Huckleberries Online

Fatso Video Finally Strikes Chord

Posted by DFO

May 12, 2009 8:20 a.m. • 7 comments

The late, great Fatso the Keyboard Cat is now an Internet sensation thanks to the music video Charlie Schmidt recorded back in the early 1980s in Spokane. (Courtesy of Charlie Schmidt)

History is littered with great artists who were ignored and unappreciated while alive, only to find fame after shedding their mortal coil. And so it is for an orange Spokane cat named Fatso. Fatso, alas, gave up her ninth and final life in 2000. But the cat lives again on the Internet because of the brief, hilarious music video she recorded back in the early 1980s. In it, Fatso tickles the ivories with outstretched paws a la classical musicians like Catzart, say, or Stravinskitty. She plays a jaunty, simple tune. “Doot-doot, doot-doot …” This is without a doubt one of the silliest things ever. That may partly explain why Keyboard Cat has become a cyberspace sensation. (Mass insanity or the overall decline of civilization has my votes for the rest of the equation.)/Doug Clark, SR. More here.

Question: What kinds of tricks can your pet do?

Seven comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Kibby on May 12 at 8:45 a.m.
My cat Gypsy fetchs his little fuzzy catnip balls. He’ll even drop it right in your hand. One of my co-workers simply refused to believe this. I had to take a photo to show him. Funny thing…he was adopted by a persistant stray who, it turned out, was also a fetcher.
MikeK on May 12 at 9:06 a.m.
Our three year old Yellow Lab can eat complete pairs of toddler socks (about up to age 5 sized, I would guess), store them in his stomach for hours at a time, then cough them back up in the middle of the night while we’re asleep in our room. It’s not cute, in fact it’s the most annoying thing - oh, except for the eating full kid meals right off the table in front of the kids. Yea, he does that trick, too. Not cute, not lovable Marley, just annoying 24x7. The kids love him, though, even when he barrels them over in the hallway running away from my wrath after I’ve found another full sandwich gone in the seconds that it took me to turn my head. This dog needs a trainer, a lobotomy, or both.
Bent on May 12 at 9:21 a.m.
My dogs won’t beg at the table and no better than to try and steal food, but the female can dig a 3-foot-deep hole under the fence in 15 minutes and the male dog eats electronic cameras, cell phones, eye glasses, electric blankets, leather shoes, etc. and I wish he would just throw them up, but it usually takes a vet and a $1,000 to get him right after an electronics binge….
Sisyphus on May 12 at 9:31 a.m.
At least yours is predictable Mike. About the only thing I can depend on is that he will locate and roll in any dead rotting carcass within a half mile. He’s half border collie half lab and for the longest time couldn’t decide if he could swim. Not until I had carefully positioned myself within casting distance of a half dozen b run steelhead did he undertake the momentous and heretofore unprecedented event scattering the fish throughout the river. And while he’s no longer a fishing partner, he is a member of the family. You know what they say, there’s no such thing as a bad dog, just bad dog owners. I’m thinking your glass is half full Mike. It sure makes clean up after dinner much easier. I’m sure he even cleans the baby’s face.
Dennis on May 12 at 9:42 a.m.
Ahh Yes,,, My dog is perfect in every way. All kinds of cute tricks, very loving and the most friendly animal you would ever meet. Come bed time, she curls up in the cutest little ball and sleeps next to the headboard.

Perfect,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,except,,,,,,,,,,,,, on occasion,,,,,,,, those meals occasionally catch up with her………..

You know,,,,,,, the ones that cause the noxious volcanic,,, eruptions of putrid aromas emanating from the once cute & cuddly critter. The end result is a late night gag fest ending with the critter spending the remainder of the night locked away in the laundry room and the rath of a daughter who doesn’t sleep with “Poor Mistreated” Miss.

One mans family huh???
marmitetoasty on May 12 at 11:39 a.m.
Who stole me post about Janet me chicken?

x
mike_s on May 13 at 8:29 p.m.
Best Doug Clark column in a long time. .

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.