Three and a half years ago I posted a selection of the best cat tattoos (“Cattoos,” I called them; be sure to look at the last one!). The thing was that these were all inked on people. Now some misguided Russian fellow has decided to give himself and his cat matching tattoos.
Do I need to advise readers, “DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME”? It is of course cruel to tattoo your cat (even if it is a Sphynx), but I had to show this anyway. It’s from a piece in Jezebel called “Total jackass gives his cat a tattoo,” and has this description:
People do a lot of stupid things to themselves, and it’s not generally a problem. But when they start doing things to pets, it becomes awful very quickly. Witness this poor cat with a tattoo. Apparently pet tattooing has become a trend in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, where the owner, a 24-year-old tattoo artist, lives. Not surprisingly, the idiotic owner is in trouble with animal rights activists, but he sees nothing wrong with the fact that he gave his hairless cat Coco a permanent necklace. As if anesthetizing a cat (can you imagine trying to do this on an alert kitty?) and marking up her body isn’t bad enough, the asshole also misspelled Carpe Diem as “Carpe Deem.” At least Coco can’t read so she’s spared total humiliation—though if she ever notices the giant tattoo of her face that her owner has on his forearm, the shame just might be enough to do her in.
The cat does not look happy.
Here’s the miscreant and his mistreated moggie:
As a palliative, I offer this photo that a reader sent me. Yes, it’s a tad salacious, but your eyes should be on the lovely cat tattoo:
Any readers with tattoos (cats or otherwise) should feel free to confess at this point. On my 40th birthday my lab bought me a gift certificate for a fruit-fly tattooat a local ink emporium, but I never got it. I always wonder if the kids (and Hollywood actors) who bedeck themselves with tattoos now will regret it when they’re older. Skin sags, gets wrinkled, weight goes on, and the tattoos won’t be cool anymore anyway.
This clip is from the Cincinnati Zoo, with the YouTube notes:
Savanna the Cheetah and her d*g friend Max play in the snow, in the cheetah yard. Savanna and Max have been together since September 2012. Savanna was born in June of 2012 and Max was her play friend growing up.
Such beautiful animals (I’m referring to the cheetah); I wonder how they deal with snow? They apparently take it in stride.
h/t: P, Gravelinspector
Jerry! Remember designing matching Drosophila tattoos!?! Your 40th? My, we were young. I am not sure if I am glad or not that we didn’t do it. We had no idea what a fad tattoos were about to become.
The Russian tattooist really is an a-hole. And he can’t spell.
I don’t have any tattoos, but I have never really understood the cautionary warning ‘skin sags’. Yes it does, and when we are eighty and the skin is saggy, what difference does it really make if that droopy, wrinkly skin has tattoos or not on it?
My take: nobody’s business but your own.
Yeah, I work with a girl who has a lot of tattoos on her arms etc. She said people have said that “what are you going to do when you get old and have those tattoos?” and see answers, “be old and awesome with tattoos”. 🙂
A bit off-topic, but here’s an insightful kitty/parasite/evolution comic too good not to share:
http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3212#comic
Don’t forget to click on the Red Button at the bottom of the comic.
I don’t have any tattoos mostly because I would never be able to choose one and I’d probably grow tired of it & also that I have this fear that I’d react to the ink and be one of those poor sods that have to take medicine everyday to cope with the ink allergy. I’m sensitive to things and when I got my ears pierced they were immediately infected despite following protocols.
Oh, believe me, they are!
I got some tatoos at the age of 29. Shortly thereafter they started dosing me with radiation between them.
Here’s hoping you’re much older than 29 now.
I once saw another tattoo, on an arm, received in Germany what would be several decades ago, today. Both that type and your type of tattoo play into why I have no interest in getting one of my own.
There’s also the minor little detail of not being able to imagine any work of art I’d want to carry around with me every day for the rest of my life….
b&
I did see people memorializing pets with paw print tattoos. Those are the only ones I think I’d not get bored with.
Probably still not for me, but that type would make a lot more sense to me.
b&
Yes, I’m doing fine. It’s going on 30 years now.
Wow — I didn’t know that that kind of survival rate was common. Congratulations! Personally, I think I’d be just thrilled to be your age and still have those tattoos from my youth.
b&
There is there story by Saki (The Background) where the protagonist is not allowed to leave Italy under laws preventing export of Italian art, because he happened to carry the last tattoo etched by some local celebrity artist.
