Comments on: What do YOU do with pets in the home office?

By: jennifer

jennifer — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:52:46 +0000

@Sarah – Pet bunny! Bun-buns rock! Yay for finding a win win!

@Christy – Yes. You clearly know your place. Servitude.

@Cairene – I love the contrast of your comment with all the cat owners’ ones. There’s some kind of symbiosis that happens with dogs (except, as you mention) the barking dilemma during teleclass calls. “But Mom, I’m *protecting* you!” It’s great that you have an exercise coach in your pet – Inspired Cat refuses to help me with this!

@Christine! Funny! Those laptop keyboards are warm! But I’m so impressed that you have taught your cat to obey a command. How cool! I’ll bet she sees it differently, of course, but I’m still impressed. I also like what you said about paying attention to where they hung out before setting up stations for them. Sheer brilliance!

@Darcy – I cracked up at the “wholly owned subsidiary” description. There is nothing better than a cat to help us work on any remaining ego issues. Awesome. Sounds like you’ve got a great system for the toy issue, too!

@Lori! That’s an impressively long comment to type with a cat on your wrists! Thanks for braving it!

@Alyson – Exactly. The sacrifices we make. I love your description of the cats faxing! One time I came back to my office (when I still had a laptop) and Inspired Cat had made an Outlook appointment with me and was attempting to save birds.com as my homepage.

By: Alyson B. Stanfield

Alyson B. Stanfield — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:21:36 +0000

I tolerate the most hideous cat perch (on top of a plastic crate) and also a wicker cat bed on top of my printer. Tofu Cat is always making copies or faxing something for me! My husband is in the process of building a ledge for me so I can get rid of these things. They have quite honestly become the bane of my existence. No more tolerating them! But I love the cats in the office. The only time they bother me is when another animal wanders into our courtyard (deer, fox, other cats). Then they can go berserk. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
Alyson B. Stanfield´s last blog ..Letter for responding to donation requests

By: Lori Paximadis

Lori Paximadis — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:15:52 +0000

Like Darcy and Bneato, we corrall the cat toys in a shallow basket. They can go after what they want whenever they want it. It will all eventually end up under the couches, then we fish them out and stick them back in the basket.

I have never had any luck getting a cat to actually sleep or even hang out in a cat bed. They go where they like. In fact, there’s one settling in on my wrists right now.
Lori Paximadis´s last blog ..tidbits: turkey edition

By: Bneato

Bneato — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:43:44 +0000

I agree with Darcy–shallow container keeps toys corralled but still accessible for kitties:)
Bneato´s last blog ..Shhhhhhhhhh!

By: Darcy

Darcy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:26:53 +0000

Ooh, I’ve got a good one for the toys. At least this works for Miss Peaches, President and CEO of The Peaches Corporation (of which Darcy, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary). We put a shallow bowl for toys under a table next to where we keep her scratch pads. We put her toys in there, and she can still get them out to play with them as she likes, but then we can also easily put them away when there are too many strewn about. It’s been working pretty well for a few years now.

I actually set up a chair next to my desk for herself to occupy so I could see her while I work because she’s just so doggone cute. Spending more time with the cat is a big reason why I want to work from home.
Darcy´s last blog ..Book: Jacquard’s Web

By: Christine Martell

Christine Martell — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:05:18 +0000

I have multiple designated cat areas for the two cats who hang out with me. I have two office chairs, one for the cat who gets there first, and one for me. I have a second area at the window. Basically I watched where they wanted to be, and built areas there.

By consistently telling the one who is a constantly lying on the keyboard of the laptop to get on her chair— out loud in same words everytime— while putting her there, she actually seems to have learned the command. Now I just tell her to get on her chair and she does it. Doesn’t stop her from trying to get on the computer though.
Christine Martell´s last blog ..Getting control of email

By: Cairene

Cairene — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:42:49 +0000

It can *seem* annoying – and I do have to be intentional about how I respond to his hints – but thank goodness my dog insists on being walked otherwise I would rarely get out for as much fresh air and exercise as I do. Max is a crucial member of the self-care and perspective departments.

On the other hand: I don’t know how I would get through class calls without sending him to playcare on Wednesday afternoons!
Cairene´s last blog ..Pulling loose threads.

By: Christy

Christy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:49:51 +0000

Jen, this is a great post!

We are owned by two cats.

I built Mimi a window bed (a padded shelf on level with the window ledge). Once I did that, she quit trying to come on either the desk or my lap. The squirrels are far more interesting than I am.

Hannah, on the other hand, does as she wishes, when she wishes, in the manner she wishes. I don’t even try. The nice thing is that she doesn’t like the clickedy of my keyboard and thus leaves me be … usually.

By: Sarah Tieck

Sarah Tieck — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:00:29 +0000

Fun topic! Well after some carpet eating and digging, our pet bunny has been banned from having free run of the office … it is pretty cute to see her delight when she gets to run inside (with supervision!) and explore the usually forbidden space.