Posted: February 22, 2010, 3 a.m. EST
Madison is the calm feline center of a recent photo shoot. |
I discovered that my cat Madison has the amazing talent to be calm under pressure when I brought her to our studio for a photo shoot for the America’s Family Pet Expo show program cover.
She’s a strong cat so I had to struggle to get her into the carrier, but she complained little during the car ride. When I opened the studio door, three dogs who had never been around cats greeted us, one of which was a hyperactive Lab puppy. In front of the backdrop was a young girl holding a rabbit sitting in a little red wagon. At the other end of the wagon was a goldfish in a little tank and a young boy pulling the wagon.
“Put Madison in the center of the wagon,” the art director instructed.
You’re joking, I thought. She wasn’t, so I placed Madison in the wagon between the goldfish and rabbit, petting her constantly and reassuring her verbally. I told the girl she would have to pet her a lot and hold her down, because I wasn’t part of the shot.
Madison sniffed noses with the rabbit and nothing happened. She looked at the goldfish but didn’t once try to eat it. Each of the three dogs took his turn sniffing Madison and she sniffed back without incident. Madison didn’t hiss, swat, scratch or bite. In fact, Madison was the calmest one in the studio, including all the people.
At one point she placed both paws over the wagon and faced the lens as though she knew as much about camera angles as any professional model. I was so proud and surprised.
“She should be in the movies,” one of the other editors told me. I also thought she would make a good therapy cat. I had no idea I lived with such a star.
Read more of my blogs at Mewsings.
Click here to read more Cat Blogs.