actually what they say is “I live here meow”
Toxoplasmosis gang.
I can’t tell if I hate cats or love cats but they are never neutral. In fact there is a wild one in my house right now
I don’t even know why is he in my house or how it happened but at this point I think we tolerate each other pretty good. He gets the hose sometimes, I get his piss hose on the floor sometimes. He gets the snacks, I get the purr and fluffiness. I guess I can live with this chaotic balance.
I guess for someone who likes to control things cats could be a nightmare as they will never be some obedient pets but that may tell more about the owner than the cat.
Kinda sucks that my floor and sofa is ruined tho, it’s like a mini tiger, wildlife in your house. I guess this is the pleasures of completely feral cats. It’s possible that with this experience I could take on some caracal or serval. Of course I am not crazy nor I approve to do this but I have a glimpse of what mindset and work it would take
The Cat is also a menace that cannot stand sight of any other cat and goes straight for the throat. Little fluffy psycho, quite lovely
I love cats, but I also love my plants, and despise the odor of a used litter box. Therefore, I cannot have cats. It sucks.
Further proof that if you’re cute enough you can get anything you want.
Step 1:
Step 2:
I have one cat and a doggy door so it can go in and out as it pleases. A stray cat figured out it could use the doggy door.
I have two cats.
Well I mean i would probably take in an alligator if it came through my window
Alligator can have the whole house, actually. It’s okay, I’ll move 👍
But then the alligator will be lonely :(
DO NOT feed strangers cats. Water is fine. If you feed it, at best you’re fucking up its diet, at worst you’re basically abducting the cat.
We have many strays we are trying to rescue amd until then they get fed and if some rando is letting their cat out to eat whatever the heck then find (and steal my food) on my property that’s the cat’s owner being the asshole. I’m trying to help needy cats and I can’t even oht traps down to get them medical attention because I could end up catching some irresponsible person’s cat.
The cat is abducting itself. They’re not dogs. They’re rarely loyal.
They’re rarely loyal.
I condemn this anti-feline propaganda
As someone who is stauncly pro dog … and weary of cats… I feel like I need to take a side in this debate
Did they model their meows, or did they have a trait that happened to work in a new environment and then pass it on?
From my understanding, wild cats only meow when little and domesticated cats keep this juvenile trait into adulthood
Yes, but the question is if they model their meows to sound like human infants. We know they changed their behavior to meow when wanting attention from us. But I’d be willing to bet they didn’t model their meows to sound like that. They just happen to sound like that because they’re small animals with high pitch voices.
There’s a good chance that it’s just a mammalian trait that predates modern humans or house cats. Pretty much all mammals require some extra protection and care when they are young and vulnerable, so it being common among other mammals isn’t exactly surprising.
To my knowledge that’s a lot of how domestication winds up being.
What I found interesting was a study when they tried to domesticate silver foxes for the fur industry (because basically they didn’t take to being raised in fur farms well). So basically they were selectively bread for not being aggressive to humans.
Which worked, but the drawbacks were effectively… all of their childlike traits remained. IE their ears stayed floppy, and they stopped growing the silver coat that was the whole reason the fur industry wanted them.
Basically I think it could be said that effectively… most domestication traits are more or less, keeping childlike mentality for life in animals.
I don’t know about that human baby thing.
IIRC, it’s more that they over time figure out what sounds and actions get their owner’s attention. We respond better, unconsiously or otherwise when they meow at us.
My old cat figured out, before I did, that if she knocks shit off the coffee table I get up and check if her bowl is empty.
Generally wild/feral adult cats are more or less mute outside of anger/mating/territory calls, but domesticated cats keep their kitten vocalizations if we respond to them.
My current cat is very vocal and we responded playfully to his meowing as he grew up.
Edit: Here’s a scientific american blog/article about it. I don’t think it’s something we have confirmation on, just a good hunch.
Both of my cats came from my in-laws farm and it’s been funny with the older of the two as she needed to learn from another cat how being friendly gets you pets and scritches, meanwhile the younger one who basically came inside as soon as she was on hard food hasn’t had that difficulty
Babies are real dude
Source?
