So things are settling in with myself and Siam. She is very busy with shooting and I am building up steam with a few planned shoots myself. In addition to my son being here, we felt that having just one attention deficit hyper active male in the home (not including myself) wasn't enough and adopted a kitty which Miss Pixie brought to our attention...

Now mind you, being asthmatic I never wanted to have a cat.. but I was convinced and now we have a beautiful grey 2 year old by the name of Mr. Stripes. He is certainly a interesting breed, with just a light tinge of pink to him, his eyes glow orange nearly constantly, which may indicate some sort of demonic possession, which through careful observation could be a possible explanation to his actions: Sprinting across the hard wood living room, careening into walls due to said hard wood, affectionately sinking his teeth into the ankles of my son and Siam to get them to ' play ' (Sado-cat!) etc. Hes actually quite fun to have around outside of being a VERY vocal cat.

But.. the best came today.. I was treating myself to a tasty garlic infused olive and Mr. Stripes became quite interested. As I ate, his vocals became more urgent, insistent if you will. "What cat would possible want a olive?' I thought to myself. It certainly didn't fall into the range of cat like behavior I, in my limited experience with felines, would come to expect. Still, on a whim, I sliced up half of a queen sized, garlic and all, into thin little slices.

The change... was immediate. He took to his bowl with a ferocity and concentration I had not ever witnessed in our feline friend, or any other. He was beyond fascinated, he was attending these delectable morsels with a almost religious fervor. Still, I could tell something unusual was at hand. It could be his tossing the slices into the air, or his attempting to force his entire body into his little cat bowl at once. Once the slices were consumed, he proceeded to alternate between jumping in place, rolling on the ground and occasionally chasing his tail.

After some internet research, it seems that olives have in their oil a similar phermonic compound to catnip which stimulates a part of the brain we evolved specimens have outgrown. Its rare that a cat responds to it at all but it isn't entirely unheard of and can generate a more intense response than simple catnip. Olives don't have anything a cat needs, but they are not harmful according to my research (and yes, these were organically grown and preserved).