Thoughts of Cats

Sysiphus

This may be better suited to philosophy, but as it is specifice to our little furry friends I thought it might suit here. But move it if its required.

Simple question - with no doubt a complex answer!

What do you think your cat thinks? In general how do you think they see the world, and I do mean see, not some biological drive answer in the form of thhey see they world in food shelter sex darwinian style of thought, more like how the fathoms all the odd sounds and sights we make around them. AsI've seen my cats fascinated in equal measure by toy mice and a red dot on the wall from a laser pointer, now we know the have excellent smell and vision, so I can't accept the had a problem not realising that the dot wasn't prey, they just had to be chasing it for pure fun value! But equally i know that while they are smarter than dogs (new thread for that I'm sure ) their level of cognition isn't that high.

Anyhoo, just curious

FranknFurter

the best guide to a cats humour imho, is its tail lol.... they seem to have no control of it.

one of ours, (the one you met ) definitely tells u what hes thinking, for example, recently he has started pulling me, by the sleeve in his mouth towards the food when he wants some, he cannot, so he brings the box of food to me, pushes it along the floor lol

then again, this is a cat that refuses to drink from a bowl, he turns on the tap himself an drinks from it lol

he opens doors, picks things up for me (when it suits him lol), and does stuff yall wouldnt believe if i told ya lol!

Nala

I definitely believe that cats have thoughts just the same as we do. My vet told me once that pet cats have a much higher recovery rate than stray cats. She said that even if the stray cat is in better form than the pet cat, the pet cat is more likely to survive. Her theory is that pet cats will fight the illness/injury more because they know they have a home to go to and that their owner loves them. I'd believe it myself.

I also strongly disagree with people who say animals don't have feelings.
Of course they do! It seems to me that people think just because we can't prove for definite that animals have feelings and emotions, means they don't have any.

LegacyUser

I found a really interesting page on what a cat actually sees. It shows pics of how a human and a cat might see the same image in near darkness. Also,
how humans would view, how cats would view
and how an animal with no or little color perception would view. It is interesting stuff.

http://videoforcats.com/catvision.htm

From this I deduce (if these pics are actually scientifically proven .. but I've never seen a cat take a picture or a camera shop sell cameras for cats .. so who knows!!)

On that note, here is how they did their tests.
http://videoforcats.com/catvisiontests.htm


Just reading it .. I don't think my cats would stay still enough!

B

On a more down to earth level. I know exactly what my cats will be thinking about this Christmas.


The Kitten -
(a) How to get to the top of the tree without human catching me
(b) How to get all 15 plastic star shapped covers off the light on the window sill

The older cat -
(a) Food Food Food

meepmeep

bubby wrote:

The Kitten -
(a) How to get to the top of the tree without human catching me

hehehe, aint that the truth

landser

FranknFurter wrote:

the best guide to a cats humour imho, is its tail lol.... they seem to have no control of it.

one of ours, (the one you met ) definitely tells u what hes thinking, for example, recently he has started pulling me, by the sleeve in his mouth towards the food when he wants some, he cannot, so he brings the box of food to me, pushes it along the floor lol

then again, this is a cat that refuses to drink from a bowl, he turns on the tap himself an drinks from it lol

he opens doors, picks things up for me (when it suits him lol), and does stuff yall wouldnt believe if i told ya lol!

you sure this isn't your boyfriend????

FranknFurter

landser wrote:

you sure this isn't your boyfriend????

actually..........................................................................















Nah, boyfriend has much less fur!

LegacyUser

Back to the philosphy of cats. Here are some quotes gathered by a guy called Jim Sannes. Robbed from http://bertc.com/cat_philosophy.htm

Another good URL with great photos at http://blinn.com/cats/

"One cat just leads to another." Ernest Hemingway

"Managing senior programmers is like herding cats." Dave Platt"

Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." Bruce Graham

"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast." Unknown

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." Anonymous

"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." Jeff Valdez

"In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats." English proverb

"As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat." Ellen Perry Berkeley

"Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later." Mary Bly

"Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia." Joseph Wood

"People who hate cats will come back as mice in their next life." Faith Resnick

"There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats." Anonymous

"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." Hippolyte Taine Beth-

"No heaven will not ever Heaven be; Unless my cats are there to welcome me." Unknown

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." Albert Schweitzer

"The cat has too much spirit to have no heart." Ernest Menaul

"Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are Gods."

"Time spent with cats is never wasted." Colette

"Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well." Missy Dizick

"You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats." Colonial American proverb

"Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want." Joseph Wood Krutch