To Laugh or to Cry?
Cats rule the Internet, and everyone knows that. Funny videos and cat flash mobs appear on the web every now and then, collecting millions of views. The most restless ones shoot their sequels - and again everyone watches, everyone laughs. But are the most famous cat videos really that harmless? Let us investigate.
Don't bite! It is not known where the opinion came from that a pet can be weaned from biting with the help of toys, but this opinion has instantly spread across the Internet. Many people act decisively: they take toys and demonstrate to their cats what will happen to them if they do not stop biting. And miracle: cats really refuse to bite their man's hands! Cats are smart!
Calm down. Cats are really smart, but miracles have nothing to do with it - the cats just think that their owners have got crazy. Well, or, to put it more mildly, behave inadequately - which means they pose a danger. Take a closer look: the cats in the video clearly experience discomfort, they lick their mouth, pull their ears back, freeze, their pupils dilate. The cats are scared! They try to turn away from the owner or "shrink", decrease in size - these are the so-called signals of reconciliation, showing which the animals seem to tell people, - "Calm down, please."
Is it ok for you? But not for the cat. Another funny video: an owner bathes a cat, and the cat makes sounds that vaguely resemble either the word "normal", or the name of a famous politician. The owner is happy: it's funny. But it’s not funny: the cat is clearly under stress, which is precisely what the loud and lingering meow speaks of - this is how they signal that they feel scared and uncomfortable.
Scary Galya. We do not know what has scared this cat, but the fact that the cat is very frightened can be seen, as they say, with the naked eye: the ears are pressed to the head, the tail and whiskers are tucked in, the hair on the nape is on end, the pupils are dilated. The cat is crying a loud "meow" resembling the name Galya. "Why are you crying? Call Galya!", - insists the person who is shooting the video. No, the cat is not calling any Galya, it hardly knows the names of people around. It is just screaming because it is scared: maybe the video camera scares it, or maybe (and most likely) the behavior of a person who requires something incomprehensible from the cat. Is it funny? It is not a reason for laughing...
Cats versus cucumbers. This famous video flash mob is more than a year old, but there appear "courageous experimenters" every now and then who strive to slip a "terrible" cucumber to a cat eating at the moment. They are delighted to see cats flying up, frightened by "dangerous" cucumbers. Well, just a bunch of joy and fun... In fact, cats are not afraid of cucumbers, some even enjoy eating them with pleasure (the author's cat, for example, adored cucumbers).
The reason for the dizzying jumps lies in something completely different: multitasking is alien to cats. This is especially true of food: if you are distracted while eating prey, someone will take it away, and you will remain hungry. Therefore, there is no need to look for any secret meanings: when a cat eats, it just eats, and a foreign object that suddenly appears near it at this moment can greatly frighten the animal. There is also an opinion that cucumbers resemble snakes to cats - the only enemies of cats in the wild (genetic memory, you know).
One way or another, all this kind of fun is rather a reason to be sad. What will all these "jokes" turn into later? It is difficult to say, but it is quite possible that our pets will develop anxiety, which will lead to problems with behavior and even health. Therefore, think a thousand times before filming a funny video with cats or joining the next flash mob.
It is better to shoot a video of how they "chirp". Such feline conversations are a sign of good disposition and a desire to greet other cats. Is this how your cat talks to you? Great, so you have great relationships...