h a l f b a k e r yExpensive, difficult, slightly dangerous, not particularly effective... I'm on a roll.
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Frisco is unable to play like he usually does due to the heat in
the house. We can't afford to pay for air conditioning so he
doesn't get to play at all. Very sad.
So I propose a simple cat friendly solution. The Air
Conditioned Cat Gym.
Small enough that we could afford the extra energy
bill, but
large enough to contain kitty and all his favorites.
I envision a hamster wheel like apparatus, with a catnip filled
mouse for motivation, to get him up and running. Then he
could play bat-a-bat with some of his favorite things, like
mice, and when he was all spent and pooped out, he could
scratch at the door and be let out.
That way he could get his much needed exercise, and still stay
cool. (I read a study that said felines need their exercise,
equally as much as they need their food).
Happy Frisco, Happy Life.
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Don't they OD after awhile from all of that catnip? |
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A truly excellent idea which we cannot praise too highly. [+] |
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In fact, you could go and get one of these right now. Drive to your local electrical appliance store, and buy your kitty a cooled play space. |
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You'll find them in the aisle labelled "chest freezers" ... absolutely guaranteed to keep you cat cool and in a state of quantum indeterminacy for the rest if its life*. |
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*Providing you don't open the box and collapse the wave function. |
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As a short term / low cost solution you could mist him periodically and follow him around with a fan (+). And what [Ray] said about catnip. It just makes mine loll around. |
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Not good ... does it gave the same effect on your cat ? |
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Would it not work to tie strings to a fan? |
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Wow [4and20] That is a great, albeit cheap, fix. And by the
way, Frisco does not respond to catnip at all. Claire used to
go crazy with it. Now that I think about it, Frisco is always on
the loose end of the noodle, if you know what I mean!!! He
possess's his own, inner catnip. 24/7 |
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All ideas that are kind to animals will be rewarded by me. Cat kindness ideas will receive double croissants from me. (I'm allowed to do this) ++ |
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//Air Conditioned Cat Gym |
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Just reading the title, it could have gone the other
way if His Borgness had written it.. |
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Forgive my ignorance, but how hot does it have to be before
the domestic cat throws the towel in? I mean none of them
are panting in those ancient Egyptian statues... do you live
somewhere hotter than there? What about the big cats,
with the much less favorable surface area/volume ratio?
they seem happy chasing antelope, with some panting, I'll
admit? Could you not dip the cat in cool water before the
play session? |
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//Could you not dip the cat in cool water before the play session ?// Possible, but I think you'd have to start while the cat's young. Otherwise bring plenty of iodine and bandages. |
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Housecats' body temperature is >100F, but medium and longhairs are well insulated. Depends on the cat too: the furriest moggie I have hibernates on the couch during the winter, while the shorthair's outside, messing about in the snow. |
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//Otherwise bring plenty of iodine and bandages// |
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Ah, our cat goes outside occasionally, and dutifully rolls
around in the dirt as a priority. It gets either a wipe down
with a wet cloth, or a shower. He hates, but tolerates the
shower, he actively loves the cloth. |
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My cat will drink water, and watch water, and watch me
drink water, but if I tried to splash a bit of cool water on him
he would tear me to shreds. He's just like that. |
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And we are experiencing a rather prolonged heat wave here,
and it's not supposed to break till next week. Meanwhile,
Frisco is splayed out in front of the fan, as he has been, for
days. Booooo. |
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You could always add a little dinitrophenol (DNP) to
your cat's food. It acts to lower metabolism, and
consequently to reduce body temperature. |
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No, wait, that should be 'raise'. |
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A little beanie propeller hat, perhaps. |
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MB, raise which, metabolism or temperature. Now you've
confused me. And FT, that would make for some really cute
cat footage, me thinks. |
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// You could always add a little dinitrophenol (DNP) to your cat's food. // |
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You could always add quite a lot of trinitrophenol (TNP) to your cat's food ... |
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Both. DNP is used as a diet pill. Upside: svelte cat.
Downside: potentially cooked-from-the-inside-out
cat. Swings, roundabouts. |
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I think the cat may be faulty. It's 27C in here and the
cat is still on top of the laptop power brick. Using
some real physiology, a little fasting wouldn't go
amiss. there's evidence that predators need a little
metabolic prod to get their mitochondria in
reasonable shape. |
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//I think the cat may be faulty.// |
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// Downside: potentially cooked-from-the-inside-out cat. // |
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Oh, yes. Only "potentially", not "definitely". That's a real downside.
Certainty is gooood .... |
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// It's 27C in here and the cat is still on top of the laptop power brick.
// |
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You'll be fine until it hits about 35 C, above which the adhesive on the
gaffer tape may start to soften and lose grip. A few ty-raps should do
the trick. |
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Out of interest, does anyone know what happens if
you shave a cat? |
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<update and warning> Be careful about Googling
this. |
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Interesting idea, [bliss]... but couldn't you accomplish the same thing by placing the cats (preferably, a LOT of them) into the polar bear exhibit at the zoo? What better motivation would there be for lots of frantic, wild-eyed kitty exercise than pure, naked, instinct for survival? |
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Kitty gets exercise. Polar bear gets lunch. It's a WIN/WIN, no? |
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