You know how some people complain their household pets aren't particularly interactive? I never seem to have that problem.

Yah, I don't have that problem, either. Ista has not mistaken herself for a goldfish, and I don't think she ever will. But it's a lot more comfortable to have the dog upstairs going, "Uff. UFF!" to try to convince your party guests that, "Hello, monkeys, almost midnight, time to GO HOME," than standing on a bit that's been repeatedly needled.

She eventually did relent and come back downstairs to give His Birthdayness matastas more sleepy dog snuggles before he had to go home.

Also she handled the yelling of "surprise!" surprisingly well. Possibly it was the only time when the monkeys were behaving sensibly: a new monkey was coming in, and they all gathered to focus on barking at him and sniffing him together.

And then when it wasn't a stranger, it was her favorite chew toy matastas, well, even better! He's practically pack, really.

Heh. On the odd occasions when I've had a boyfriend in the last fifteen years, and invited him over, my white cat very pointedly sits on me and glares at him, all but shouting, "This is my mom, you interloper! Be gone!"

I can see it now. Cat conference on twoleg torture, Maine January 3rd to 7th, with program items like "comparative study of nose-in-armpit on three twolegs", "tattoos, only for standing on or worthy of claw insertion?" and "wetfood or dryfood? a study into cost and inconveniece".

"How to Pull Human Hair: an empirical analysis."

"What's THAT on the Rug: The Use of Excrement as a Tool for Self Expression."

"Why Must You Always Sit There?!: An Investigation into the Maximum Distribution of Feline Mass Over An Average Stairwell."

Yours only go once a year??? Mine hold weekly meetings on the subject.

Ouch!!

I want to know why my cat suddenly seems to weigh 10x more when she stands on my boobs. I think she can increase her density on demand.

voodoo trials. we are all part of their test-subject plan, which is only a smaller part of the larger conspiracy. my kitten was fascinated with small tie-straps for months. i'm sure his part in the conspiracy features them. the old man has perfected his study of the most effective pressure points on my chest with regard to his own small feet and weight, and I'm fairly certain that he's not just *holding my hand* whilst i type, but making a very close study of the keyboard/infowebz--and honing his jedi-mind chicanery...

"From Bladder to Boobs: A Traveler's Comparison of Monkey Noises."

And this is why my cat stays on the other side of the bedroom door. I can ignore the yowling a lot more easily than the neutronium paws on my face and other bits.

Thing is, cats don't need to go to conferences. They beam their information to each other, so that all cats soon know that - for example- standing on a healing tattoo is guaranteed to wake a sleeping monkey.

That said, when my late brother had knee problems (he was a hemophiliac and knee bleeds were VERY common) our kitty would go lie on my brother's bed. He'd lie beside him and purr, and my brother said it made the pain go away so he could sleep.

I am so very much metaquoting this. o.o

Edited at 2008-11-02 01:14 pm (UTC)

Mafdet is persistently attentive to my crotch, which is a target-rich environment -- full bladder, or wedding tackle, take your pick -- but spends a fair bit of effort purring and trying to get face time (with which to sneeze at me).

Heh. Mine does. But then sometimes I think he thinks he is a dog.

Juan's cat Torpedo used to specialize in that. It was his Nevar Fail Seekrit Weapon for waking up the Monkey.

No, mine grooms my forehead, and then has a fit when my fur is inconveniently long.

We had a monster who would lick, wash, and make eating noises upon (smack, smack, slurp, chew) my father's bald spot, after a few months of nibbling on ears had begun to pall.

Once out of bed, he'd hide in your clothing - down the sleeve of the bathrobe, or a pants leg - and wait for sleepy monkey to stick a limb in for him to attack. I had to admire his tactics; it's one thing to get the monkey to wake up, another to keep it moving in the direction of the cat food.

My sister's cat would do that! But only to me, apparently. Purring all the while, of course.

That depends entirely on the cat.

One of Iniki's "Wake up the Mikey" tricks involved licking the insides of his nostrils.

The new favourite toy at my place is the large, empty cat litter box. It's the kind with a flap, and is perfect for sticking paws in and also for bouncing around the apartment.

Fool that I am, I put a small plastic thingie in it, and now it's Even Now More Much Funner With The Noise Making & Waking.

(Not really on topic, but I can make it fit.)

Oh, I think cats just work it out on a case-by-case basis, carefully tallying their own experiments (boobs? check. eyeballs? check. arm? not so much--avoid in future.)

My cats are fond of standing on my bladder, and sitting on my forehead. Occasionally they even co-ordinate and Skif stands on my bladder at the same time that Ender sits on my forehead.

Oh god, that is something I had never considered in pondering the various ink I would like when I can even remotely afford it. *takes notes*

Our cats are the clingiest cats in the known world. We thought we had the clingiest cats possible, then we got a new kitten, who turned out to be clingier still. And who really likes boobs. Ow, cat.

I wonder if cats have conferences and hold studies about what bit of the monkey to stand on for best effect.

It's distinctly possible. Mine likes to be fed at 3:30am. He'll get up on my pillow and either swat me on the head with a paw or stick his cold, wet nose in my ear and meow. Loudly. Occasionally he'll just sit on the bed and meow non-stop. He can do any of the above for hours. It got so we'd get more sleep if we just got up and fed him, then went back to bed.

Our cats also follow us around the house all day and talk to us. They're plenty interactive, too.

I'm sure they do. They hold psychic conferences. That's why Spanky can't resist standing on my messed up shoulder.

And I quote my husband from this morning, to his cat: "those are not a pillow!"

Yeah. I'm pretty sure they have Annoy Humans Monthly, or some similar trade magazine.

In case you didn't get the word...

In the "Arts" section of today's Boston Sunday Globe, there's a full-page article highly praising the recent release of the entire Man from U.N.C.L.E. on DVD.

If the newspaper isn't avaialble in your location, the article may be online.

You should watch this time-lapse video of human trying to sleep with cat.

Persistent cat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q

It can't be coincidence that they all infallibly know the bladder trick.

*removes small cat from throat so I can type*

Yes, I think they do.

obsessivewoman and I joke that the kitty Internet carries messages encoded as smells, and humans are the data carriers; we refer to the feline investigation of visitors and their gear as “checking S-mail”, and speculate on the academic publications to Human Behavioral Review Letters.

i hope it heals well.

your 1st ?
is it public or private knowledge what and where it is ?

i have 9 but none on my ass. :)

any lj pics in the future ?

found it !

sorry,
since we have no homecomputer i skip here&there.
i had thought i read it was your 1st but had not read the image.

sounds lovely.
i've thought strongly about something like that. tho maybe with fey, satyres(sp?)and the like in it.
i loved old book and bookplates illustrations as a kid.

many of my tattoos are from myths.
a centaur, a satyre ( really, you'd think i could spell it.), a mer-man, an ankh, the starship enterprise........

OWWWWWW tattoo standing. :(

My brother (who is a body piercer and tattoo artist himself) has two dogs who will attempt to lick his new tattoos to death. Mmm, delicious ink.

I have NEVER EVER complained that any of my cats aren't interactive enough. Quite the opposite.