Laid Back Barney...

"What??? Is there any other way to sit?" Some cats are just naturally laid back, but when Nancy Solomon, an acquaintance of mine from Cat Assistance in Ardsley, New York, showed me her baby, Barney, I just had to share. Barney, a Domestic Short Hair Solomon rescued from Cat Assistance five years ago, has taken to sitting in his unique Barney pose ever since he was a baby. “I got him when he was four months old, and it was a few months after that I noticed this,” says Solomon. “He’ll do it anywhere…the floor, the bed, the couch.” When he’s on the couch, he stares straight ahead (probably meditating), or he watches TV. Then, when he’s totally bored, he falls asleep on his back with his legs still extended, Solomon says. "I've trained my mommy well, huh?" Barney’s a big boy, weighing in at 15 pounds, and according to Solomon, he’s a consummate jokester. “At one point, he was on special food that was triangular in shape,” Solomon recalls. “When I gave it to him, he’d spit out all of the corners and only eat the middle.” Laid back Barney also signals when he wants a treat by walking to the scratching post and tapping it. (Another example of a well-trained human.) "Couches are nice, but bags are okay, too." And, she says, he has great fun opening doors, sitting in bags, and running around the apartment like a racecar….after which he takes the Barney repose position and chills out a while. Such a card! Have a cat who sits like Barney? Email me at photos@Petside.com "Laid-Back Cats."