Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
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Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Casa del S1m0n has boasted a cat for past couple of months, which is a stretch for me. I'm a dog person, trying valiantly to understand cat behaviour.
For instance, the food he gets claims to contain furball-combatting yoghurt. Does anyone know whether this product can be expected to work in forward gear, or in reverse?
For instance, the food he gets claims to contain furball-combatting yoghurt. Does anyone know whether this product can be expected to work in forward gear, or in reverse?
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Reverse. It helps the fur to pass through, rather than coming back the way it went down.s1m0n wrote:Casa del S1m0n has boasted a cat for past couple of months, which is a stretch for me. I'm a dog person, trying valiantly to understand cat behaviour.
For instance, the food he gets claims to contain furball-combatting yoghurt. Does anyone know whether this product can be expected to work in forward gear, or in reverse?
Youtube has videos of "Simon's cat"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s13dLaTIHSg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rb8aOzy9t4
This should help explain behavior.
Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
It is possible to have both, cats and dogs. The bed gets a little crowded though and everybody wants some face time. Hair balls aren't nearly as much fun as owl pellets, a proverbial biological treasure trove. And when found on the only oriental prayer rug in the house amongst tons of other rugs, well it's obvious they do it on purpose.
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Fat chance. I admire your sense of ambition, but after 45+ years of human/feline cohabitation I have to tell you that cats are not there to be understood. They are there to be obeyed/flattered/worshipped. They have subtle mechanisms designed to confound attempts at understanding.s1m0n wrote:...trying valiantly to understand cat behaviour...
And they like to hurt you occasionally. They won't usually actually kill you, but they will bide their time and then, out of the blue, they will hurt you. As far as I can gather the timing of the hurt is according to an obscure, and very complicated, feline comedic concept that combines suspense, violence, irony and fishy breath.
"understand cat behaviour"... Yeh, right.
And whether the blood be highland, lowland or no.
And whether the skin be black or white as the snow.
Of kith and of kin we are one, be it right, be it wrong.
As long as our hearts beat true to the lilt of a song.
And whether the skin be black or white as the snow.
Of kith and of kin we are one, be it right, be it wrong.
As long as our hearts beat true to the lilt of a song.
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
hmmmm....
I suddenly have an intense craving for tamales.... smmeckk...munch..chommpp. yum.
I suddenly have an intense craving for tamales.... smmeckk...munch..chommpp. yum.
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
My cat actually threw up on the kitchen floor the other day. I'm pretty sure it's the first time in 10+ years that she didn't throw up on a carpet somewhere. Got me worried that she was really pretty sick (seems OK now though).
I agree that any attempts to understand feline behavior are bound to be thwarted. Good luck!
I agree that any attempts to understand feline behavior are bound to be thwarted. Good luck!
Wash your hands. Cough and sneeze in your sleeve. Stay home if you are sick. Stay informed. http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu for more info.
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
An astute analysis. By way of demonstration, our small but impertinent cat Hazel is dashing back and forth from the kitchen to the family room in a manner designed to attract our notice and make us wonder what she's up to. The truth, as far as I am able to understand cat-think (and, as has been pointed out, my understanding is limited,) is that she isn't up to anything except the fun of believing that she has us intrigued.buddhu wrote:Fat chance. I admire your sense of ambition, but after 45+ years of human/feline cohabitation I have to tell you that cats are not there to be understood. They are there to be obeyed/flattered/worshipped. They have subtle mechanisms designed to confound attempts at understanding.s1m0n wrote:...trying valiantly to understand cat behaviour...
And they like to hurt you occasionally. They won't usually actually kill you, but they will bide their time and then, out of the blue, they will hurt you. As far as I can gather the timing of the hurt is according to an obscure, and very complicated, feline comedic concept that combines suspense, violence, irony and fishy breath.
"understand cat behaviour"... Yeh, right.
Look at her just before she decides to eat the sunflower (b-day present from my sister) behind her. (ooh...and Jeff is ellipticalling in the background there. so much info.)
Last edited by emmline on Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:24 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
I'm going to print out this post, have it bronzed and dip it in .... uh .... guacamole.buddhu wrote:As far as I can gather the timing of the hurt is according to an obscure, and very complicated, feline comedic concept that combines suspense, violence, irony and fishy breath.
Then I shall have The Cheat read it to me whilst I dine on a dinner of Cadbury cream egg omelet.
- herbivore12
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
It looks like what Jeff is really doing is riding a Star Wars-style hover-bike, or whatever those things are called that the Storm Troopers zoomed around on in the forest.emmline wrote: (ooh...and Jeff is ellipticalling in the background there. so much info.)
