Do animals have opinions?Do they think the same as us?

Pighead

I was on my own in the kitchen last night and I want you back by The Jackson %5 came on the radio.Obviously like anybody else in that situation i started to dance and mime along to young Jacko.And then a very strange thing happened.Our ginger kitten ginger caught my eye and i swear he rolled his eyes up to heaven like this :rolleyes: .I was embarrased and stopped dancing immediately.Surely ginger wasn't forming an opinion on my dancing.Is there any chance she was?Do animals in general think like us or should i have just kept on dancing.

Arcadian

Did you not know that it's a cats main function in life to look down on us humans

Nala

Ah cats will always look down on us and I don't blame them, we pamper them, feed them, pet them etc and all they have to do is just sit there!

The Egyptians used to worship cats. Cats have never forgotton this.

By the way Piggy- couldn't help but notice you said your ginger kitten is female- are you sure? Ginger cats are usually male.

tovalee

Nala wrote:

By the way Piggy- couldn't help but notice you said your ginger kitten is female- are you sure? Ginger cats are usually male.

he did refer to Ginger as He.

Nala

Maybe the kitten presented Telly Bingo in a previous life!

Pighead

The cats a he alright.Another typo for Pighead.

peasant

Science says that animals are incapable of forming or having opinions.

Animal owners know differently

I'd say the truth lies somewhere inbetween. Well rehearsed routines make up a huge part of a pets life ...changes to the routine / behaviour will provoke all sorts of reactions ...from panic to raised eyebrows (i.e mild interest)

The human interpretation then is what gives it its "spin".

Fact is that animals are by nature egotistical / egocentric. They put their own interest / wellbeing first ...always.
As we humans basically don't like being used and exploited (which is all that our pets are doing to us) ..we like to read all sort of nice, "human" motivations into animal behaviour ...wrong ...but normal

Nala

Cats are selfish, egotistical bastards, and to be honest, that's why I love them.

They have their owners around their little fingers, doting on them, feeding them, etc, all for just sitting there looking cute.

Fair play to them!

DublinWriter

Pighead wrote:

I was on my own in the kitchen last night and I want you back by The Jackson %5 came on the radio.Obviously like anybody else in that situation i started to dance and mime along to young Jacko.

I object to the phrase 'like anyone else' in your above statement.

Egyptians worshipped cats because they are the only animal (only readily available animal to them anyways ) that is capable of killing a snake. They had lots of poisionous snakes in Egypt.

kjt

Nala wrote:

Cats are selfish, egotistical bastards, and to be honest, that's why I love them.

They have their owners around their little fingers, doting on them, feeding them, etc, all for just sitting there looking cute.

Fair play to them!

Thats what my girlfriend says about me. lol jk.
I dunno, there's just something about cats I dont like. My mate has 1 and I mess/play about with her but I hate seeing them about the streets and the like.

Dogs all the way tbh!

Hagar

DublinWriter wrote:

I object to the phrase 'like anyone else' in your above statement.

Egyptians worshipped cats because they are the only animal (only readily available animal to them anyways ) that is capable of killing a snake. They had lots of poisionous snakes in Egypt.

What about mongooses? Mongeese? Mongeeses?
Do what know what, you're right, get a cat.:D

aare

Of course animals have opinions and preferences.

I could tell you 1001 stories.

Like the tiny stray Maltese I scooped up off a main road, years ago, who would sing along with the car radio, but ONLY "The Heart must go on" from Titanic or any similar torch song (there weren't many others).

The little Lhasa who could spot a single grain of mushroom in a mountain of mince and leave it on the side of his plate. The Akita who would not eat her dried food until all the green colored bits were removed by herself or others...

I have one Yorkie who SIMPLY MUST sleep under woolly blankets, and another who SIMPLY MUST sleep on top of cool sheets beside a pillow.

However, humans are a little more complex and, along with their preferences and opinions, are supposed to set something called "boundaries" and I would say that, in order to achieve holistic health, letting the ginger kitten's opinion dictate how we dance and to what, should cross a few of them...

...though the argument has been put forward that any act that could be contrued as an impersonation of Michael Jackson should probably ALSO be construed as a grey area...

shoegirl

I don't think they do. Its mostly instinctive reactions.

However my dog dislikes teenage boys. But I think its because he's been teased by them.

I did have a cat once who loved it when somebody played the piano. She'd sit by and listen all day. She also totally hated the said dog - I think it was territorial jealousy though.

NoDayBut2Day

That's the one thing I can't stand about cats - they're so independent and they just have that "I don't care about you" attitude to everyone.

That's why I love my dog.