I totally wish I invented this device. It takes compressed air (actually R134a like in air conditioning) and will spray your cat when activated. (Note: your cat will not become refrigerated unless you hold the can upside down.)

After scrounging for 4 AAA’s you are offered with two modes: motion triggers beep only –or– motion triggers beep & SPRAY. Guess which one cats don’t like? Once your cat figures out that after the beep comes the compressed air, fluffy has already torn out of the room before the beep has finished. (Note: This saves canned air as you can leave the unit on “beep” to annoy your spouse and pets). I got it from petguys.com.

This photo would be funnier if it was one of our cats, but it is an artist’s rendition of a cat getting sprayed with compressed air. The site for this crazy thing is loaded with animated GIFs… SSScat (If you get one of these – leave it on for one minute before you try to trigger it, it has some fuzzy [pun intended] logic so it doesn’t false alarm — wouldn’t want to waste the air!)

Novelty Cat socks attract cats! Also reported to cut off circulation in frost-bite prone areas. (These posts write themselves –Josiah)

Linus was bored so getting another animal seemed like a sane idea. (Linus was not consulted in this decision)
The answer was Mia from Capitol Area Humane Society. Mia was a half-price adoption since it was a promotion. That and how cute she was helped offset the parasite problem.

Linus is very interested in Mia, but not outwardly aggressive.

Update:Mia and Linus are getting along- they even sit next to each other. Linus “lets” Mia win when they tussle.

Recently I decided that it would be a good idea to train the cat to ring a bell attached to a string when he wanted attention. As a reward for ringing the bell we got out the laser pointer and did a 2-3 minute routine around the carpet. The upside to the training is he has almost forgotten the bad behavior that got him attention before (chewing things and shaking potted trees). The downside is Linus gets really bored if you are sitting reading, watching TV, or talking. Really bored, like ring the bell 10 times an evening bored. After replacing the laser pointer batteries once, we have alternated the bell ringing with a treat.

If you want to know how to train a cat to ring a bell- here is the science:
1. Clicker train the cat to ring the bell with treats as a reward.
2. Next, reward each bell ring with a click and laser pointer session.
3. Step back and point the laser on the toy/bell until the cat swats it, then move the pointer on ground and then return it to the toy at the end of the session.
4. Be prepared to be annoyed.

Silly cat!