Current Events – Cats Are Jerks!
Current Events
Cats may be cute, cuddly and furry, but there’s new scientific evidence to prove that cats are just plain jerks. In fact, cats are selfishly indifferent to your well being and in their minds, you are THEIR pet, not the other way around. Cats actually haven’t really been domesticated into the house pets we think they are. Want proof? Keep reading:
YOUR CAT REFUSES TO DO WHAT YOU TELL IT TO DO
Your cat definitely hears you calling his name and even recognizes your voice against the voice of others. But the truth is, your cat just doesn’t care what you want and doesn’t want you bothering him. A recent study published in the Animal Cognition Journal last July discovered that cats recognize their owner’s voice, but don’t always respond to them. Researchers observed 20 domesticated cats in their homes for 8 months and monitored how they responded to human voices that called out their names. Interestingly, 50% to 70% of the cats acknowledged the sound of the owner’s voice by moving their head or perking up their ears. However, only 10% actually responded by meowing or moving their tails.
The reason? Cats haven’t evolved or become domesticated enough to obey orders from humans, according to a study by researchers at the University of Tokyo. The study suggested that the reason for this is because cats were historically loners and essentially “domesticated themselves.” Or in other words, cats really just want all of us to leave them alone and let them do whatever they want.
MOST CATS ACTUALLY HATE CUDDLING
As much as people love their feline pets and dote on them at every turn, research shows that they see us more as annoying roommates at best and not the nurturing figures we assume we are. In fact, the more we show love to a cat, the more annoyed they are with us.
Daniel Mills, professor of veterinary behavioral medicine at England’s University of Lincoln, discovered that petting may actually stress out some felines. Mills concluded that cats who live in a home with other cats are less stressed because it’s easier for them to avoid being petted by the owner. This allows the other cats in the household to take on the burden of human touch. So face it: if Fluffy avoids physical affection, at least now you know that she’s just not all that into you.
A CAT RUBBING AGAINST YOU DOESN’T MEAN IT LIKES YOU
It’s nice to feel good about yourself when a jerk cat is finally comfortable enough to brush up against you, but all he’s really saying is that he now owns you — or at least he does in his mind.
He isn’t making physical contact because he’s trying to say he loves you. No! He’s merely marking you as his property by putting his scent on you. Cats have an extraordinary sense of smell and they know that each cat has his or her own scent. So, when a cat rubs against you, it’s informing other cats to stay away and that you are its territory.
YOUR ANTI-SOCIAL CAT IS NOT ALL THAT SMART
Dogs may be more intelligent than cats because they know how to make friends. A University of Oxford study found that because dogs are more social animals, they have developed larger brains in order to adapt to the demands of a socializing culture. Cats, on the other hand, thrive in more solitary cultures with brains that have not developed as rapidly over time.
BEWARE OF YOUR CAT’S DISTANT GAZE
This is kind of creepy, but if your cat looks at you with a long, deep, unblinking stare, that likely indicates that your cat is guarding its territory and does not find you welcome at all.
YOUR LOVE FOR CATS COULD BE ECCENTRIC
If you are the type to collect cats, do you really want to be perceived as the crazy “cat lady?”
In 2009, a sampling done by the American Pet Products Association found that out of 463 cat owners, 80% were female. In a 2010 study, researchers surveyed over 4,500 people, and only 11.5% of the people identified themselves as solely a “cat person” (27.7% identified themselves as both a dog and cat person). Also, millionaires and business executives are more likely to own dogs than cats.
IF YOU DIE ALONE IN YOUR HOUSE, YOUR CAT MIGHT EAT YOU
In 1992 at an American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in New Orleans, a forensic pathologist told a haunting story: He explained that when people who live alone with their pets die unexpectedly, their bodies are sometimes left in the house for several days. Without their owners around to fill their bowls, the pets often went unfed. In cases where these people owned a dog, the canine usually laid in guard over their deceased owner without resorting to eating the body. However, a cat usually waited about a day or 2 before seeing the owner as cat chow. The phenomenon is called “postmortem predation.”
CATS ARE VICIOUS KILLERS
Biologists published a study in the Natural Communications Journal in January 2013, stating that domestic cats kill as many as 3.7 billion birds and 20.7 billion smaller animals, including mice, voles and chipmunks each year. Another study, conducted by researchers at the University of Georgia, attached video cameras to 60 cats and concluded that about one-third of a cat’s day is spent killing, or at least attempting to kill, small creatures.
Sometimes cats kill for fun. Other times, cats kill to catch their idea of gifts, in the form of shredded little animals. While these gifts can be a form of tribute to their dominant master, sometimes it’s also a cat trying to remind you just how bad you are at hunting these critters for yourself.
CAT POOP IS TOXIC
Cleaning out your kitty’s litter box is more than just a chore — it could be affecting your brain and health. Your cat’s feces may contain the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. If contacted, it can (rarely) cause a disease called toxoplasmosis. Most people just get flu-like symptoms if they contract the disease, but in people with weakened immune systems, it can be fatal. The disease has also been linked to some serious mental conditions, including schizophrenia, depression and anxiety. Even health professionals have warned pregnant women to drop the kitty litter duty to avoid risk of miscarriage or other effects.
TOXIC CAT POOP COULD BE RELATED TO CAT HOARDING
More details about Toxoplasma gondii: The parasite can only reproduce in the digestive tracts of cats. When another species becomes infected, the parasite wires it to find its way back into a cat, which means that Toxoplasma has developed a complex system of overtaking the host’s brain to increase the chance that it will be eaten by one. There has been some speculation that this could be the reason why the “cat lady” who owns an excessive number of felines exists. Because Toxoplasma can affect the mental conditions of people infected, some individuals develop an intense, almost obsessive attraction to cats. Those infected with Toxoplasma have even been known to develop a fondness for the smell of cat urine. That’s right: A study found that infected individuals found the smell of cat urine “pleasant.”
THINK A CAT’S PURR IS HIM SHOWING LOVE? THINK AGAIN!
Your cat knows exactly what he is doing when he makes that grating sound of a purr mixed with a high-pitched cry. He’s not showing love, he’s manipulating you. Research has shown that the particular cry a cat makes is very similar to human infant cries. Karen McComb, a scientist who studies vocal communication in mammals at the University of Sussex, ran a series of tests on 50 cats and their owners’ responses to the cats’ purrs. When she removed the cry sound from the purrs, she noticed that the owner’s sense of urgency extremely diminished. The final theory is that cats dramatize and exaggerate their cries in order to get something from their owner — which is usually food.
YOUR CAT CLEANS ITSELF BECAUSE IT THINKS YOU STINK
While licking themselves does provide a calming effect for the cat, the more important point to remember is that after being handled, cats lick themselves to smooth their fur and get rid of your “human” smell.
Current Events
It’s funny, but the world is really divided up between “dog” people and “cat” people. It’s also interesting just how different both groups are. Yes, cats are often furry, cuddly and cute, but let’s face it… they’re also not the domesticated and loving household pets we think they are.
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