Canis lupus hominis

Posted in domestic animals | 15 Comments

15 Responses

1. on June 16, 2010 at 10:14 am Jean

   So…they think poking their foot and a camera at a cat that is obviously apprehensive is SMART and going to do anything to solve the problem?

   Bullshit!

   The cat starts out hiding under the table, and is keeps moving back in between defensive lunges and trying to hide under chairs. Did you see how dilated its pupils were?

   You might as well be poking your hand at a reactive fear aggressive dog that’s stuck in a corner frantically trying to tell you to GO AWAY OR ELSE! You’d deserve to get bitten for sheer idiocy.

   IMO treating any animal with fear issues in this manner is abuse.

   I’m sorry, but given your opinions on Cesar, I am highly disappointed. This cat is being treated quite poorly.

   Personally, I put this stupid video in the same “why do people find this funny?” category as the resource guarding golden you posted the other day.

   
   
2. on June 16, 2010 at 8:38 pm Katie

   I agree with Jean. What a sad and disgusting video. Why on earth is treating any animal in that way acceptable or amusing?

   
   
   • on June 16, 2010 at 8:45 pm retrieverman

     This cat has severe aggression issues.

     It is not comparable to the stupid things Cesar Millan does to dogs.

     He’s not doing a thing to that cat.

     Not a thing.

     It’s just being a bad kitty.

     I love how these people defend Cesar. We can do what we want to dog. It’s fine.

     But if a cat attacks you, it’s your fault.

     
     
     • on June 16, 2010 at 9:10 pm ashley

       Are you being serious?

       
       
       • on June 16, 2010 at 9:13 pm retrieverman

         Yes.

         I don’t see anything wrong here.

         This cat is attacking people

         If a dog acted like this, we’d hear shouts of “Let’s shoot ‘em.”

         No one complains we dogs are pinched and prodded, but put a foot within ten feet of a cat and the reaction entirely different.

         Cats are not special.

         No more so than dogs.

         
         
         • on June 16, 2010 at 9:40 pm ashley

           I’m not even sure how to reply to this. You seem like a smart person and you’re totally entitled to post whatever opinions on your own blog. But that you don’t see anything wrong with this situation that this animal is in is, I dunno, disheartening.

           This isn’t a reason to dislike cats. Hate cats because the smell of their piss lasts for days.

           
           
           • on June 16, 2010 at 9:48 pm retrieverman

             If you watch the full sequence on youtube, you’ll see that the cat is being the aggressor here.

             I have nothing against cats.

             I have issues with double standards.

             
             
3. on June 16, 2010 at 11:25 pm Jean

   Geeze, I cannot believe you are this ignorant about feline body language. Ok, I’ll play your game.

   Don’t Pet this kitty 1.
   1. The cat is crouched on the stairs. This is a defensive posture, not aggressive. When my male cat is threatening my female and about to flatten her, he looms while she crouches defensively.

   2. The camera moves toward the cat AFTER it starts growling to try to make the big scary thing go away. This is an aggressive move on the cameraman’s part.

   3. A hand is barely visible poking at the cat at about 14 seconds in. It is another aggressive move on the cameraman’s part, and as the video continues, the cat seems to be reaching past the camera. It is highly likely that the hand is still poking at the cat offscreen.

   Don’t pet this kitty 2
   The cat is HIDING under a chair having a scary camera poked at it. It is crouched defensively, and the camera is aggressively invading its space.

   Don’t pet this kitty 3
   The cat is defensively crouched hiding under a table. Despite its warning vocalizations the cameraman walks directly toward it- an aggressive move. He pokes his foot toward it, another aggressive move. The cat tries to HIDE under a chair, it is trying to escape the situation. At around 19 seconds in, a foot or something is poked at the cat while it tries to hide under the chair…yet another scary, aggressive move on the cameraman’s part. 24 seconds in he is still flapping a foot at the cat, which has a low threashold and is pretty much terrified. 31 seconds in the camera is forcefully shoved into the cat’s face, making its highly dialated pupils visible- indicative of the cats highly fearful emotional state. The cat hides under the chair again, and actually quiets as the cameraman moves away. It does not try to follow, which would be an aggressive move. It resumes its warning growl when the camera is once again aggressively thrust into its face.

   Don’t pet this kitty part 4.
   You know, I’m getting tired of this. All I see is a total idiot pushing a camera into a frightened animal’s face here.

   My conclusion: This is a frightened cat owned by a blithering idiot.

   If I had let men run straight up to Chandler and try to poke at him with weird frightening objects when he went through the fear stage where he decided men were evil, I probably would have the 60 lb canine version of this.

