Famish is a great cat but he gets out of control crazy sometimes.  It seems to usually happen after he has had a long nap.  It’s not all bad when it happens though.  Watching him slip and slide as he barrels across the hard floors has provided me many hours of happiness.  My favorite move is when he runs as hard as he can but doesn’t go anywhere because his nicely manicured claws can’t find any purchase  on the floor.  It is beautifully cartoonish.  I’m trying to catch that action on video so I can show you all.

Eventually, though, his craziness gets tiresome and even sometimes dangerous.  The gashes on Satomi’s arm are proof of that.  I’ve been trying to figure out if there is any music that will calm him down.  It’s definitely not John Coltrane.  Listening to Coltrane makes Famish even more bonkers.  Mozart will put him to sleep sometimes.  He seems to like Neil Diamond okay but not enough to totally chill out.  I want to give special thanks to those of you who voted in the poll about what will best mellow out our cat.  Special thanks to the person who voted “other” and added, “a cup of catnip tea served on fine china.”  I haven’t tried that but I will.  Oddly, there is no catnip to be found around here.  They sell something called matatabi that is supposed to do the same thing but it makes Famish so out of control I have to lock him in another room so he doesn’t shred the drapes or us.

Drum roll, please. The thing pacifies Famish is Eckhart Tolle. One person who took the poll got that right.  Yay, for whoever it was.  I stumbled upon Famish’s fondness for Eckhart Tolle when I was taking Famish to lose his manliness.  He is not a cat who enjoys car rides.  He meows a tortuous meow as soon as the car starts moving so I was playing different things from my old iphone (that now is useful only as an ipod), trying to drown out his suffering.  When I flipped on the Tolle, Famish became totally quiet almost instantly and didn’t meow even one more time the final twenty minutes of the drive.  I admit that there is something soothing about hearing Eckhart Tolle for me as well.  Maybe it’s that he only really talks about one thing so it is pretty easy to catch his point.  I also like the way he occasionally burps as he speaks. And with his German accent it is hilarious when he makes a joke and then laughs at it.  I hadn’t really given Tolle a listen until Famish became a fan.  Now I turn on his cd when I leave the house and Famish is a chilled out cat when I return.  I usually listen a little bit myself too.  I started using it in the house when he was having separation anxiety.  For a while he would scratch off big patches of hair if we left him home alone.  It was not attractive.  No problems now, as long as Eckhart is speaking.  It’s a crap shoot if there is silence or some other cd.

Check out this picture of Famish listening to Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth.  Doesn’t he look like he is actually paying attention.  I guarantee you that he doesn’t normally look like that. Only when he is listening to Tolle.