We have three items today, coming from readers in Brazil, Europe, and Japan!
Reader Ronaldo, who obviously speaks Portuguese, sent me this video, translating the title (which, in English, is the title given above), and adding this:
People are speaking in (Brazilian) Portuguese; female voices say, in a loose translation, “how cute”, “I didn’t know cats did that”,and “no one would believe it”, among other things. Male staff comments at some point that the kitten has already emptied the bottle, and that he is a fast drinker…
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Reader Aneris sent this video of the precise moment at which a cat realizes it’s a cat. It’s truly an instant of existential angst:
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And finally, from Japan, the land of kawaii nekos, we hear from reader Andrea, who first found this site in Japanese, and then in English, where it’s called “Let me in right meow!” There are 25 pictures of pathetic moggies (and a few d*gs and chickens) begging to be let inside, but I’ll show just a few of my favorites.
This is my favorite:
Would you let this cat in?
I like how existential angst cat went back to normal after a few seconds – like everyone who experiences existential angst. Sartre would be proud.
Wait. It’s supposed to decrease?
Typically you ignore it again by distracting yourself with the banal (spending money, obsessing over a groomed self and self image and other things).
Videos of cats experiencing existential angst are a great way of distracting yourself from your own existential angst….
b&
Indeed.
Indubitably.
b&
Do other cat videos exist?
Oh, sure. Cats aren’t often plagued with existential angst, after all….
b&
I feel sorry for that soggy moggy.
By that kitty’s angry look I bet he can take car of himself. I feel sorry for the ginger with the look of utter desperation on his face!
Pooooor meeeee. Will NO one EVER let me in or feed me again. Hunting was not in my contract🐾
The video with the guy feeding the cat milk could also come with a statement — don’t do this at home.
As a cat I’d want to go inside too, if I ran into a giant bird.
And #21 has seen The Shining.
The damp cat is pretty cute, but my favorite “cat wants in” is from one of ProfCC’s posts of a couple of years back, with a Japanese cat “drumming” on a door to be let in: https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/wily-japanese-cat-knocks-on-door/
Surely realizing you’re a cat is an occasion for joy — unless, of course, the cat you realize you are is Henri.
“a cat realizes it’s a cat.”
I haven’t found this to be the case with cats.
On the scale of mirror tests, some animals (humans, apes, dolphins, elephants, perhaps some I’m not remembering) recognize themselves in the mirror. Put something on them, show them a mirror, and they’ll focus on the thing on themselves rather than the copy in the mirror. Among other tests.
Cats are generally startled to see a cat they haven’t heard or smelled that suddenly appears. The first time or two there may be hissing and arching the back. Smelling and swatting the cat will prove that it’s not really there. Eventually they ignore the image as they do the TV.
Cats never seem to recognize themselves in the image.
The cat in the video seems to be at the stage where it has experienced mirrors before but either the experience is still new or perhaps it’s a new mirror the cat isn’t used to.
That’s because you’re not using meaningful decorations for the cat. Smudges, which matter to apes, don’t to cats.
Put a “cone of shame” on a cat, and the fake mane is cause for much investigation. It will also change dynamics between cats.
b&
If only there were a TLA which could express the fact that I laughed out loud while watching the pictures.
🐾🐾
“OH MY PAWS I’M A CAT! Oh, hold on, that’s a good thing. I get noms, fusses, and I don’t have to work. Bless Ceiling Cat.”
Look at the eyes on that fourth one down! (Wet cat). I never realised a cat could literally frown. He’s saying ‘someone is going to die for this!’
Your favorite looks just like my Carmen Dingle, though her mouth would be open in protest (and she’s never allowed outside because Wileys)
I think we have a couple of cats who want out in one of the buildings at work. This morning when I went in to take care of some lab chores, I noticed two large “have a heart”-type traps set up in the hallway, baited with open tins of sardines. There have been several feral cats on campus, including a litter of kittens in the last year – the kittens were all trapped and adopted out to loving homes, but the older cats remain at large. Possibly one or more of them got inside the building.
Obrigado pelo gatinho que esta subindo em seu pessoal – o seu dono, nao.
Thanks for the cat that is climbing its staff, not its owner.
And thanks, too, for the Portuguese, which I’ve been trying to learn for some time (hence, any errors that appear here). Items like this really help.
Portuguese is easy, lots of small children speak it around here 🙂
Your frase is good, but “pessoal” used as “staff” implies plural, i.e. more than one person. The closest words I can think of would be “ajudante” (helper) or “funcionário” (employee). But I never heard a cat person refer to itself like this. We tend to use “humano” as in “o gato subiu em seu humano”.
youtube is a good resource when trying to learn or improve on a second language. Of course, you tend to learn a lot of silly things 🙂
Muito obrigado!