Sunday, April 29, 2007

Stressed Pets

Well, here's something I've never considered.
TOKYO (AP) -- Wondering if your dog or cat is stressed? Just stick a special patch on the bottom of its paw and you'll be able to tell, according to a Japanese company.
The patch, developed by Japanese company Medical Life Care Giken, purports to measure the stress level of dogs and cats by detecting excessive sweat secretion -- believed to be a sign of stress -- the Nikkei Weekly reported Sunday.
The round, pin-sized patch is applied to the center pad of the animal's paw and changes color depending on how sweaty the pet is, the Nikkei said.

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I'm a bit skeptical. If you've ever sat down and put deep thought into how to tease a cat (I did as a kid, but not now. Not now. Not now), you know that putting a piece of tape on its paw will, in itself, stress it out. It would be like Jennifer Love Hewitt taking Trader Rick's blood pressure -- just the act itself would send the reading through the roof.

7 comments:

Trader Rick said...

BE STILL MY HEART!!!!

Lone Ranger said...

Down, boy. Don't make me stick a patch to your foot.

Mark said...

So. Now we know our pets are stressed. Is there a way to determine what causes the stress?

By the way, one of our six dogs is apparently psychotic. Is there a way to determine that? Would the patch tells us that?

Mark said...

Ha ha ha! repeating the words, "not now" over and over is reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut's writing style!

Lone Ranger said...

I've never read Vonnegut. I took that from a John Wayne movie, where he says "I won't, I won't, the hell I won't," and then slugs a guy.

Mark said...

McClintock! Great movie!

Trader Rick said...

One of the greatest scenes in all moviedom is John Wayne ambling after Maureen O'Hara thru the streets of town, only to catch her and spank her! Our favorite JW movie is Donovan's Reef with Lee Marvin(altho, admittedly Wayne was miscast as he was WAY too old to play the part).