Down, Down-Forward, Forward, De-Polarize
Bunky and I had our appointment with the pet therapist yesterday. The session was just under 2 hours, and to make a long story short, it is all Bunky’s fault.
The therapist didn’t make herself especially credible at the start, having tremendous problems parking and getting into our building. However, her analysis of the situation and formulation of a hypothesis was reasonable. The gist of it is that Sydney is bored out of his mind and frustrated that Bunky doesn’t spend any time playing with him anymore. Back in law school, Bunky would get home pretty early, and they would hang out a lot. Now, Bunky works past 9 PM most days, and there are no birds, deer, raccoons, etc. outside our window for Sydney to watch. So whenever Bunky gets up at night to get a drink or go to the bathroom, Sydney tries to play with her, and has learned to get too rough because Bunky doesn’t discourage it (and worse, she shrieks and runs).
The general solution is to teach Sydney that this behavior is not allowed, and to give him more play time before bed. Bunky was given a chart that she has to fill in every day saying when she played with Sydney. We were also told to put toys that move, e.g. streamers or something, outside the window for him to look at. At the same time, Bunky is going to get a bunch of spray bottles to put all around the house to defend herself from ambushes. All in all, it sounds like a reasonable plan, even if Bunky was miffed at being scolded the whole time.
Unfortunately, that is when things got a whole less credible. The therapist started into some absurd alternative medicine thing, using various plant essences to draw out various vices. She did some silly exercises with Bunky where she would tug on Bunky’s arm after asking a question and use Bunky’s arm resistance as an indicator of yes or no. It was so ridiculous that I had to avoid looking at Bunky for fear we would both start laughing. It was a total scam, but we both listened politely.
The lowlight probably came when the therapist made Bunky raise her arms like a ballerina. When the therapist tried to pull Bunky’s arms down, she couldn’t do it the first time, so she sorta lightly punched Bunky in the collarbone, and then successfully pulled Bunky’s arms down. This was to demonstrate how the therapist had “depolarized” Bunky. Yeah, I know…
Anyway, the therapist finished up and said she’d check back in with Bunky at least once this week. Hopefully Sydney’s behavior will improve, so that Bunky won’t have to feel that she wasted time and money on this consultation. I didn’t get to participate very much, but it was fun listening to the therapist tell Bunky to stop being so wimpy.
Related posts:
Pets and Plants | Kabitzin 07/27/2007
By Ender, 07/27/2007 @ 11:49 am
Isn’t there some sort of cable channel for cats to watch? Like, it features like mice or fish or something running around?
Also, I thought you had already formulated pretty much the same hypothesis before the pet therapist was hired.
By Kungfucius, 07/27/2007 @ 12:35 pm
Maybe you should just put up a screen saver of fish or random animals on your HDTV while both of you are out of the house since you got a computer connected to it.
By Velius, 07/27/2007 @ 12:36 pm
I thought that’s how therapists always work? Tell you things you already know but charge for it.
By Chris, 07/27/2007 @ 12:54 pm
I have trouble figuring out who’s the cat here. Sydney, Bunkey? Both? Neither? Why didn’t Bunky do a neko-punch?
By Chris, 07/27/2007 @ 12:57 pm
Velius, no that’s a fortuneteller. A therapist is rather someone who talks you into insanity and out of it again (if it’s a good one), then charges for it.
By Chris, 07/27/2007 @ 1:01 pm
This collarbone technique sounds familiar. I’ve seen it before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUjFRKWk6gQ
By Kabitzin, 07/27/2007 @ 1:39 pm
Only Sydney can do the neko-punch, because he is the cat.
I don’t think Sydney would be fooled by a tv show or screensaver, since he has seen the real thing.
By Chris, 07/27/2007 @ 1:47 pm
I don’t think it’s about getting fooled. It’s more like watching pr0n. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to turn a cat into an otaku though.
By Catnipped, 07/27/2007 @ 2:52 pm
LOL, this thread is hilarious. I suppose if Sydney can’t see the real thing, cat pr0n will suffice?
that therapist did seem to know what she is talking about, too bad she had to fill her brain with all the other new age nonsense
By Felina, 07/27/2007 @ 3:41 pm
Playtime is very important, especially if Sydney is an indoor only cat.
Additional options:
1. Get another smaller cat for Sydney to bully.. um.. PLAY with, thus preventing Sydney from getting bored.
2. Invest in a sturdy catnip toy to help Sydney *mellow* out, thus preventing Sydney from CARING about being bored.
By Kabitzin, 07/27/2007 @ 4:36 pm
Our place is borderline too small for another cat, but we did give some thought to getting a little girl cat for Sydney to beat up.
Sydney is not a pothead, or he was desensitized at an early age, so he doesn’t really calm down.
He’s an indoor only cat, so Bunky is just going to have to make some time to play with him. I really am not too sure about this cat pr0n suggestion, especially since Sydney is already neutered.
By Velius, 07/27/2007 @ 5:31 pm
It’s so typical of you west coasters, solve everything with drugs!
By Chris, 07/27/2007 @ 5:42 pm
How about a hamster?
By Chris, 07/28/2007 @ 1:58 pm
I wonder what neko doc wrote about this in her blog. Any links?