Pravda has fallen for this hoax, too.
http://english.pravda.ru/photo/report/Cat_body_art-1468

Snopes notes that the authors’ previous book was “Why Cats Paint”
http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/paintedcats.asp

MadCarlotta - 13 February 2007 11:08 PM

I once stuck my poor cat Otto in a vat of beet juice to see if it would dye his fur. He didn’t mind, he was weird like that, any of my other cats would have ripped me several new ones for just thinking about it.

Is this common practise or something? I read some of the e-mails on the WhyPaintCats” site and found this….:

BEETROOT JUICE AS A DYE

A friend clipped an article about the book and sent it on to me. The few photos that I saw were spectacular. Having dipped my cat in beet juice on more than one occasion, I was instantly smitten. Thanks for the examples of wonderful living art. The beet juice however was not the best effect. It looked like he had killed a chicken and rolled in it. I was afraid the Humane Society would be knocking on my door if I got out the manic panic. I have often painted him up in photoshop but my skills are not up to snuff. He does make a great canvas. Tell me, could you live with a face like this and not want to paint it up every once in a while.

Kristi Smart

Or is this you Carlotta?

No, that’s not me. I wouldn’t put manic panic on a cat because they’d lick it off. I figured beet juice was harmless enough, afterall, my cats were known to actually eat beets if they had a chance to swipe one.

Aren’t cats usually quite fussy?