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.

Note: Budda now has his own lens on Squidoo, featuring all the cat related questions from his Ask The Budda column. As well as a smattering of stories about Budda from other posts.

Before moving on to the questions, we have a note from Budda.

Hello,

Love and Cuddles,
The Budda.

Dear Mr Budda,
Why does my kitten follow me around and meow?
Signed, Kitten Conundrum

Dear Kitten Conundrum
Your kitten has just replaced it’s previous cat family with a new one. . . . you. So she wants something, probably attention though it may just be food or play time.

We cats struggle to communicate with humans. My own human is a little slow on the uptake and I find I must repeat myself over and over (and over and over and over . . . and over and over.) And even with all of this she sometimes looks at me and gets cranky. I assume because she just can’t understand me even though I am speaking s-l-o-w-l-y and l-o-u-d-l-y to her as if she is a kitten herself. (and trust me she’s long past being a kitten) So then I take a few minutes and walk the loop or two around the gallery and ponder how I can rephrase my desire and then try again.

So I guess what I’m saying is, your kitten is trying to talk with you using it’s best communication skills. If you still don’t understand, feed her. And if that doesn’t work, pick her and giver her a good cuddle.

For His Exalted Catliness, from Robert S and his daughter Kitten
How do you put an overweight cat on a diet when you’ve also got an underweight cat? And also . . . we’d like to know any dog training tips.

Dear Robert and Kitten,
I personally believe all cats should be a bit on the rotund side, or perhaps all Buddas should be. My human on the other hand keeps me on a diet so as to prevent me from becoming like my good friend Alister who when he stands up his tummy still touches the ground. She does this by feeding out a rationed portion twice a day. Plus a couple of treats that I must run after.

I can see that with two cats this can be hard especially if one is not eating as well as it ought. Alister’s house mate Nigel was as lean as Al was large. Their human fed Nigel a ration at the same time as Al and also free choice at night when Al would have the run of one floor and Nigel the other. I don’t know if this will work in you situation, but the only way to lose weight is to eat less or play harder. Preferably both.

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

As to training dogs I tend to think of dogs as existing in a alternate universe. Parallel, but not often intersecting with mine. I firmly believe a dog must earn affection. (unlike cats who should be showered with affection just for agreeing to share their existance with yours.) Rules and boundaries are the order of the day for dogs. and affection is given after it has performed some task like “the sit.” Even for dogs, no punishment, yelling or spanking allowed. (unless they do something really bad like try to kill the cat.) This has worked time and again for my human and she has always had very well trained and respectful dogs that are loving and playful companions.

Dear Mr Budda,
Suppose we can’t touch a cat’s fur, what two clues do we have that it’s soft?
Signed Furry Thoughts

Dear Furry,
This sounds more like a riddle than a question. But let’s see . . .
1. it’s soft because . . . it’s a cat!
2. see number one.

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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