On cats:
One member here (Tyghress, I'm pretty certain -- ah, yes it is, per the Search results) has a siggy line that seems to me to capture cat ownership pretty well:
My cat's behavior seems to conform, to the extent that cats can be said to conform, to that of those described here. Except my kitty's only got three legs, so she does everything sort of . . . diagonally. Inscrutable still, just also at weird(er) angles.Tyghress' sig wrote:Remember, you didn't get the tiger so it would do what you wanted. You got the tiger to see what it wanted to do. -- Colin McEnroe
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Um...I understand my cat just fine. I've understood all of them, to a one.
I think there's something wrong with me.
I think there's something wrong with me.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Well, sometimes they (or mine) make themselves understood. I sure know when she wants food, anyway, or when the litter box is unacceptably, er, littered.Nanohedron wrote:Um...I understand my cat just fine. I've understood all of them, to a one.
But, like, can you explain that thing where suddenly they park themselves in front of a wall and just stare, but not all actively like they're hearing a mouse in there or something, just sort of quietly hypnotized? Sometimes it sort of creeps me out.
Is that even at issue?Nanohedron wrote:I think there's something wrong with me.
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Cats are like liberal intellectuals: sneaky and selfish. Dogs are like militarized conservatives, loyal and believing, to their own detriment.Nanohedron wrote:Um...I understand my cat just fine. I've understood all of them, to a one.
I think there's something wrong with me.
Dogs remind us of the nobility and greater good of faithfulness and loyalty, cats are rarely loyal, but they can be crazy brave when excited. Dogs are rural, cats are urban; the former quite often bear the stench of the great outdoors, the latter obsessively-compulsively trying to eradicate any odor that would give away their presence. If that ain't sneaky, I don't know what is.
You can't trust cats, except to be selfish. Simon, get another dog when the time is right, it will make you better. The cat might keep you warm at night, even while it attacks your eyelids during REM sleep.
The main good of cats is rodent control and its quite a valuable service, I give 'em that. Otherwise, they murder songbirds and make conflicted environmentalists weep.
Nyuk. Let the fireworks begin.
How do you prepare for the end of the world?
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Sure, I can explain it. And Bodhidharma got the idea from them.herbivore12 wrote:But, like, can you explain that thing where suddenly they park themselves in front of a wall and just stare, but not all actively like they're hearing a mouse in there or something, just sort of quietly hypnotized? Sometimes it sort of creeps me out.
Har har.herbivore12 wrote:Is that even at issue?Nanohedron wrote:I think there's something wrong with me.
Huh? Mine's always palling around with me. Occasionally she'll be off on her own, but if I change rooms, usually she wants to be in the same room too. Sure, she'd not worshipping me as a dog might, but often enough I'll look over my shoulder and catch her just sitting there looking at me with pleasant eyes and face. Unnerving, maybe, but being observed like that IS unnerving. It's intimate. That's gotta tell you something.The Weekenders wrote:...cats are rarely loyal...
And FWIW, she clocks major lap-warming time with me. I'd say that's loyalty, and love. Just on a cat's terms, is all. Perfectly valid to me.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Many cats are like conservatives, selfish to a fault...me! me!ME!
Dogs on the other hand are not like that at all. Dogs believe everything belongs to them...mine! mine! MINE!
Being a biologist I of course never anthropomorphize, so these descriptions are indeed accurate observations of these organisms true behaviors.
One has only to observe the feeding velocity and duration of multiple subjects in close proximity to recognize this.
BTW none of my animals exhibit any of these behaviors...ever.
Dogs on the other hand are not like that at all. Dogs believe everything belongs to them...mine! mine! MINE!
Being a biologist I of course never anthropomorphize, so these descriptions are indeed accurate observations of these organisms true behaviors.
One has only to observe the feeding velocity and duration of multiple subjects in close proximity to recognize this.
BTW none of my animals exhibit any of these behaviors...ever.
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Re: Inscrutable , thy name is 'Cat'!
Ha, what a sucker you are! In the first place, you are the food provider. Secondly, they pall around because they feel safer with their big pink protector nearby. Yeah, they study your face. The better to understand you for future manipulation. And you are the only nearby entertainment. Set a mouse loose and see how long the cat studies your ever gesture.Nanohedron wrote:[
Huh? Mine's always palling around with me. Occasionally she'll be off on her own, but if I change rooms, usually she wants to be in the same room too. Sure, she'd not worshipping me as a dog might, but often enough I'll look over my shoulder and catch her just sitting there looking at me with pleasant eyes and face. Unnerving, maybe, but being observed like that IS unnerving. It's intimate. That's gotta tell you something.
And FWIW, she clocks major lap-warming time with me. I'd say that's loyalty, and love. Just on a cat's terms, is all. Perfectly valid to me.
Wake up and smell the coffee!!!
How do you prepare for the end of the world?