Fur In The Paint

As a long time gallery cat, Budda has generously agreed to answers your art and/or cat related questions around the first of every month. He also now has his own lens on Squidoo containing all the cat related questions from this column.

Dear Budda,
I’m new to doing art fairs and I hear your human does quite a few of them. What is the best way to keep my tent grounded.

Signed,
Fear of Flying

Dear Fear of Flying
I can’t tell you how often I get asked this question. The best way is using corkscrew style dog stakes. (yes they are actually good for something besides restraining unruly dogs.) But obviously this only works on grass. For pavement I strongly suggest using HappiFeet. I know some cases where in high winds the HappiFeet tents remained in place while their neighbors’ went . . . as you say, flying.

The good news is my human is currently working on a post about this subject and she’ll provide more in depth information soon.

Best of luck,
Budda

Dear Budda,
I hear you get to be indoors. I envy you, although, since I am black and white, I am not green with envy. Where I live, Bill is black and white in that I bit him and I no longer get to be in the house unless construction people let me in or Louise is really nice to let me in. I really like Bill and I want to purr inside the house and enjoy him, just like I know Mike and Mona enjoy you. Although, I did hear that sometimes when Mona is on the telephone, you make more noise than just purring. But, then, she’s on the telephone, so what does she expect!

So, my question for you is, if you just happened to know a kitty-cat (I’m not asking for myself…I’m asking for a friend) who bit her or his owner because the owner got after the kitty-cat that was naughtily on the kitchen counter, and the kitty-cat wants to get back in the owner’s good graces, what do you think that kitty-cat should do?

I think I like you, but I’m thinking that maybe a long distance relationship would be good for us.You know, to make a spark and keep it alive! (I live with another boy kitty. His name is Sammy and our relationship is purely platonic.)

Yours truly,
Miss Kitty

Well Hello Miss Kitty, (Grrrouw)
Hmm . . . it’s very hard to get in your humans good graces when something of this nature has occurred. I’m sure you were very frightened or something really dreadful must have happened for you to bite one of them. But since cat bites are quite serious I must thoroughly allow that your being able to returned to the life you once lived may not be possible. Mostly I think this depends on the human.

Your best bet is to make yourself as loving as possible. Since the last time you touched your human was less than ideal I would suggest simply sitting a few feet away from him and look at him as loving as possible. When he makes eye contact. Close your eyes and purr audibly. After a few seconds open your eyes and if he is still engaged with you feel free to move cautiously (because some humans spook easily) and accompany the loud purring with a leg rub. This kind of affection make take months to work but if his heart is open it should. If he does not, you will just have to live with the consequences of your actions.

Also it might not hurt to try this technique on your other human. She may just come in to your defense.

As to your affections, I am flattered. Unfortunately a cat in my situation must be ever so careful as I am constantly in the public view. Perhaps correspondences for a few years are in order.

As always, those of you who are googling for enlightenment . . . this ain’t it.

Affectionately yours, but with reserve,
Budda.

Oh Wise Budda,
Is there a safe paint in which to paint my cats?

Signed,
Wanting Some Colorful Kitties

Dear . . . Left Wanting,
I have kinda already answered this question in a previous Ask The Budda. At that time I said something along the lines of “Please for the love of all that’s Holy, don’t!” But the amount of queries I get on this topic is so shocking that I felt the need to look into it a little further

Apparently there is a whole bunch of folks out there who paint their cats. (sigh) There’s even a couple of books. If you would like to see a few photos from the book and read some rantings both for and against cat painting, check out this site.

As to a cat safe paint, often it is suggested that anything child safe is cat safe. I’m not convinced this is true as cats have bad reactions to many common foods that are harmless to people. I suggest you do some real research on your part before moving forward.

Happy just the way I am,
Budda

Note: Some of these “questions” were based on search terms that brought people to my blog. And some were posed by readers of this blog. Most of the names have been changed to protect the innocent. If anyone has any questions they’d like to submit for Budda’s review, you are all welcome to do so. Just leave a comment here or contact me directly

Tags: Ask The Budda

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