catupuncture

Poor lil' P*nut.

She's a sweet petite calico who is a mature lady cat now, and subject to aches and pains from arthritis. She lives with my friend Janet, who racked her brains for a good way to soothe her discomfort. Then Janet found Dr. Lisa Reising and the Animal Healing Center. There they specialize in alternative therapies such as homeopathy and flower essences, Chinese and Western herbal medicine, and nutrition. P*nut herself is benefitting from their acupuncture services.

Here's a couple of interesting photos of P*nut in treatment. Don't worry, that may look scary but P*nut is in no discomfort. In fact, she is gaining some relief.

an exemplary lapdog, in poetry

Epitaph On A Favourite Lapdog

I never barked when out of season;
I never bit without a reason;
I ne'er insulted weaker brother;
Nor wrong'd by force nor fraud another.
Though brutes are plac'd a rank below,
Happy for man could he say so!

-- Thomas Blacklock (Scottish, 1721-1791).

"kittens' wedding," and other victorian oddities

In times past, we know to our sorrow, there was no way to control the many litters of kittens and puppies that happen. Well. . . where there is material, man's busy mind will find something to do, and in the curious time of our recent civilization known as Victorian, taxidermy caricatures came into being.

What are those? Simply put, make up little scenes and taxidermize the tiny critters in poses and dresses appropriate. The result, at least for those of us with a feel for the Victorians, is a crazy mix of sweet, sad, cute and creepy.

I can't believe I have never yet posted on the master of such tableaux, Mr. Walter Potter (1835-1918). Best known for his "The Kittens' Wedding," Potter deftly arranged such other sweeping dioramas as "The Squirrels' Club," and "Athletic Toads." Well, you'd have to see them. And you can, along with a lot of background material, at this excellent page courtesy of A Case of Curiosities. (The site as a whole, and it is amazing, belongs to an artist currently practicing a variant of this craft.)

the smallest feline is a masterpiece, right?

Leonardo da Vinci said that. And I'm saying it's Friday and you can't MAKE me be too serious. So enjoy this mashup of art history and kitty style.

(I'm pretty sure this must have been liberally borrowed from its creator.

If that's you, A. Excellent work. B. Can I credit you? Please?)

meet another dog star

Sam Younghans has done a lot of interesting things and met many famous and beautiful people from the glory glamour days of the 1960's on. He has taken their pictures, borrowed their limos, and hung out at their watering holes on both coasts. Clearly it's been fun for him. And whom does he think of most fondly?

I can tell you this for sure: among the stars he's met, he firmly classifies his dog Duchess. For a fun, tender look at a dog well loved and well connected, take a look at the page he created for her among his "Stars of the Universe."

"white cat" by artist hazel fisher

"White Cat" by haz-elf on deviantART with thanks to the artist

(click on link for her deviantArt gallery)

British artist Hazel Fisher created this classic portrait in 2008, using Quink (a brand of ink). I was drawn to the clean quality of the light, as well as how perfectly she caught the little hairs that pop up around the edge of a balled-up cat. Sally's hair used to do that, a perfect fringe of black - so how much am I impressed by the challenge of portraying a white cat? A lot. But then, as she says, "Detail is important to me in both the careful planning of my ideas and in the visual outcome."

Fisher also creates playful and imaginative images, as you'll see on her website - look at the "Hexley" section in particular.

dumas buys a green monkey and a blue macaw

A couple of days ago I posted a snippet of Alexandre Dumas pere's memoir, My Pets. At the time I thought I'd continue on the subject of his dogs, but what really caught me was this little vignette from Chapter XIII of how he acquired two unusual creatures:

* * *

Mademoiselle Desgarcins was a dog-faced monkey, and one of the tiniest of her species. Her birthplace was unknown; but, if we are to trust to Cuvier's classification, she must have seen the light somewhere on the old continent.
The way I became her possessor was quite simple and ordinary.
I had been to pay a visit to Havre. With what object ? Upon my word ! I can hardly say—perhaps it was to have a look at the sea. Once there, I had immediately been seized with the wish to be back in Paris.
But it was out of the question to return quite empty-handed. The only point to be decided was what I should take back with me from that seaport.
I had a wide range of choice—ivory toys from China, fans from the Far East, weapons and trophies from the South Sea Islands, and a hundred other curios. But none of these articles quite took my fancy.
I was strolling along the quay, as melancholy as the fantastic Dane of Shakespeare's immortal play, when I caught sight, at the door of a dealer in animals, of a green monkey and a blue macaw.
The monkey had put her little hand out between the bars of her cage and caught hold of my coat-tail.
The blue parrot was twisting its head about and gazing amorously at me out of its yellow eye, the pupil of which kept narrowing and dilating with the tenderest of tender expressions.
I am very amenable to demonstrations of the kind, and those of my friends who know me best declare that, for my own good name and my family's, it is a very lucky thing I was not born a woman.
I stopped therefore, pressing the monkey's paw in one hand, and gently scratching the macaw's head with the other, at the risk of meeting the same fate as Colonel Bro with his parrot. See my Memoirs.
But nothing of the sort occurred. Instead, the little monkey drew my hand gently to her mouth, put out her tongue through the bars and licked my fingers lovingly.

* * *

You can read the rest in Chapter XIII, "How I Was Over-Persuaded to Buy a Green Monkey and a Blue Macaw," in Alexandre Dumas, translated posthumously, My Pets (Alfred Allinson, trans. London: Methuen & Co., 1909)

name that dog breed (all kinds of things)

You know, for someone who so loves the intersection of words and facts with life, I never gave any thought to how dog breeds get named. Why is Cash a "Brittany" spaniel? Brittany had their own spaniel? Why would Bretons want an amped-up spaniel?

See what I mean?

This also seems to have occurred to the folks at the late, great, much missed trivia site known as Vitamin Q, where I found a list including:

1 Affenpinscher – this comical breed has a name which translates as monkey biter! It is a pinscher (German terrier) which has an ape-like appearance.
2 Dandie Dinmont – this small terrier is named after a character in Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering who breeds similar dogs.
3 Schipperke- bred to work on barges, its name means little boatman in Dutch.
4 Shar Pei – means sand-skin in Chinese, since this dog has a rough, sandpapery skin.
5 Malamute – named after the Inuit people (the Mahlemut) who bred them.
6 Poodle – from the German verb pudeln (to paddle in water); the breed was originally used for retrieving waterfowl
7 Springer Spaniel – springing means flushing out game birds; spaniel refers to the dog's supposed Spanish origin.
8 Papillon – named after its dramatic ears which vaguely resemble butterfly wings.
9 Yarmouth Toller – this retriever was bred to toll (luring wildfowl close to the hunters) and is named after Yarmouth County in Nova Scotia.
10 Basset – this short-legged dog gets its name from French bas, meaning low.

Rest of the post here. It doesn't include Brittany spaniels, but it seems they get their name from, you guessed it, Brittany, are also called Epagneuls or Bretons, and are likely the product of crossbreeding between English setters and French spaniels.

pet causes at solstice

As you know yesterday was day one of the Fremont Solstice, and I was there enjoying myself thoroughly. There are many good causes represented there, including several benefitting animals, and I want to give a quick shout out to the ones I saw and visited:

Feral Cat Spay and Neuter Project

Purrfect Pals of Arlington, WA

Animal Legal Defense Fund

and I have to include The Snow Leopard Trust, which I love.

cat poet card!

This past weekend in Nevada City, California -- at a shop named Laloo, just for TMI -- I came across this splendid card by Ganapati Studios. Had to have. Of course. The quote reads, "To a poet, silence is an acceptable response, even a flattering one. -- Colette"

I'd seen Ganapati Studios cards before up here where I live. Turns out they are based in the Wallingford/Fremont area of Seattle. They create their collaged images from their love of antique paper cutouts and decorations, as well as a sure and unafraid sense of color. They do have a few other kitty cards in their mix, as you may see in their card page. An additional joy is their dedication to giving back to the world community, so every time you buy a treat from Ganapati Studios, you support excellent causes.

Isn't that a beautiful little kitty? I wish I could get Elizabeth to wear . . . anything.

dumas writes about a few pets

Alexandre Dumas (Pere, I believe) speaks of living and writing in the country. . .