How is babby formed?
How girl get pregnant??
Well, from HS bio, I remember urine is stored in the balls. So, maybe some other way to make babby?
You know, American sexual education is so bad, I’m sure there is a couple out there who thought you make a babby by peeing in the vag.
And they domesticated themselves
If meows sounded anything like human baby cries they would give me an instant headache and the desire to get rid of the cat
Yeah that seems really far fetched. Humans are generally bad at communicating with mostly body posture and scent. We have no tail to wiggle, no easily movable ears and no chance to use cat pheromones.
So naturally the cat has the best chance to get a response by using vocalication/sounds. It is just coincidence that their kittens do also mostly respond to sounds in their first weeks.
The resemblance to baby vocalizations can be rather unsettling with some cats. I suppose it’s somewhat natural since they’re about the same size as a newborn human, but specifically adopting somewhat human-like (and thus baby-like, because that’s the one they can imitate the best) vocalization doesn’t seem that far-fetched.
I mean, I’m not sure cats are out there observing human babies and intentionally imitating them. They have pattern recognition machines in their heads just like we do. “Make noise = human pay attention” is about as complex as this gets. The fact that we’re susceptible to the specific timbre of their voices seems likely to be evolutionary coincidence.
Yes and, you missed the last crucial step
“Make noise = human pay attention” “Human feeds and protects me = more kittens that probably know to pay attention” … “Profit”
Right, but adult cats keep making those vocalizations well past that age.
It’s not that far fetched that their neoteny is an adaptation to humans.
Just what an AI would say!
I got a cat that definitely lives with a baby at one point
deleted by creator
Twice*
Whenever someone suggests me the idea to let in/buy/adopt a cat, I sent them this link:
O. K. but did anyone take care-of/in the kitten, after?
Would people really let some stray live with them? Can’t imagine having a pet. They convert money and time into poop and stink and offer nothing in return. Never understood the appeal, yet I love all animals.
offer nothing in return
Warmth, company, fun…? Also, the experience of being responsible for and caring for another being can be very valuable.
Not to me, sorry. What benefit could i have from “caring for another being”? Me, personally? The other being, yes, maybe. But me? I could never care ADEQUATELY for any animal. they don’t belong in my company/house. Just because we domesticated the fuck outta them doesn’t make it better. And i also couldn’t neuter them or feed them this disgusting shit we call pet-food. And also I don’t want to take out the shit of others :-)
Your family and friends must adore you.
They actually do. Not that this is either anything of your concern nor the point. And guess what, friends are people i care about that I CHOSE TO. They didn’t get bought in a pet-shop and were forced to be in my vicinity, nor suddenly appeared in my house as strays. You maybe see the point somewhere there.
My point?
What benefit could i have from “caring for another being”? Me, personally? The other being, yes, maybe. But me? I could never care ADEQUATELY for any animal.
Hypothetically, if someone that was very close to you was in a terrible accident at has become paralyzed and no longer capable of taking care of themselves. What benefit do you have in taking care of them. Will you just abandon them? I would hope you are not cold hearted as such. Obviously there is such benefit as companionship with another living creature. Im not judging you for not wanting a pet, i dont have one myself. But you are coming off very cold.
Your last sentence is crazy
“I love all animals, as long as those useless fucks stay outta my way!”
I love babies as a concept and the joy they bring their parents, but me and my partner are child free by choice, and part of that choice is us not wanting to care for an infant.
You monster! According to the replies here the correlation between liking XYZ and wanting to have and care for XYZ is a must. But yeah, we too.
But to ask “would people actually care for, shelter, and feed an animal they didn’t know? Like just bond with a creature for what? Emotional connection, companionship, and kinship to another living thing? I love animals, tho” is just a weird take. Like, you can love animals (or babies) and not want to be responsible for them in your home, but to be incredulous about why someone would want that is ridiculous.
“Would people really let some stray live with them?”
That’s literally the history of house cats. A million times, yes, people want to hang out with random cats.
You don’t need to want cats or babies to see why other people would want cats or babies.
