who trained who?

I love giving Nahum tummy rubs. In fact, I can't resist giving him tummy rubs when he offers. He knows this and he exploits my weakness!

Countless times a day, I will look up and see this:

Nahum on his back, tummy in the air, just looking right at me.

He's asking that I come rub his tummy, which of course I must do! After a few seconds of tummy rubs he flips back over and wants to play - a bait and switch! I'm onto his game, but he knows I can't resist his soft tummy.

Did I train him to request tummy rubs? He knows that if he wants affection, all he has to do is to get in the position and it will happen. None of the other cats do this.

Or has Nahum trained me to drop whatever I am doing and rub his tummy on demand? It seems I can't resist his invitation no matter what I am in the middle of.

I am not sure who trained who, but it always works for him. He rolls over and looks = he gets tummy rubs! 

fun friday feline factoid - how cats drink

Researchers from MIT, Virginia Tech and Princeton joined forces to determine just how exactly cats consume liquids (see MIT press release for more info, pictures and video). Their results are fascinating and prove that cats are experts at hydromechanics.

The mechanism used to get the liquid is amazing. A domestic cat averages about four laps per second. Each lap yields about 0.1 milliliters of liquid. Research by a MIT researcher back in the 40's indicated that cat's use their tongue to ladle water into their mouth but this recent research debunks that theory.

Recent high-speed videos made by this team clearly revealed that the top surface of the cat’s tongue is the only surface to touch the liquid. Cats, unlike dogs, aren’t dipping their tongues into the liquid like ladles after all. Instead, the cat’s lapping mechanism is far more subtle and elegant. The smooth tip of the tongue barely brushes the surface of the liquid before the cat rapidly draws its tongue back up. As it does so, a column of milk forms between the moving tongue and the liquid’s surface. The cat then closes its mouth, pinching off the top of the column for a nice drink, while keeping its chin dry.

The liquid column, it turns out, is created by a delicate balance between gravity, which pulls the liquid back to the bowl, and inertia, which in physics, refers to the tendency of the liquid or any matter, to continue moving in a direction unless another force interferes. The cat instinctively knows just how quickly to lap in order to balance these two forces, and just when to close its mouth. If it waits another fraction of a second, the force of gravity will overtake inertia, causing the column to break, the liquid to fall back into the bowl, and the cat’s tongue to come up empty. 

The scientists also videotaped larger cats to study their drinking practices. With the collected data they were able to create a mathematical relationship based on the size of the animal.

With these videos slowed way down, the researchers established the speed of the tongue’s movement and the frequency of lapping. Knowing the size and speed of the tongue, the researchers then developed a mathematical model involving the Froude number, a dimensionless number that characterizes the ratio between gravity and inertia. For cats of all sizes, that number is almost exactly one, indicating a perfect balance.

Here is a video of a cat drinking, in very slow motion. This is truly amazing.

Wow, I am amazed.

tunnel + string

Tunnel + String = fun!

hungry Nahum

Hungry cat = grumpy cat.

sleeping beauties

Sleeping kitties = cuteness²

who trained who?

Once again, out of the corner of my eye, I see Nahum rolling over on his back and looking over at me. It's only the fourth time in the last hour. Upsidedown Nahum = getting tummy rubs, now an axiom. How this came to be is what got me wondering.

Who trained who? I want to say that I taught Nahum that whenever he rolls upsidedown and looks at me that he gets his tummy rubbed. Although, I suppose it could have worked the other way too. Perhaps I learned that whenever he rolls over he needs to have his soft tummy hairs petted. I am not really sure who started this or who's in-charge of this exercise now. It seems to happen more and more frequently as time goes on. I am not complaining though and I haven't heard him complaining either - so maybe the question is irrelevant.