The Making of a Supermodel

Now that Halloween is over, my cats can breathe a sigh of relief.  The costume season is over so I won’t be torturing them any longer in an attempt to get that perfect photo to post on my blog for Wordless Wednesday.  You may have seen some of the photos last month of “victims” who endured a short session of unwilling poses in front of my camera.  If you know anything about cats, you could probably tell they weren’t “smiling for the camera”.  Rather, they all had a somewhat evil gaze that actually added to the costume!



I suspect there are not many  house cats that have acheived the status of supermodel. If you’ve ever tried to adorn your feline friend in costume, you will quickly understand why. What you don’t see behind the lens is the twenty plus photos snapped before a good one is captured.  When I say “good”, by no means do I mean perfect or one that Cat Fancy would be knocking down my door for next month’s centerfold.  They are either petrified and won’t move, staring at the ground as the costume as rendered them motionless or they are trying to flee the scene.  Before digital photography came along, it would have added up to a lot of bad photos and expensive developing costs. 

Below are some photos I took for a pet photo contest I  recently entered.  Two cats  and 30 photos later, I had one shot that  had  Bruce at least looking at the camera and not scowling!  Unfortunately, I didn’t win the contest which was a prize of cool Rick Springfield gear but maybe next time. 

Some of the not so good shots……

 

I’m not saying it is impossible to make your cat into a supermodel, but understand it takes lots of patience and a significant amount of training and time.   In fact, check out this video of some cool Hollywood cats who attended the cat premiere of “Puss In Boots.”  These cats are obviously well versed on walking the red carpet with style. 

Now we all know that dressing dogs up in costume is much easier.  Generally they are more willing to participate than our feline friends.  Even though cats are a domesticated species, they still seem to maintain a few wild hairs that make them highly independent and less carefree than their canine counterparts.  For this reason, I believe cats are much less willing to put up with crazy human antics such as dressing them up for holidays.  Like I said before, training cats is not impossible and I challenge you to try if you have the patience and time.  As for me, I will continue to dress them up  much to their dismay in an attempt to get that photo contest winning shot.  Little do they know, I was perusing the clearance costumes at the pet store yesterday in anticipation of next year!