Subject: Re: Kattoos...
From: Ed Rudnicki
Date: 9/26/1996 9:21 AM
To: kats@maxie.com

Here's a stray thought for you Katfans (and fanfic writers) out there:

None of the Kats in the SK series, to the best of my knowledge, have
been tattooed...  tho the tough guys could easily have them done.  Of
course, this raises a furgonomics (katgonomics?) question as to *how*
something like this would be done.  If it were done on the skin, the
fur would likely cover it up very quickly.  If fur dye were added, that
would also run out after a while, and the tattoo (kattoo?) would fade.

Any thoughts?

Perhaps they might develop a process to insert a long-lasting dye in
the hair follicles themselves, such that the actual color of each
hair is changed, to produce a pattern _from_ the actual fur, rather
than simply on it. This would be time-consuming, of course, being
done one hair at a time, but not much more so than electrolysis in
humans.

The  catch of course is to have the dyed follicle retain the dye for
life. Perhaps the chemistry of the follicle could be changed to
achieve the same effect. In any case, this avoids the problem of the
two possibilities that are mentioned above, though the patterm would
not be as sharp as a skin tattoo.


Ed