Cat lovers: I've read something horrible about cats today...

Started by Beorning, September 21, 2018, 06:01:56 PM

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Beorning

Ack. Hear me out, fellow cat owners, because I'm feeling a bit strange right now...

Today, out of boredom, I read the Wikipedia article on household cats. And, I admit, some of the things I read there aren't sitting too well with me. Specifically, the article had some analysis of the cat-human relationship - and it was said in the article that household cats "live in the state of extended kittenhood". They treat their owners like their mothers, their meowing is not the way adult cats communicate between themselves, but just a sound kittens make to attract their mothers etc.

So... what does it mean? If my cat is "living extended kittenhood", does it mean its personality and behaviour are not the normal behaviour of an adult cat? That its mental growth has been stunted someway - and that a true adult cat would be something else? While my cat is, basically, a seven years old kitten?

That would be awful! What do you say, people?

Sain

Kinda interesting thing to think, but you could argue the same for humans. Our brains are wired to dealing with survival stress, not with existential crisis of not having a clear purpose. Everything living with us probably struggles with similar issues. However, it's not like the cats we have fluffing around would be alive at all if they were not domesticated. Sure they are different from what they would be in the wilds, but so would we be. Is it such a bad thing that they are on this roller coaster of civilization with us :P?
PM box is open. So is my discord: Sain#5301

Rinzler

As long as the cat is happy and in good health, it really doesn't matter. Cats aren't capable of abstract thought, and concepts such as kittenhood and adulthood are completely alien to them - basically, they have no capacity to worry about it anyway, so why should we? Also, the life of an adult, undomesticated cat is hardly a bed of roses. An unneutered feral tom, for example, can expect to live a life consisting largely of infections, disease and savage violence.

Really, our domesticated mogs are quite happy with the situation. Nowt to worry about.

Lilias

Pet cats don't have to go out in the cruel world, hunt for their food, sleep rough, make it through fights... and most don't get to mate or breed. All those elements of adulthood are removed by their owners, so they don't have to grow up. As long as they are healthy and happy, that doesn't matter. Look around at the feral cats in your area - they wouldn't make very good companions.
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI

Inkidu

The mark of adulthood in the animal world is the ability to mate. It's not a career or a goal to fulfill some dream. An animals final goal is not to find fulfillment a la the hierarchy of needs. It's to pass on its genetic material.

A house cat should be fixed so that removes their ultimate reason for adulthood. 
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

DukeJohn

Quote from: Lilias on September 21, 2018, 06:48:29 PM
Pet cats don't have to go out in the cruel world, hunt for their food, sleep rough, make it through fights... and most don't get to mate or breed. All those elements of adulthood are removed by their owners, so they don't have to grow up. As long as they are healthy and happy, that doesn't matter. Look around at the feral cats in your area - they wouldn't make very good companions.

I love house cats but cats I see on the street can be genuinely scary. House cats are probably happier than cats on the street and even a lot of people.  :-)

Eccentric Lemonade

I have two cats myself, one that I affectionately call Seitan for obvious reasons and one I call Stumpy. The first one loves trying to go outside, but when she actually gets there she just freezes and runs back home. Her sister grew up on the streets until she was about seven months old and we adopted her after my bf's sister (a vet) had to amputate her leg, ergo the name Stumpy. If we open the door she goes to inspect then sniffs a bit and goes back to bed like 'Bitch! I'm not going out there again!'. She's the house diva tbh. 

Alhanna

Actually, the article is not wrong. Often times, cats favor women because of fond memories--or residual feelings--of their mothers. It's why they knead on us; it's their way of experiencing pleasant memories of being safe, fed, and loved. Is it wrong? Heavens no! Don't be worried that we're stunting cats or their emotional being.


The Oath of the Drake

She's real, she's deep, she's logical and mystical. She believes in kindness and oneness and romance. She's sensitive and distant, a warrior, a lover. She believes in road trips to the stars and dancing with the universe. She's fearless and gentle, wondrous and brave. She lives in waterfalls and forests and sunsets and galaxies. She's the artist, the thinker, the poem and the dream. - Creig Crippen

blue bunny sparkle

I read somewhere that the average life of an indoor cat is something like 12-14 years.

The average life of an outdoor cat is 2.

I keep my cat indoors. My city is no place for domesticated, outdoor cats, too many tougher feral cats rule the streets.

Rinzler

Quote from: blue bunny sparkle on September 28, 2018, 10:26:06 PM
I keep my cat indoors. My city is no place for domesticated, outdoor cats, too many tougher feral cats rule the streets.

"Youse ain't from round here, are ya puddy-tat."


Lilias

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI