When you stroke the cat either you are stealing its electrons, or giving it your electrons. Either way you are creating a potential difference between you and the cat. The cat's fur prevents the discharge from hapening until you touch some exposed skin - the ears are an easy spot, but you'll likely find the lips and nose to be good for that as well. Cats generally dislike being zapped in the nose. The couch likely acts as an insulator so you and the cat can be at different charges. In other words, there's no way for the extra electrons to flow back from you to the cat (or vice versa). Further, there's no way for another object to supply or soak up extra electrons for your or the cat. On the counter or in other areas of the home you and the cat are likely less well insulated. This means that there _may_ be a path between the two of you (cat, feet, counter, floor, shoes/socks, person) to equalize the charge. But even if there isn't such a path and one or both of you are "grounded" to another object, then when you transfer electrons to the cat, you simultaneously give some of the extra electrons to anything else you are touching. Likewise the cat, who is losing electrons, steals from anything it is touching. The net result is that if two things are conductively touching, they are generally at the same potential. You won't develop the kV of difference between you and the cat without a lot more petting because you must also develop the same potential between the floor and the counter if the cat is grounded to the counter and you are grounded to the floor. -Adam On 2/7/06, Lindy Mayfield wrote: > This has been confusing me and I though someone here might know the answer. > > I live in a cold place where the temperature has been around -15 c and quite dry. > > I pet my cats quite normally, starting with the head and down the back to the tail, the back to the head again. > > But if I touch the cat's ears, zap! An audible and in the dark quite visible shock. The cat feels it, too. > > This seems confusing to me. I would totally understand if I petted one cat and touched another cat's ear and gave it a shock, but on the same cat with the same hand, that don't seem right. > > I though of grounding myself with one of those things people use to fix motherboards, but I don't have one. Of course wetting the cat first would make the shock go away, but the cat doesn't like it. > > Seriously though, why does the same cat using the same hand get a shock? Anyone else experienced this? > > Brrrr, > Lindy > > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist