The mystery of the ' acupuncture cat '

I usually think that the whole "mysterious  cat" thing is blown way out of proportion, undoubtedly by the sophisticated PR machine behind the cat as a measure to keep us endlessly fascinated without asking anything of them as we do with our dogs.



And then there's Jezebel, who presented me with a feline mystery I never did solve. And that's the subject of my column today for the San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate.com:

Jezebel was the kitten of a pregnant stray I found in the street back in the early '80s, and she was a rough-and-tumble little hoyden of a cat. And like a lot of cats, she tended to be a "kneader" when she was happy, working her claws in and out of my leg or arm when I'd pet her.



But while most cats grow out of, or at least, learn to moderate this behavior over time, Jezebel instead became more methodical in how she used her claws. She began inserting a single claw into one spot on my body, sitting and staring intently at the spot while she did it. She would "puncture" odd locations, not just the arms and the legs. And she'd always sit and squint and purr while she was doing it.



I really had no idea what to make of this weird behavior until I developed a severe sinus infection. It hit me while I was on vacation, and I went to three doctors before finally coming home, only to find my own doctor couldn't seem to get anywhere with it, either. My friend Kelly was an acupuncturist and he offered to treat me; since we were friends, he made a house call.



As soon as Kelly walked in with his bag full of needles and herbs, Jezebel came flying from the back of the house. Her eyes were huge, and she escorted him into the living room and then nosed around his case when he put it on the floor.



He laughed, and moved her aside so he could get out his needles. She came back up to the case, and touched every needle packet with her nose as he pulled it out.



After he lay them all out on the table, she jumped into my lap and sat there, purring. Every time Kelly inserted a needle in my face, she nudged the needle with her cheek, her purring getting louder. After he was done, she sat on my lap, her eyes squinted, while purring more loudly than I'd ever heard her, touching her nose or cheek to every single needle. Kelly said he'd never seen anything even remotely like it.



A few minutes after he'd inserted the needles, I felt my sinuses shift and open, and my nose started to run copiously. I laughed and tried to shift Jezebel off my lap, but she refused to go, burying her face in my armpit and cranking the volume on her purr even louder. Kelly handed me some tissue and I sat there, face bristling with needles and nose running, my little furry purr machine making my whole body vibrate.



Because acupuncture was the only thing that seemed to help my sinuses, I decided to have Kelly come back a few more times. Every time was the same: no matter where Jezebel was when he got there, she'd come running, tail high, eyes bright, eager to help him get those needles in. This was before I began keeping my cats indoors, and she'd even come in when she was outside and couldn't possibly have heard him at the door.

More, including Kelly's theory, here.



Photo: Jezebel, left, with her mother, Luna, spending some quality time over the griddle's pilot light in my kitchen.

Comments

[Evelyn]

My cat loves to get on top of my chest and knead me. Ouch! However, I put a blanket between us and keep her claws on the short side, thanks to my daughter's expert claw-snipping.



I would prefer an acupuncture needle any day to my cat kneading me on naked skin.



Although I would not attempt to solve this mystery, I do know that cats can recognize the sound of a familiar car engine. I have seen the cats jump up on the window a minute or two before someone they know has come down the driveway.



Good story, and I enjoyed reading it.

[Ingrid King]

Love this article (and I had to smile at your comment about the mysterious cat thing being blown out of proportion - spoken like a true dog person :-)!)



I've had a similar experience with acupuncture for a sinus infection - one treatment was more effective than days of sinus medications, and put an almost instant end to my misery.



I'm with Kelly on his interpretation of Jezebel's fascination with the acupuncture needles :-)

[Christie Keith]

Evelyn, Kelly took the bus, so it wasn't his car.... and Jezebel reacted that way the first time he came, too.

[Evelyn]

Jezebel was truly an amazing cat!



Acupuncture can be amazing, also, curing or alleviating certain maladies while relaxing the patient. Whenever I have had such treatment, I almost fall asleep.