F.E.D.
Yes, Dr. Mel has given my poor cat an F.E.D. (Feline Eating Disorder) with his insensitive remarks about Nico’s body shape.
Cat Body Image
Actually, Nico is very differently shaped than our two previous cats. Nico is very long-bodied, and also quite solid. When he curls up into a tight spot, he looks quite a bit more “fluffy” than he really is.
Gage weighed about 9 pounds, and Nico is about 12 pounds. Quite a bit of a difference. Our local veterinarian didn’t seem to think there was any weight or nutritional problem.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to convince the poor cat to stop purging every serving of cat food he ingests.
But until then, if you have the patience to download a Nico video of him doing one of our favorite tricks, click here.
If that wasn’t too painful, and you’d like to see a different angle of the same trick, feel free to click here.
Current Knitting
I’m still working on craft show scarves. I’ve got one more complete and three more in progress.
You’ll see I opted to make a bulkier version of Kathy’s Boteh Scarf from Interweave Crochet. I used an Alpaca yarn (7.3 times as warm as wool…ask Mel) in lovely, tweedy shades of green, and I’m quite happy with how it came out.
Current Reading
I just finished my latest Patricia Highsmith book, The Talented Mr. Ripley
I am even more impressed with her writing. She was a true artist in her craft, and this is just another example of it. I am fearing that one of my commenters might be exactly right about her writing, in that there are no likable characters in her novels. I have three more to go through, so I hope that’s not the case. I usually prefer to have at least on protagonist…someone I can route for or empathize with.
Oh, Joe (and Thaddeus) — love that cat!
Nico is SOOOOOOOOOOOO cute… being at college and all I’m somewhat separated from my baby… he’s Texas and he’s at home in San Antonio with the rest of the family… aren’t they SOOOO cute when they get agressive with bags? My BF has a couple cats and they keep me company… aww kitties….. 😀
Um, Joe, I hope you got a written license from Kathy to make her scarf for commercial resale.
Does Nico stick his paw down his throat? Does he do it in your bathroom or his litter box? Make sure you hide the Ex-Lax.
Our Scruffy used to have that problem too. Does Nico eat dry food? If Scruffy ate X shaped ones she always barfed and if she ate the triangle shaped ones she didn’t. We also gave her a little bit of butter on her paw everyday. It helped to let the hairballs pass through. I know they sell special “hairball remedy”, but butter worked just as well.
Man I love that scarf. Oh to be able to crochet…
I have been looking for a place with lessons on nights or weekends in the Princeton NJ general area (will travel a bit, including to your neck of the woods….love Twist and visit regularly).
Okay Carol…Ms. Fancy-Pants Lawyerette…first of all, you’ll note that I said I made a “VERSION of Kathy’s Boteh Scarf”…not that I made her scarf.
Second of all, wouldn’t it be Interweave Crochet from whom I’d have to get authorization? I would imagine they own the copyright (not copywrite).
The defense rests.
Two options for scarf-and-barf are more small feedings through the day or switching to a canned diet. The reason they run into trouble with dry foods is that they eat them too fast and don’t get sufficient saliva coating the kibble, so it can’t move down into the stomach properly. and although we were always taught dry food = cleaner teeth, they don’t really chew their food very much before swallowing (as I’m sure you’ve noticed). I also wonder if the increased carb content needed in dry diets (to hold the kibble together) might not actually contribute to plaque and tartar accumulation. I’m not sure if it’s been adequately studied.
That’s a totally different look for Kathy’s scarf and I love it! A crocheted scarf with it’s own elegance…thanks for sharing.
Regarding Nico’s video, I have never seen a more brilliant cat in my life. But does he fetch?
Dr. Mel, what does one do when one cat is like Gage and the other is like Nico?
Recently I tried to read Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train (which Hitchcock filmed) but had to stop as I was being spooked by the ‘mad’ character. I was impressed by the Ripley films, but that have been more to do with Jude Law, John Malkovich, et al.
Joe, Fredda, what’s so different about this VERSION of my scarf, eh?
And Joe’s correct.
It’s Interweave’s problem. Not mine. I deposited that nice check some time ago.
While I agree that Patricia Highsmith never wrote moral characters, I have to say that it’s worth watching Ripley’s Game for Dougray Scott. Lovely.
Oh dear sweet Kathy…can’t you tell the difference?
Mine is done in a much bulkier yarn (I won’t even mention the fact that my yarn is green and IC shows it in off-white), but the critical difference, is that I only have 12 “botehs” instead of the 18 called for in your original pattern.
Clearly a different version…now don’t you and that smart-mouth lawyer start gangin up on me.
Nico is a lovely and clever kitty. And he clearly has a waist, so he can’t be too “fluffy”. The videos of his bag trick are adorable. Thanks for sharing them!
Kathy,
I didn’t count the “boteh’s” like Joe, but…I think the bulkier yarn has a much different look! Your original (at least the one from Interweave) looks like it can add to elegant fashion, whereas the bulker yarn is either a younger fashion statement or for warmth. What a versatile design…
Jos, mon radis, mon aubergine doux, you are a perfect weasel.
Why aren’t you in the insurance business? Or the packaging industry?
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Long time lurker. The cat video brought me out. Nico looks just like one of my former kitties (he moved out and in with a neighbor, was not pleased that we moved house! He is doing well and happy with his decision) he too was bag obsessed. Got into attacking a handled bag and the handle got caught on his head and he ran and the bag followed and he ran more. Took a while to catch him, he was a bit leery of bags after that.
Loved the scarf. It’s fab!
whoever’s IP it is, I *love* that scarf!