The first necessity to a man who works and works hard is solitude. Society is the distraction of the body; love the occupation of the heart; solitude the religion of the soul.
At the same time I do not love a lonely solitude. I prefer the solitude of the terrestrial paradise that is to say, a solitude peopled with animals. I adore all animals—except those of the human species…

I had—not all at once, but one after the other— five dogs: to wit—Pritchard, Phanos, Turk, Caro, and Tambo. I had a tame vulture—Diogenes. I had three monkeys—one bearing the name of a celebrated translator, another that of an illustrious novelist, and the third—a lady ape—that of a successful actress. The reader will readily understand my motives for not mentioning these names, which had been mostly given in reference to some detail of the private life or some physical peculiarity of the original.
Now, as a great novelist has said,—I would tell you which, but I really am not quite sure, "private life must be held sacred."
So we will, if you please, call the translator Potich; the novelist, the Last of the Laidmanoirs; and the she-monkey, Mademoiselle Desgarcins.

I had, moreover, a big blue and red parakeet called Buvat, and a green and yellow one known as Papa Leverard.
I had a cat named Mysouff, a golden pheasant named Lucullus, and a cock named Caesar.
Such is an accurate enumeration, I think, of all the animals inhabiting Monte Cristo (the rural area in which he was living at this time - Curator).
Add a peacock and pea-hen, a dozen fowls, and a pair of guinea-fowl, creatures I only set down here for the sake of completeness, their individuality being nil or next to it.

--Alexandre Dumas, translated posthumously, My Pets (Alfred Allinson, trans. London: Methuen & Co., 1909)
A little later in the book he discusses the five dogs. That would make for some fun posting, I think.

a dutch rabbit

This is Robert (Dutch Rabbit), an oil on panel from January 2009 by Ljubica Todorovic. A delicious small-scaled work measuring 8'x8', this painting shows off Ljubica's love for painting bunnies. She creates others of a fantastical and playful nature, too, which are sure to bring an instant smile. I love her color sense and am sure you will too. Check her out at studiotodorovic.com and ljubicatodorovic.com. Be sure and check out her notes on her painting set-up (June 12th '09) for a great first-person on "what it's like to paint."

stay tuned!

I'm safe and sound in the Gold Rush country and looking forward to posting again in a couple of days. Hoping each and every one of you had a good weekend.

And here's a little oil portrait of our dog Cash, courtesy of artist Mark Larson (2008).

dog vintners?

The Gold Rush country of Northern California beckons for the next few days, so it may well be Tuesday before I get to post again. I had a wish to see the wine country again, but that's another 2 hours south - no time for us to see it.

But when I do, I think I'd like to look up some winery dogs. Of course a dog is a great vineyard helper - wine takes patience and devotion, doesn't it? Sounds like a dog is the perfect inspiration for any vintner.

Where would I find them? With the help of a couple of books called Winery Dogs of Sonoma and Winery Dogs of Napa Valley. I could meet Rubee and Emmy Lou at Sebastiani, Spanky at Landmark, and Rowdy at Hess Collection. Perhaps I could watch Lily the Maltese at Gargiulo Vineyards fill her soft white fur with rosemary and sage as she supervises the gardens.

You may enter the books' website here. Meet some dogs here. And get your bearings here.

Where is the Winery CATS book?

bunny flicks

I am selfish this morning, but to your amusement and profit, perhaps! While looking about for what would strike my fancy about "rabbits + culture", I came across Film Experience Blog's 2006 post on rabbits in the movies -- "A History Of . . . Bunnies."

You know how I love a movie or two to pass the time, so I am all happy to have another movie site to visit other than Roger Ebert's. (Not that I don't love him too, but I like to mix it up.) So what does our host Nathaniel say as to noted cinema bunnies? He goes all the way from buns like early Mickey Mouse-era Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, to Thumper and Bugs Bunny (ah, Bugs!), a mention of Watership Down, Jessica Rabbit (I must say I am tired of her skating in on her last-name technicality everywhere), and last but not least, the glorious Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Worth a chuckle and some Netflix rentals.