I do love to interact with all kinds of species, learn from them and whatnot. I totally do. But the words “emotional connection” or “companionship” are very loaded. Most usual pets don’t care for my existence at all. Even cats would eat my dead body if they weren’t fed. A dog does form a bond, yes. But still. Why would I want that? I even despise the concept of “having a pet”. Who am I to enslave some animal to live under my reign? Spell it as romantically as you’d like, in the end, the animal does have to endure whatever you throw at it. I would not want such a “kinship”. My kind of “kinship” would end at a racoon (or whatever) coming to my house, gets fed, interacts with me, and then goes on to live the life it usually does.
I’m aware of the history of housecats, but it surely isn’t the majority of people who would just “suddenly now have a cat” because a stray wanders in. Sure there are, yet I would still wonder about the motivation of those. Which was the initial point of my reply. Would YOU do that? Having a sudden responsibility of at least like 200 bucks a month because a stray comes in?
Most usual pets don’t care for my existence at all.
That sucks, dude. I’m sorry you’ve never experienced that.
Also, a cat comes into your house and you have to feed it for a day:
It’s like not wanting the ocean in your house even if you love the ocean.
It’s like talking about all the things you hate about the ocean, saying you can’t imagine why anyone likes it, and then saying you love it
What a weird argument. I love rain too. Yet i don’t want it in my house. I also love elephants. But guess where I totally don’t want them. I also like to pet OTHER people’s cats and dogs. But that’s about it. They enjoy it and that’s fine by me. But i don’t want all the stupid work and time and money that go into a pet I can’t even speak with. Same reason (besides many others though) I don’t have kids.
You’re clearly very opinionated
At least i have one, arguments including.
Yeah, it just doesn’t make sense!
Just because some things don’t align with yours doesn’t make it “crazy”. But if you prefer it that way? Then yes, I’m crazy I don’t want to care for animals that don’t belong in my house and force them into my reign. How crazy I prefer my time and money to be mine and mine (and my wife’s) alone. How crazy I don’t want to spend time scratching cat-poo out of a litter-box. Or go watch a dog on a leach (that would prefer to roam his territory freely, not under my heel) have a shit outside and scrape it off the floor.
Damn, I should take pills for that :)
That’s a very defensive long winded reply to my 5 word comment lol.
I have the time to do it, as I’m not force to comb my cat’s shitter for precious remnants :)
I could understand having a pet, but not taking in a random stray without question.
Some strange cat walks into my house? It gets plopped right back into the street, that ain’t my cat!
I took in a stray kitten that someone dumped at my work back in the fall. I wasn’t sure if i would keep her or not, but i felt obligated to clean her up and feed her while i figured out what to do with her. As soon as she started interacting with my other kitten, they became best friends and i couldn’t in good conscience seperate them.
Another friend of mine slowly took in a stray cat over the fourse of a summer. Leave out food for it of it hangs out around your house until it starts to nuzzle up against you. Then you can pet it, maybe pick it up, and then take it to a doctor to get it checked out.
It sounds to me though, that the other guy just doesn’t like animals.
I actually dunno what I would do, but I probably wouldn’t kick it out. I’d feed it and stuff, but ultimately won’t keep it.
That’s the same argument I use for not having kids.
Also, I have a dog.
A kid can take care of you when you’re old. This is particularly pronounced in the developing world, where it’s much harder to save for retirement.
And I’m being called crazy :-) This is one of the worst and most sad reason for having kids.
So? cheap labor?!
Sad sure, but is it really crazy though? They’re getting taken care of by someone because their government has failed them.
From a pure biological standpoint: No, absolutely. From an intelligent being’s standpoint: Yes. Sure, the gov fails the average Joe left and right. Nothing new here, but the last thing I could think of to do anything against this, would be to add another slave-worker dreading its life to this world. Especially not mainly so it could care for my old ass when I can’t do so anymore. It’s just the epitome of egocentrism. To me at least.
Sure i can speak easy because I don’t have to worry about being cared for, but if I could not, I’d prefer a bullet to the head at the right point in time over burdening my offspring with my care. And they doing the same later, and so on and so on.