That lends a whole new meaning to the idea of “carrying around a work of art”.
Love the video-makes you smile to see how much fun they seem to be having. Notice how the cheetah never catches its friend (except maybe once in the thicket where we can’t see it) despite what we know about its turn-on-a-dime speed, and how after some exertion it has to pause to catch it’s breath/rest up (being a sprinter rather than a long distance runner).
I think my dog may be the size of that cheetah given the size difference between the cheetah and the normal sized lab. She is also leggy like the cheetah. Maybe she needs a cheetah friend to play with to wear her out.
Got two tattoos about twenty years ago. No regrets.
I have two, also. No regrets, either.
I’ve got none, myself. Also no regrets. 😉
I love how the d*g is running all-out, and the cheetah is just loping along, not even in its fastest gait, easily maintaining a constant single-body-length distance behind the d*g. And then every now and again the cheetah, just for a moment, opens up the throttle to tag the d*g or to catch up with it from a stop or the like.
The cheetah clearly knows the d*g’s limitations, and is much more interested in the game than the victory. There’s a protocol to be followed, and each must have some time chasing and being chased, and each must tag the other at least a few times. Never mind that the cheetah could trivially win each round; that wouldn’t be fair nor fun.
Cheers,
b&
The confined space doesn’t really afford the cheetah the opportunity to stretch those long legs either. They need a bigger area for the cheetah.
True, but those guys can both take off and stop on a dime. You see it once or twice for about three or four paces, when the cheetah launches from the d*g’s top speed to cheetah chase speed and drops back down again to d*g-speed.
More than anything else, I get the impression of, say, an NBA star playing half-court ball with a bunch of pre-teen kids. You just know the final score of the game is going to be very close.
b&
Tatooing a cat is dumb. I would never get one, but they do not bother me in the least. Most people have no idea how profoundly stupid they make themselves look, but once in a while, like the cat tatoo, or Feynman diagrams, or Darwin finches, etc., they can be hugely impressive and sometimes provocative.
Ooh, shiny, that palliative! And the tat, jewelry and body jewelry isn’t bad either.
I’m still waiting for a non-metal, non-toxic tattoo pigment that I can consider use.
Then I have to start pondering whether my unblemished skin is nice enough, or if body modification is my thing.
Oops, tats! My eyes may have strayed a little… (O.o)
At least you got the vowel right…
When I’m old and my skin sags, I hope the untattooed parts will look as good as the tattoos. It’s not as though untattooed skin is going to magically remain smooth and taut.
That Tatar ought to have “I am an asshole” tattooed on his forehead…
With regard to the cheetah and cold and snow, I think it is in its genes to adapt to and not be bothered by cold and snow, considering that the former range of its habitat extended well into Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and even Kazakhstan, where winters can be extremely cold and with a lot of snow.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Cheetah_range.gif
Skin sags, gets wrinkled, weight goes on, and the tattoos won’t be cool anymore anyway.
Indeed, and having witnessed examples of that as a kid, that’s why I don’t have any tattoos.
Cats and dogs…playing together…another sign of the End Times.
I see the cheetah’s owner has a nice large enclosure for the cat…almost as large as the entire lot may house sits on.
My dog is about 10 times the size of my neighbors cat (dog…75 lbs). But the cat will calmly let my dog pounce on it and give it a thorough grooming.
I don’t have any tattoos. Nor rings, necklaces, watches, cellphones etc hanging off my body. Even clothes when appropriate.
However I do like seeing tattoos on others – and your model is especially nice. The only problem I have is when the tattoos have faded. That is a complete turn off.
I’ve also noticed that tattooed women tend be particularly relaxed about their bodies. I have lost count of the number of women, who I regard as only friends or even just acquaintances, who have shown me tattoos they have in, shall we say, normally inaccessible areas.
I’ve been told I have a freakishly close relationship with my cat but that goes to 11.
There is nothing that is sufficiently important to me that I could have it indelibly printed on my body and be sure of not getting bored with it. If I had been in an Olympic team I might have a discrete set of rings, but since I wasn’t, I haven’t. Also I don’t like pain.
Ditto re: pain. I might be able to find some design I’d be willing to live with for another few decades but I do not like the idea of sticking needles into my skin any more than required for the occasional medical purpose. I’d be a bad candidate for intravenous drug use, too.
The guy that tattooed his cat should be slapped upside the head,,,asshole!