and I say considered, two methods to discourage her meowing. One is to shush her, which sounds a lot like a hiss. The other is the spray bottle. Used that on my 2 girls when they were kittens, and it solved a lot of problems. They got so trained that they would close their eyes if they saw the spray bottle.

My worry is that classical conditioning..... works. Intentional or not. When my 2 girls were kittens, I would have them “beg” for food. I’d hold their food dishes above them and wait for them to get on their hind legs and meow.

Oh, it’s cute when they’re little. Now they’re 8.5 years old and uh.

Ooops?

It’s more a nuisance than anything else. As for Alice, my fear is training her out of meowing might. Well. Actually cause her to stop meowing. I don’t want her to feel shame for wanting to talk to me. Though, gosh, she is a more persistent alarm clock than Kira is. T’Pol is very food-oriented, but if Kira starts pestering me, there’s a problem with the food dispenser.

Oh, my other three. Kira is adversarial; she tends to growl, hiss, swipe, then run away. T’Pol, while similarly growly and hissy, seems more afraid of Alice. Keeps her distance. Lolo, AKA Mr. Boi seems far more upset. It’s hard to explain, I just sense it. More offensive growling and hissing. Like he feels his space has been invaded.

Thankfully, no throwdowns. Alice herself is a sweetheart. She has a naive kindness to her, wanting to be friends with everyone. Part of why I took her in when she literally walked in my door. All it would take is one mean human to pick her up and do something horrible to her. I’m a sucker for cats, what can I say?

And, of course, the Bob Barker shout-out. All my felines have been spayed and neutered.