   Fortunately, I’m not a blithering idiot. I used counterconditioning and desensitization- which also works with cats, btw. Honestly, for the cat to be this bad, I wonder how many times it has been “not abused” by being scared out of its wits by men who ignore that it is uncomfortable.

   Can this cat’s reactions be “fixed” at this point? I don’t know, it’s not my cat. It looks like it doesn’t do any damage to male blithering idiots because it is declawed.

   Would a dog be killed for biting after it has been chased around, poked at, and had scary objects shoved in its face? If owned by a blithering idiot, probably yes.

   The point is that it should not have to be that way for either a frightened dog OR cat OR whatever.

   
   
   • on June 17, 2010 at 8:38 am retrieverman

     I think it’s much more likely that this cat was only exposed to women.

     I agree with the counterconditioning.

     I don’t think he’s doing that much to the cat compared to what Cesar believes everyone should do to dogs.

     People treat dogs like we’re still in the nineteenth century.

     But cats get special treatment, no matter what.

     No leash laws. No licensing (save in RI). If they kill native wildlife, you can’t kill them, etc.

     
     
     • on June 17, 2010 at 12:12 pm Jean

       Hmm…last I heard Cesar thought all dogs should get exercise, be taught manners/rules, and be loved by their owner. Not the evil empire as far as I’m concerned. I’m not in favor of some of his techniques, but I have no quarrel with his core philosophy.

       I suspect cats are not as regulated because they are less likely to do grievous bodily harm to a person when unsocialized and untrained than a large dog. The KC Dog Blog tracks tragic canine attacks that occur every week. You hear much less about cats going out of their way to seriously injure somebody. Even the cat in the video kept retreating under great provocation and never bit. Is this fair? I don’t know. You don’t seem to think so. *shrug* I suppose it depends on what your local animal control cares about.

       Of course, the number of cats killed in shelters is larger than that of dogs. That’s unfair too, but it is life until societal and shelter reform mitigates the problem.

       As far as training goes, you are correct that there are idiots out there. This cat footage you posted is proof of it. I suppose I’ll just be thankful that they don’t have a dog. Personally, I suspect the reason that most sane people do not try heavy handed handling of cats is that your average cat is very flexible, extremely athletic, and keenly sharp on five of its six ends. It seems to me that most people dislike pain and bleeding.

       
       
       • on June 17, 2010 at 2:52 pm retrieverman

         No. He’s an asshole to dogs.

         And he’s a fake expert.

         
         
       • on June 17, 2010 at 2:53 pm retrieverman

         I trust not single word the man says.

         I admit that I don’t understand cats.

         I can read raccoon body language better.

         Heck, I can read the “facial expressions” of horses.

         
         
         • on June 17, 2010 at 8:53 pm ruthcrisler

           Horses do have facial expressions. My opinions on Cesar have been stated before. And I’m not a cat person.

           HOWEVAH, the cat is not the aggressor here. He is in defense mode. You’d get the same reaction out of a lot of perfectly good dogs if you approached them in such a manner.

           The big difference is dogs are held to a higher standard of tolerance, behavior, and training. I’m okay with that, since dogs are generally a lot more formidable, as well as out in public more often. They are also more trainable.

           
           
4. on June 18, 2010 at 12:35 pm M.R.S.

   Jean is right about the cat’s body language and responses. Believe me, if this cat were truly aggressive, that is, intending to do harm, the cameraman would be peeling it off his face. This cat is fearful and defensive.

   I’m not a “cat person” but have handled hundreds of them in my work at a veterinary clinic, including feral cats brought in for sterilization. And I respect them for what they are.

   
   
5. on June 20, 2010 at 10:48 am Judi

   I’m with Jean. I’m not a cat person, but there are really obvious similarities between this cat’s behavior and that of a frightened dog backed into similar corners. Ears would be laid back in both species. Eyes dilated and enlarged, common to both. Opening the mouth and vocalizing to try to scare off the space invader, also common to both species. Inhibited rushing at the invader to try to drive him off. This cat, like many fearful dogs, shows no real desire to hurt the clueless human, just to get rid of him. My fearful dog would demonstrate very similar behavior.

   I think the people had to have that cat declawed in order to “safely” continue to torment it. If that cat had claws, I don’t think they’d be poking at it with relatively bare feet. My confident dog, who was bred to control fully grown cattle including bulls, would probably have bitten earlier in the sequence to make her point that she deserved to be left alone. Except that I make it a point not to leave her alone around idiots. Unfortunately this poor cat is owned by idiots thus cannot be made safe from them.

   
   

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