A Lazy Saturday

My younger sister's cat, Max, has been taking to sleeping on her gas stove to stay warm. My sister, Kristen, tells me basements are rare in New Orleans, so her wood floors have been quite chilly during their recent cold spell. Hence, the cat on the stove. A few weeks back, Kristen tells me I should knit Max some booties. My first thought is, "Yeah, okay, whatever..." So I jokingly tell her that if she finds me a pattern, I will indeed knit her some cat booties. Knowing my sister, I should not have been surprised that a short time later, I received the following pattern in my inbox:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2212332_knit-cat-booties.html
This is not the best pattern, but it is the only one out there for cat booties. I have looked and could find nothing else. I did not, however, search for dog booties and wonder if an extra-small or small dog booty could adapt to a feline paw.

While I have succeeded in not trying any dog sweaters on  Pheoda, I decided she would have to test out the booties for sizing. Attempt #1 (following the pattern exactly), lasted approximately 0.1 seconds and came off in one shake. As you can see by the picture, the leg is quite short and not well tapered. The pattern also creates an odd break between the leg and paw. I think this is designed to allow the foot to bend but does not fit well onto the paw. I changed the cast off edges to more gradual decreases.


This morning, I revised the pattern and ended up with Attempt #2. Due to the increased length in the leg, this booty lasted 0.2 seconds on Pheoda and came off in two shakes. I figured this was about as good as I could expect with a cat booty and called it finished!

When I told my sister that the pattern only seems to be for front paws, she was quite upset that Max would still have cold back paws. I've since told her that if he wears his booties for any extended period of time (as in MUCH longer than 0.2 seconds), then I can adapt the pattern for the back paws. Of course, her other cat, Izzy, needs booties too. The pictures here are Izzy's booties. Max's will a blue/white mix.

What a way to spend a Saturday! I am happy to send my revisions to to the pattern to anyone who may want to try these out for their cat! Just leave a comment with your email, and I'll get back to you!