Surrounded by a sea of musical instruments, we’ve only just taken to the whistle..I say we as the children just seem to home in on anything noisy :roll:
So…added a SweetOne to the collection this week - wonderful little thing and plays well without me wondering if it’s me or the whistle that needs tweaking.
Only trouble is, the normally snooty Maine Coone is in love with it and jumps on my lap (which she does not do) and purrs and winds herself around the whistle. This is abnormal behaviour for an animal who prefers to turn taps on and shower under them for entertainment.
Does anyone else have animals who show preferences for particular whistles?
Both my cats have the same reaction as yours. It’s very strange! They get as close as they can, trying to rub, paw at, and chew the whistle. Often they’re meowing while they’re at it. I have to be on my feet and moving if I don’t want them to completely disrupt my playing. I feel like the Pied Piper for felines.
I have two cats. My female one tends to run, but she runs from all high-pitched noises. My male cat loves the whistle. He won’t leave me alone when I play. He jumps in my lap and thinks that the whistle was made to scratch under his chin and side, I’m pretty much forced to stand and play or close the door.
Misty does not mind the Clark at all, but she hates the Susato. It must be the high register that bothers her, because she will walk up to me and give me that “I’m annoyed” miow, and come back every few minutes until I quit. So now that its warm I let her out into the sun room and play all I like, either that or I just ignor her.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but of our two dogs, Kira (the older one) totally ignores the whistles. Of course, she totally ignores me too… Ezri, on the other hand, comes into the room, and sits at my feet to listen to the whistles. The only time this is an issue, is when I’m playing a low D or lower, and she decides to stick her nose into the end to see where the sound is coming from… Got a slight cut on the lip the first time she “investigated” my bass A…
My feral, Mr. Stripes, looks askance at my doing anything when in the room with him but holding him, petting him, head-butting him, giving him milk, or dangling bits of string holding catnip-stuffed critters in front of him. Bedelia, the Himalayan, sits beside me and meows - not, you understand, to sing along, but to get me to stop and pet her. The other five tend to totally ignore it, or to find somewhere quieter to pursue their naps.
My feral now tamed cat is sitting behind my backside in my wheelchair snoring while I play the whistle. Phillogar slept through a rendition of Colonel Bogey on the 6key flutes witch is loud and goes up to high F. BT the old cat often sits on my lap when i play. My house ferret Kenny likes all music as long as it doesn’t go above high A. He comes out of his bed and glares at me then. The Bombarde is something else. Gave it up due to asthma and the dog always howled when it came out. I got banished from the house with it as well. Have a good picture of BT sitting on my lap listening to the whistle.
Trisha: Aren’t Maine Coon cats amazing? Velvet loves the Hoovers and most of the Burkes. Pixie, the Birman, dislikes all of them…The other five cats tolerate the instruments, but with little enthusiasm. None of them really like my one lone wooden whistle, my Busman…But I like it…
Best.
Byll
The strange behaviour around the whistles certainly comes from their hate of high piercing sounds. They have such sensitive hearing.
Timo, my Norwegian Forrest Cat doesn’t seem to care when I play most whistles, or he leaves the room.
Bodi, my lovely and very lively Somali (he’s my avatar ) starts running around like crazy, harrasing the other cats and just act like a maniac until I have to come to rescue. Lately he’s a lot quiter.
Tutti, my carefree nothing disturbs me white Persian, is the one that is really disturbed by the sounds. She’s a loner, totally in her own world and only comes to me for food or play. Unless I start playing… She’ll meow, walking around me wagging her tail, tapping my arm. When I stop, she’ll very contently settles in her own box and goes to sleep.
High whistles get more of a reaction than low whistles but the one exception is my beloved Hoover narrow bore. That’s why I say that they absolutely love that whistle! They don’t seem to be bothered by that whistle at all, even playing high in second octave!
My Timo is so comfortable with it that he falls asleep in my lap while I’m playing it. In fact, he loves it so much because he’s made the connection of me sitting on the sofa for a while to play and him having a comfortable lap to sit in during that time. So now he starts meowing, jumps on the sofa and rubs against the hoover. He’s such a happy kitty when I respond, sit down and he can curl up on my lap
So the one whistle that is 100% cat approved is my Hoover narrow bore.
Cats seems to have some influences in songs such as “The Cat’s Jig” or “The Old Grey Cat”. I wonder if the composers did it after the reaction cats have had to the whistle. Never heard of any songs with the word ‘Dog’ in it yet
Byll - it’s her shower fetish that really creases me up (the Maine Coon cat dear reader…). She just stands in the cubicle for hours waiting for it to drip on her head, knowing full well that anyone will turn on a tap to let her drink - no lowly plastic bowl with dog slobber on for Sheba. :roll:
The Norwegian Forest is very like the Maine Coon - they are “different”! The two ex-ferals and the llamas have yet to be subjected to my efforts - the echoes in the valley are such that everything ends up at our neighbour’s house across the valley so it’ll need to be concert standard first…
One of my cats is deaf and the other one ignores me. The dog doesn’t seem to care one way or the other about my playing, but when my son plays his clarinet, the dog goes running in to him, sits in front of him and sings along. He really seems to enjoy it.
(What? It kinda looks like an unhappy cat!)
Ezri, on the other hand, comes into the room, and sits at my feet to listen to the whistles. The only time this is an issue, is when I’m playing a low D or lower, and she decides to stick her nose into the end to see where the sound is coming from… 
Got a slight cut on the lip the first time she “investigated” my bass A… 
) starts running around like crazy, harrasing the other cats and just act like a maniac until I have to come to rescue. Lately he’s a lot quiter.
so it’ll need to be concert standard first…