Heat wave with cats.: seanan

Heat wave with cats.

My part of Northern California is currently experiencing its first really serious heat wave of 2011. I know better than to whine about this too much; by this point in the year, in a normal year, we'd be on heat wave three or four, and temperatures would be trending substantially higher than they are.

That being said, Thomas is only eleven months old, and this is actually the first really serious heat wave of his life. My house has air conditioning, but it doesn't run twenty-four hours a day, which means that it can get warm inside during the gaps. (Never dangerously warm. I am a good cat owner who does not bake her babies. But there's a big difference between "springtime cool" and "what is this shit?", especially when you've been genetically designed to go tromping around in heavy snow, mocking Jack Frost for his inability to nip at your nose.) Alice and Lilly are quietly miserable, but Thomas? Thomas is distressed.

Monday night, I got home from a hot, sweaty day at work, and promptly jumped into the shower, because sometimes, that's the only solution available to you. The Maine Coons thought so, too. In short order, I was joined in the shower by both Alice and Thomas, who splashed around in the water, got thoroughly drenched, and then took turns sitting on the plug so as to create a puddle for the other to swim in. Yes. My cats cooperatively filled the bathtub in order to have swampy funtimes.

After our shower, they squelched around the house like extras from Sigrid and the Sea Monsters until I chased them down and toweled them off. I think they're still annoyed about that. Sadly, their inability to understand "don't walk on keyboards while wet" is why they can't have a wading pool.

Heat wave with cats. It's going to be a long July.

beccastareyes

June 22 2011, 17:40:15 UTC 6 years ago

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That is kind of adorable, even if they later tracked water all around the house and into the electronics. A good thing your cats do like water, as they probably cooled off pretty nicely in the shower, and even towel-dried-damp hair is cooling. (Is that normal for Maine Coons? I know some breeds are like 'awesome, water! XD', while others take to it like... well, like cats. )

I've also heard of folks with Persians doing the 'lion cut' thing and shaving off all the fur in the summertime, which makes the cat look pretty silly, but is probably more comfortable than hauling around that much fur in a climate where heavy fur coats are not your friends. Dunno how your kitties would feel about it.

June 22 2011, 17:42:02 UTC 6 years ago

Oh, that last bit wasn't intended as cat advice, but more 'other things cat owners do to help their kitties beat the heat'. Somehow the image of cooperative Maine Coon wading pools is cuter even than 'silly summer haircuts'.

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seanan_mcguire

June 22 2011, 18:11:59 UTC 6 years ago

Maine Coons looooooooooooooooove water. Thankfully. I'm probably going to get their bellies shaved, but the double-thick nature of their coats makes lion cuts a bad thing.

June 22 2011, 18:47:25 UTC 6 years ago

Ah, I knew there was a useful reason not to do it!

Though the water probably helps with the heat, even if kitties need to learn that wetting the keyboards means no more wet fun play time for them.

June 23 2011, 16:16:41 UTC 6 years ago

It does them no harm, but growing back the secondary coat in only places can create some AMAZING matting. Shaving is way better.

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Heat wave with cats.

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