MetaChat - Ask MeCha - Should I get my portrait tattooed on my cat?

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13 November 2006

Ask MeCha - Should I get my portrait tattooed on my cat? →[More:]I can't decide. She's getting on in her years and was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroid disease, but we've been especially close lately, and I'd like to show her I really care about her. Plus, it'd be good security for her if she ever gets lost or whatever.

She seems to be pretty receptive to the idea, but I'm not sure of the exact portrait (ascii(!), mosaic-style, etc.) and whether her chest or her side would be a better location. Also, I'd hate to pick something and then find out I don't like it (this is the exact reason I've never gotten a tat myself). So, what's the normal procedure here - should I draw it on her first, to be more certain?

Also, if you know any good tattoo artists in NY who would be willing to do this (I'm sure they exist), let me know. I found this, but this guy doesn't seem so much the "artist" as he is an "IDer".

post by: Hellbient at: 12:42 | 15 comments

I want one of those tags that says "Warning! Tattooed" etc. to wear around my neck.

Also: the cat that got his head stuck in the jar was sad, but funny. After all, isn't it just Darwinism at its finest?

posted by Specklet 13 November | 12:47

No, no you shouldn't. However, getting your cat's portrait tattooed on yourself would be charming.

posted by cmonkey 13 November | 12:51

My cat once got his head stuck in a jar once, back when he was young. By the time we got to him (he was making a racket so someone went to see what he was up to), he had managed to break the jar, though, and was wearing a silly (yet dangerously sharp) glass collar he was unable to gett off. I can't remember how we got him out of it -- my father must've cut the collar open with sheet metal cutters or something.

posted by Daniel Charms 13 November | 12:55

Yeah, especially if you do it on the back of your head!

posted by Specklet 13 November | 12:56

Just poke some holes in the jar. He'll be fine!

posted by pieisexactlythree 13 November | 13:25

Is she an outdoor cat? If so, I say no--because then people you've never met would be all like, "You look so familiar to me...where have I seen your face? Oh! I know! You're the Pussy Guy! Hey everybody, it's the Pussy Guy!"

posted by jrossi4r 13 November | 13:47

The Pussy Guy. Now there's a moniker I can live with.

posted by Hellbient 13 November | 14:08

The Pussy Guy (perhaps I'll get a tattoo after all).

posted by Hellbient 13 November | 14:09

hellbient: if you truly cared for your whiskered friend, you'd skip the tattoo and arrange for kitty to haave LASIK surgery. The feline still won't have human-level eyesight afterwards, but it'll still be a marked improvement. Although more expensive, prosthetic hands and a vocoder are also worth considering, as your faithful companion will be answer the phone when you're not around! Tattoos only fade over time.

posted by Smart Dalek 13 November | 14:36

Please, for the sake of your poor feline companion... forget this idea.

posted by appidydafoo 13 November | 16:39

Actually, hellbient, I think you should get your tattoo on one side, and a tattoo of zombiehead bunnyboy on the other. Then get its face tattooed so that it looks like a lion's. He'll be the hippest, scariest cat in the neighbourhood!

posted by elizard 13 November | 16:54

Also, ASCII. Duh.

posted by elizard 13 November | 16:58

I think you and your cat should seek out a family counselor. You two obviously have some unresolved issues.

posted by mischief 13 November | 17:42

You should get your cat tattooed in a camouflage pattern (full-body, of course). I've been looking for the pattern I was thinking of, as you'd mentioned ASCII, but can't find it - it's a forest camo, but instead of blotchy it's blocky, like pixels. Sure, you could go for a funky colour selection, as most other animals are colourblind, but it'd just be bad and embarassing.
Alternately, as your cat's getting on and probably not moving as quickly as it used to, you could try a full-body dazzle style, especially if it likes to hang out in open spaces.

posted by Zack_Replica 13 November | 18:33

If you are that close to your cat, perhaps the inside of her thigh (less hair) is the right spot. Something personal, that only the two of you know about...

posted by redvixen 14 November | 18:36

← Hopefully, a happy ending. || I feared the worst for this deer, →

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