Today's weird cat story

[dianeduane]

So as a way to keep this dry-ear problem of mine from recurring (the condition having been, apparently, what caused the ear infection of early January), the doctor told me to shove little soft cotton pledgets soaked with olive oil into my ears while showering. Fair enough.

Now, this requires keeping olive oil in the bathroom, which is slightly unusual around here. So Peter brought me up one of the little oil drizzlers and a small dish that paté originally came in. Before each shower, I pour a little olive oil in the dish, pull a cotton ball apart and make my little earplugs, soak them in oil and shove them in place.

Fine. So this morning I'm having my shower and thinking about other things -- story stuff mostly: like Peter, I get some of my best ideas in the shower, which is why I like to go to Leukerbad when I'm outlining -- they have these showers up at the Alpentherme that spit out about a liter a second of hot mineral water (you can see one in the picture on the Leukerbad homepage-link above) --

Sorry, that could have been a fairly long diversion. Anyway, so I turn off the shower and stand there for a moment, and suddenly become aware of a little sound that had been masked by the water noise. Sounds a little like something dripping, at first. Plip plip plip plip...

I open the shower door and look out. And what do I see but Pip, the youngest cat, standing up on his hind legs on the toilet seat, with his front paws braced against the top of the toilet tank...somewhat noisily drinking the olive oil that's left in the little dish.

So the question of the day: How do you find out if your cat has Mediterranean roots??

Comments

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

So the question of the day: How do you find out if your cat has Mediterranean roots??

Try planting him in a warm, sandy soil. If he takes, then he does.

Otherwise, try Irish peat.

(This comment brought to you by Literalists Anonymous)

[feorag.livejournal.com]

The hotel where Octocon was last year had those showers in the 'no kids allowed' section of the health suite. Ace.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, the Glenroyal, Maynooth. Seriously nice showers. Seriously nice spa.

I'm not surprised about the 'no kids' policy. Some things are too good for them, and anyway, you could lose a small child to some of those water spouts.

[feorag.livejournal.com]

It's not a 'no kids' policy - it's just that they have two completely separate pool and spa areas. One is geared towards families, with stuff that kids will like, and the other is 'no kids' with stuff for the grown-ups. I consider this to be most civilised.

Now, if only they could come up with veggie food that isn't some variation of "stir fried veg and rice, with so much soy sauce added that it tasted disgustingly salty".

If Pip starts demanding a bit of fresh ground pepper

[carpdeus.livejournal.com]

in the oil, that might tell you something. Or perhaps Pip had dry skin (http://twolumps.net/d/20060201.html)

[posicat.livejournal.com]

I understand about showers, many times I've run out of a shower marginaly dry just to run to the computer, and open notepad to type something down so I don't forget it. Long car rides get the mind going for me as well.

Cats have wierd tastes it seems, my parents had a beer drinker and Dorito eater (She was the princess of the house). One of our past cats was an obsessive olive eater. Of our 3 current cats, Falstaff makes comando-raids on tissue boxes to eat them, Recall likes to be whistled to when I'm in the shower (he sits on the sink and basks in the warm steamy air), and Buddie casually walk along and eat lint off the carpet.

It's our hamster that likes licking olive oil off of his wheen when we oil it to stop the squeaking.

[cjmr.livejournal.com]

This cat (the grey one there) used to like to eat things much weirder than olive oil. Deodorant, for instance, and shaving cream. She also liked green beans, and was the only one who wouldn't eat melted ice cream.

[rosefox]

One of our cats is a carbohydrate addict. She'll eat bread and mashed potatos, and she begs for Triscuits. (When she gets them, she bats them around and licks them and tries to lever them up off the floor so that she can gnaw the corners off. Funny beast.) The other cat is more your standard meat-and-dairy fiend but also likes Brussels sprouts. I figure they know, more or less, what they need, so as long as it's not something poisonous, I don't mind.

Family horror story *g*

[bodhibird.livejournal.com]

When she was a small child, my older sister had the same treatment for an ear problem. The problem was magnified, however, when one of the cotton balls got stuck in her ear and couldn't be gotten out. I think the doctor did manage to remove it eventually; however, my sister suffered hearing damage and cannot sing on pitch to save her life. She can carry a tune but will always be slightly flat or slightly sharp. Be careful! :)

[terani.livejournal.com]

Does the cat like lasagna? :)

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

I've been using vitamin E oil on my stretching belly, and my older cat sits on the bathroom counter and makes pitiful noises the whole time, then attempts to lick it off my fingers when I'm done. I mentioned it to the vet when she went in for vaccinations (just in case it was a classic symptom of something, like cheese-craving) and he said it wasn't at all uncommon for cats to have a liking for oil(s).

[wetdryvac.livejournal.com]

That has got to be the coolest thing ever. My cats did the same when I use E on my ears to heal up wind sores. Licking of the tum sounds either much more or much less comfy.

[wolf-moonshadow.livejournal.com]

If he starts meowing, “When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie...” then you’ll know.

Salads are what's never safe in our house; one cat licks off all the oil and vinegar dressing, then the other eats the green peppers and broccoli.

[janeway216.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, there was a discussion about this on my flist yesterday. Heh.

Our cat will cruise the counter pretty much at random for anything she thinks she can get away with eating, but the one thing that makes her go nuts is lotion. It doesn't even really have to smell good, but if you have lotion on your hands and pet her, she will eventually start trying to catch your hands and lick all the lotion off it.

Our dogs are another matter entirely . . .

[tbutler.livejournal.com]

Snickers also likes lotion, for what reason on God's green earth I have no idea. This was the final straw in convincing me never to be surprised at anything a cat expresses a taste for.

One step along that path, though, was when she decided my hair needed to be re-washed after washing it with a cheap apple-scented shampoo. http://www.tfs.net/~tbutler/SnickersHat.jpg

[jilumasam.livejournal.com]

When it starts asking for Pizza???

I don't have cats - my three dogs can't stand them. But a sibling does and her cats love soap and oil and bread :)

The puppy in my icon loves my Earl Grey tea, it's a race in the mornings to drink it before the dog does....

[marmelmm.livejournal.com]

The late, lamented Noodge the Wonder Cat enjoyed lima beans, of all things. Worked out well, as I don't like 'em and simply handed any I encountered in Mom's stew off to her.

[singer-mn-lead.livejournal.com]

i had a cat that eat tomatoes. my black cat, Winky, he'll eat Pringles, Lay's, egg, bread, yogurt, anything he can get his little black paws on. Heidi, a Turkish Van, will eat flowers.

Cats - and the wierd things they like to eat . . .

[(Anonymous)]

Diane -

I am not at all surprised your cat loves olive oil. Good stuff,
if it is extra virgin and better if it is truly organic. So-called
"pure" olive oil is produced by adding food-grade lye (how's
THAT for weird?) to the stuff that is left after the olives are
crushed and the extra-virgin olive oil is produced.

I had a cat some time ago who liked broccoli (cooked)!
Weird . . .

I had fed all my cats commercial canned and dry cat food.
But after I read the info in the link I post here, I have decided
that I will NEVER again buy ANY commercial cat food. Much of
what is in that food is simply much too nasty to feed anyone.
Here is the link:

http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/fall97/fe_fall97petfood.html

About your dry-ear condition: have you tried making sure that you
have enough EFAs in your diet? Essential Fatty Acids, that is - the
Omega-3s that we citified folks usually get very little of in our usual
diet. A deficiency in Omega-3s causes all kinds of problems.