We’re back with the Caturday felids: three items and several more for lagniappe.
First, an 18-minute video from Meowtopia about how cats see humans. It’s designed to prove that cats aren’t just using us, but that we are “their secure base.” It’s a mixture of true facts mixed with some dry humor, somewhat like a toned-down ZeFrank video. The them is cat psychology: “What are cats thinking?”
It turns out that we are actually “Super Providers” whose purpose is to provide food; in other words, we are vending machines made of meat. But we also mean one thing to them: “Safety.”
The video invokes a lot of scientific research on cats, is full of interesting results, and is well worth watching.
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Click below to see an article from the Washington Post showing that “pet-friendly” hotels are actually biased against cats. (The article is archived here.) What gives?
An excerpt; the article begins with cat staff checking into a “pet friendl” hotel in Amsterdam.
“Hotels will say they’re pet-friendly, but they really mean dogs,” said Erin Geldermans, who adopted “Liebs” in Colorado. “So we’ll show up with our cat, and they’re like, ‘Oh, sorry, cats aren’t allowed.’”
Cast into the night without a room, Geldermans and [their tabby cat Liebchen] landed on their feet, finding more inclusive accommodations at the Jan Luyken Amsterdam next door. The hotel didn’t even charge them a pet fee. However, the experience was a stark reminder that, for jet-setting cats, it’s a dog’s world.
Travelers who vacation with their feline companions say they have encountered an anti-cat bias around the world. They come across it in airports and on planes, at hotels and vacation rentals. The owners say they must often overcome hurdles to earn the same trust and acceptance granted to dogs.“This is discrimination,” said Anna Karsten, a France-based travel blogger who has faced a double standard when traveling with her Ragdoll, Poofy. “It’s a higher risk, apparently, which, if you think about it, is outrageous. The cat is literally going to sleep, but the dog might destroy the entire room if it’s stressed.”
During check-in at a rental in the Dutch city of Leiden, Karsten had to provide references that Poofy was a model guest. Stung by a previous incident involving cat pee, the apartment’s owner said the family would have to keep Poofy in a “cage.”
After several minutes of negotiations, the two sides agreed to sequester the cat in the bathroom whenever the family was out. Karsten abided by the rule the first day but eventually left the door ajar. By the end of the week-long stay, the host had experienced a change of heart.
“She loved the cat,” Karsten said triumphantly.
REFERENCES?? The lesson is that if you travel with your cat, be sure that any “pet friendly” accommodations your reserve consider cats as adequate “pets.” Actually, cats are not pets but owners, and we are their staff.
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We all know of Larry, the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office . He was rescued from the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, and has lived at 10 Downing Street for 15 years. Larry is now 19: technically an old cat, but still quite spry, running about outside the Prime Minister’s home and the object of many photographs. He’s gone through five Prime Ministers!
Here’s a 15-minute BBC News video showing seven times that Larry caused mischief. He’s not a very good mouser; he’s said to have caught only 3 in his 15-year tenure. Don’t miss Obama’s meeting Larry at 5:40. There are many comments about Larry from Prime Ministers, journalists, and so on.
This too is an excellent video. If you want more Larry, his Twitter feed is here. Don’t miss the BBC journalist Helen Catt (that’s right!), who comments throughout.
Lagniappe: Larry turned 19 a few weeks ago. Here is what he wants to tell us on his birthday, including how old he’d be in human years.
Extra lagniappe: Japanese road signs. Slow down for cats!
Still more lagniappe from the Facebook group Cats that Have Had Enough of Your Shit: A new and excellent Swedish law. If we have any Swedish readers, please confirm this.
Go Larry! He looks pretty good for 19.
And in Sweden. How did the cats conspire to get his law passed? Conspiring minds need to know.
We never took our cats to a hotel, but we did travel with them on an airplane. My wife and I were required to sit in different rows, one cat per person. They didn’t want the cats to be near each other. (Perhaps they feared a conspiracy.)
Frankly, I can understand the prejudice hotels have against cats. A fair number of them react to stress by urinating, often in an out-of-the way area, and repeatedly. The smell is very, very difficult to remove. I know, I’ve had cats. I’d be hesitant to travel even with my “good” cats with a reliable record of litter pan use.
As for the Swedish law, I think it intrusive. If enforced, expect to see more cats going unadopted in shelters.
Thank you Jerry. I found the “What they see” cat video interesting and educational.
me too
I’ll second that! Very interesting and convincing.
Thanks for the comment on the Bret Stephen’s post
Yes, some kind of misunderstanding there.
I grew up with well-bred Siamese cats of exceptional intelligence. They were not into food, but craved attention and affection from us humans as well as playtime. They would eat when they needed to of course (their bowl was always full of dry cat food, with canned cat food in the evening) but were not anywhere near as into food as our dogs. So I don’t buy the “source of meat” motivation, at least not for my cats who were perfectly capable of catching rats, mice and small birds on their own if need be. My impression was that the cats regarding us as their parents in some sense.
“It turns out that we are actually ‘Super Providers’ whose purpose is to provide food; in other words, we are vending machines made of meat. But we also mean one thing to them: ‘Safety.'”
Providers of nourishment and safety; in other words, (foster) parents.
Yay Caturday Felids!
Happy birthday, Larry! I hope I’m as active as you if I reach 92 hoomin years.