And late breaking embellishment: Bob Mondello at NPR.org likes a lot of those too. David Lynch did what sounds like a rather unpleasant 8-short-episodes series in his darkly comic style, called Rabbits, featuring humans in rabbit costumes. And let us not forget the poor little rabbits who featured so tragically in Jean de Florette.

a traveling oz boy: red dog

On a red stone in Dampier, Australia, there's a statue of a cattledog-looking fellow, in motion, ready to go. This statue honors Red Dog, who during his life (1971 - Nov 1979) moved past two owners to become his own dog. The greater community took him in, fed and cared for him, gave him a bank account and a sports club membership. Meanwhile he went where the dry western winds took him, until the day he died -- apparently of poison (there's always someone, isn't there?).


Louis de Bernières wrote the book Red Dog after seeing his statue and learning his story: read the review in the Guardian newspaper here. Wikipedia on Red Dog here.

artist: jennifer lewis

Let's face it. You watch your cat on the hunt, and you're proud of him/her for being smart and powerful. At the same time, you can't help but feel a little sorry for the cute little furry thing that gets outsmarted. But what are you going to do? That's nature - it's no picnic.

This mix of the dark and the cute I found aptly illustrated in this work by Jennifer Lewis: Cheese Shop (Acrylic on board, 2008).

Jennifer Lewis's website is http://www.mio.8k.com/. You'll find more excellent work there and her artist bio, which drops the perfect namecheck of Edward Gorey and Beatrix Potter.

black dog: a ghost, an inn, a town

In Devon, UK, near Dartmoor, you may find your way to the village of Black Dog. (It's near Washford Pyne and Morchard Bishop, if that helps.) While you are there perhaps you might like to stop at the inn placed at the town's crossroads, also called The Black Dog Inn. (Here is their menu.) You probably at some point will wonder precisely whose black dog started all this.

The answer? No one's. The Black Dog belonged to himself. The tale is told that during the English Civil War the Dog stood guard in front of the tunnel leading from the local well to Berry Castle nearby. Guarding what? Hoping to catch wrongdoers? Barring access to treasure?

He has been seen now and again over the years, as this tale from 1993 may convince you. And here is a bit more of his history.

Just FYI for black dog ghost tourists, another black dog kept his territory at Uplyme.

golden crows

Yes, this is more a flight of fancy than a pet post.

However, I had to share these photos with you. (And a pet crow is a cool thought anyway.)

I took them today walking through Seattle, past a former hot-tub-by-the-hour place in the U District. The building is slated for destruction, so it's become a graffiti art project. Several artists have created work on the building. And one has taken his flock not only into the display windows, but gilded them flying across and away on the building's surface.

a tuxedo cat went adventuring

As we at the Museum return, with a wistful look at our photos of Sally Cat, to regular programming, I find my thoughts turn to the open road and new sights. A little escape is good to clear the head of things now and then.

"Blackie" was a tuxedo cat who lived in New Zealand in the late 30's, and he must have had a crystal clear head as kitties go. In The New Zealand Railways Magazine (vol. 13, issue 11 Jan. 1 1939!) a story is told of the New Zealand Government tender ship the Matai. Four times a year this ship went round and round the country's 3000 coastal miles, checking up on the lighthouses and bringing supplies to their keepers. Last but not least, the Matai provided a fine home for Blackie.

Blackie was partial to the engine-room (it would have been nice and warm), and every so often availed himself of insider privileges with other modes of local transport. One of his jaunts was so epic as to excite comment for some time:

“Blackie” walked ashore without leave in Auckland, but rejoined in Wellington
ten days later. It happened that during this interval there had been no vessels
making this trip. How did “Blackie” get to Wellington? There are people prepared
to take their oath that “Blackie” was seen wandering around the Auckland railway
yard, so one simply assumes that this very intelligent cat knew all about the
Limited! (railway)

As usual I can't nick his photo off the site due to copyright issues, but you must, must see it. And here is the whole Matai article, including Blackie's story. (Be sure and find the page break.)

how kind you have been!

Thank you, kind kitties,

and kind dachshunds and doggies all,

and your kind "apes" (as Whicky W would say)

for your thoughts and wonderful messages.

How generous and thoughtful you are.

Our love and gratitude pours out to you.

See, Elizabeth wanted to make sure you knew: