An engineer's guide to cats

I thought I'd this video it to breathe life back into the Fur Shark blog:



Enjoy continued education on feline-monkey interactions,

Bp

Scared Pootie

We have had a dog visitation. In fact, The Dog in question is right now sleeping upstairs in the guest room. This creates intense disquiet in the Fur Sharks, especially Pootie. He has a couple telling scars that leads us to think he was attacked pretty badly by a dog as a kitten, and his terror at seeing them as an adult cat confirms our suspicions.

Once The Dog is sequestered for a few hours, Pootie comes out of hiding and latches onto a Monkey for emotional support, notice how he seems to calm down a bit by the third picture.

The Wife was kind enough to suspend studying to accommodate him.





Enjoy the comfort of your pet sentinel Monkey,

Bp

Bad Case of Cats

A cute picture of The Wife with what we call in our house a "bad case of cats."

Pootie Imitating Sphinx

Pootie Imitating Sphinx, originally uploaded by JurassicTech.

You can leave your sacrifices, gifts, and obeisances near the cat bowl.

Sula Enjoying Sun

Sula Enjoying Sun, originally uploaded by JurassicTech.

Sula is what our naturopathic vet calls a "heat cat." Meaning her kidneys might be a bit tired, and so she enjoys baking at every opportunity. Summer is a happy time for her, as she follows sunspots around the house for a good soak.

Sula gets Acupuncture

Our Sula has arthritis in her hips. I believe she's 15 years old, so that's not too bad for a cat her age. She snips at you if you pet her roughly over her back hips, or palpate her spine down there, and she can't jump up onto the bed like she used to.

Our buddy Jonathan Schell offered up one night to acupuncture the cat for her arthritis. Jon works a lot, like a whole lot, so it's a double good thing for him to come over -- have dinner -- and needle up the cat. Some free food, some social time, and help out Sula.

I'll be honest, I didn't really know how well it would work. First off, I didn't think she'd stand for being needled. She does -- The Wife just scruffs her neck while the needles are going in as a diversion, then provides a nice napping spot by being sedentary while the needles are in. Sula can't resist The Wife being immobile, and normally just naps the treatment away.

Secondly, I just didn't know how it would work on an animal. Evidence is strongly that it does though, at least for Sula. For weeks after her first treatment you could tell her hips weren't bugging her as much. She jumped up on the bed better, she didn't snipe at you if you pet her hindside. Then after her second treatment, she really showed improvement.

The height of the benefits seems to last about 2 weeks. I'm sure she's improving incrementally overall, but the immediate pain relief alone is worth the price of admission. She's certainly not complaining.

"Pile of Blackness"

Pootie is often in our house also known as the Pile of Blackness. Sometimes you will be headed for your black computer chair, and right before you get there it will blink up at you with blazing yellow-green eyes.

The purity of his blackness belies modern photography, you have no idea how much I had to monkey with these pictures so you could even see him. Thank goodness he's on a blue and not a black pillow.

So, again, Pootie is having a spot of tea and helping with the household finances this morning -- such a helper.