Cat whisperer Jackson Galaxy is kind of an odd dude. He’s big, bald, covered in tattoos, and communes with cats for a living. He also has a show on Animal Planet called My Cat From Hell (thanks for the recommendation, gals!).
Technically, he’s a cat behaviorist/therapist. Frustrated cat owners hire Jackson — who with a name like Jackson Galaxy must have been a Vegas lounge singer in a past life — to help them understand why their kitties act out.
Like a doctor who does house calls, he carries the tools of his trade, things like cat toys, treats, black lights (to detect where cats have been “spraying”, eww!) and motion-sensitive compressed air cans (useful for training kitties about off-limits areas), in a big black case, except that his case was originally designed for guitars, and he treats a variety of kitty conditions, ranging from domesticating feral scaredy cats to teaching cat owners the fundamentals of feline psychology.
After watching a few episodes filled with kitties clawing their owners, shredding the furniture and peeing on beds (eek!), it reinforced my appreciation for Edward Scissorpaws Tabs. He’s not always the easiest cat to work for (the late night parties, rides to the airport, midnight gravy demands), but he could be a lot worse! 🙂
The show got me thinking about pets in general and all their funny quirks.
Do your pets have any strange habits? Tabs has quite a few…
1. Specific “cat” rules concerning use of the bed
Although he doesn’t sleep through the night with us, Tabs does like to hang out in bed while we read, but he can’t just hop casually on/off the bed. He’s very specific about his bed entry and exit.
First, he has to circle the bed counter clockwise to the side furthest from the bedroom door. Then, without fail, he hops to a specific area about 18 inches from the head of the side on which El Hub sleeps, from there walking across El Hub’s chest directly to my left side.
No matter what, he always takes the exact same route.
I’ve tried and tried to lure him up a different way — from my side and the foot of the bed — but he just won’t do it. Sometimes I wonder if he’s a little OCD.
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