Unleash the Archers’ Scott Buchanan (drums) and Brittney Slayes (vocals) with Cowpanda.
Bands with Cats – Brittney Slayes and Cowpanda
– by Cheena Jean Normandin
Your band and role: Brittney Slays, vocalist for Unleash the Archers
What is your cat’s name?
Cowpanda – cuz he’s black and white, with the markings of a cow, but fluffy like a panda.
What’s Cowpanda’s origin story?
Cowpanda is a rescue from the West Van SPCA; my boyfriend and I had been looking into getting a cat for a while and had checked some out but none of them were quite right. I saw Cowpanda on the website looking adorable, so I went to go see him in person. Immediately he was on my lap, in my arms, looking for pets and cuddles and I knew this was the dummy for us. After bringing him home he became even more needy and very vocal, and at first we thought maybe we had made the wrong choice, but after getting to know his schedule and him getting to know ours everything settled into place. Now we could never imagine our lives without him!
What does Cowpanda consume?
An automatic feeder pops at 4 a.m. every morning with a quarter can of Holistic Select wet food, then he jumps into bed with us until we wake up and fill his bowl with the Holistic Select dry food, salmon flavour of course. He snacks on that throughout the day. When we get home from work he gets a couple of treats. He likes Temptations and Greenies. (Trying to wean him off the Temptations though, they’re so bad!)
What do you think your Cowpanda’s theme song is?
Hahaha wow I have no idea! I guess I would say, if you change the words to “Maniac” (yes, the song from Flashdance) then that could be him.
Some days he just runs loops around the condo, it’s hilarious. He starts from his perch by the window in the living room, jumps into the office, through the bedroom, back into the living room then up over the couch and soars from there onto his perch. It rocks wildly back and forth due to the force of his landing and he rides it like a surfboard on the waves, testing himself to keep his balance. Then when it’s settled he’s back at it again. One time he took the jump so fast he landed and rocked the perch right over onto himself, he was so embarrassed he hid under the bed and wouldn’t come out. He’s a little dummy! But yeah, definitely a maniac 😉
What is the most impressive thing that your cat has murdered?Â
Well, he’s an inside cat now as someone tried to steal him off our lawn once and that kind of ruined his chances at being an outdoor kitty, but he’s good at bugs and spiders. Never saw him catch a real mouse but he loves the toy ones we buy him! He massacres them so I always have a bag of five or six in my night table 😉
If Cowpanda sees a GIANT spider. What is the course of action?
Get real low… The ultimate butt wiggle… Then POUNCE! If he succeeds on landing on his quarry he will paw at it for a while, maybe roll it around in his mouth a bit but not eat it; if the quarry lives then he’ll chase it around for a bit but usually lose interest after a while.
Where is the last inconvenient place that Cowpanda has fallen asleep?
We have a standing desk in our home office, but we have a drafting chair as well for when our legs get tired. Sometimes you’ll be standing up working away and then go to move into the chair and it will be taken by a dozing fluffball, but that’s ok, he’s too cute to disturb!
If Cowpanda threw a raging party, what are the staples on the playlist?
Probably Blink 182, or Come out and Play, some SNFU.
He definitely loves upbeat pop punk and music in that same vein. He’s a young party animal that just wants to have a good time!
If you wake up in a Freaky Friday situation with your feline- what’s the first course of action on it’s behalf? On yours?
First he would probably go outside and run around like a wild man; chase cars, animals, people, whatever was moving in his field of vision at the time. He’d probably walk randomly into other people’s homes and get me arrested. As for myself, I would snuggle up in bed and sleep all day. And all night. And probably forever ïŠ
Unleash the Archers links:
unleashthearchers.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/UnleashTheArchers
See them in person at the Rickshaw on May 9 with Primal Fear and Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody. You can buy tickets and RSVP online here.
Here’s a little bit of what to expect…
