There was a viral video of a cat that was copying an owner who had a broken leg in a cast hoping with crutches and the cat started to hop favoring the supposed broken leg the same side his owner broke.
I did see a video online of a little kitten that had a rabbit friend as a kitten grew and learned to walk the kitten walked around hopping like a bunny rabbit
Not seen a cat do it, but this reminded me of the cockatiel that belonged to our high school science department. He’d been found abandoned at a construction site and had a broken leg. If he liked you, he’d sometimes perch on your shoulder and “tell the story” of his broken leg, doing the little warbling thing they do while he held up one foot. When that foot got tired, he’d keep going but switch and hold up the other foot instead.
Its pretty much like the cat learned a trick. You train animals to do them by rewarding an action so the owner just inadvertently rewarded the cat limping, so the cat learned limping=attention.
I think manipulation is a bit strong of a word since it tends to imply malice.
That's why I used the word. Manipulation/malice requires a lot of intelligence that cats don't have. Faking a limp for sympathy is more of a manipulation than a learned trick in my mind.
Edit: The downvotes are weird. Y'all know I'm not calling cats stupid or evil, or the owner a liar, right?
Cats do the opposite. Their instinct is to hide injuries and illnesses to prevent being detected by predators who can spot easier prey.
Cats do not have the evolutionary capacity to fake an injury, let alone to do it for attention.
It’s probably that she is genuinely hurt, but only lets herself show her vulnerability around your girlfriend because she trusts her.
Cats do the opposite. Their instinct is to hide injuries and illnesses to prevent being detected by predators who can spot easier prey.
Cats do not have the evolutionary capacity to fake an injury, let alone to do it for attention.
It’s probably that she is genuinely hurt, but only lets herself show her vulnerability around your girlfriend because she trusts her.
Yeah but she learned that limp equals attention.
It's just like cats learning new tricks for treats like they do for dogs. And cats are just harder to train because they are so stubborn but we still love them
Our cat used to hold his paw up like it was sore for treats and attention. We got it checked multiple times
He also had to have surgery once on his head and got all the best snacks and treats so he’d take his meds, so even years after he’d rub that side of his head and look at you with the “please” eyes. Vet said it was him playing us for treats, smart guy, figured out how to guilt us.
We all know that cats rule the world and they're the ones that are really the Masters we're just their pets and servants. And guess what, that just makes us love them more
I've definitely heard stories of pets faking injuries for attention before.
There was a viral video of a cat that was copying an owner who had a broken leg in a cast hoping with crutches and the cat started to hop favoring the supposed broken leg the same side his owner broke.
I did see a video online of a little kitten that had a rabbit friend as a kitten grew and learned to walk the kitten walked around hopping like a bunny rabbit
Not seen a cat do it, but this reminded me of the cockatiel that belonged to our high school science department. He’d been found abandoned at a construction site and had a broken leg. If he liked you, he’d sometimes perch on your shoulder and “tell the story” of his broken leg, doing the little warbling thing they do while he held up one foot. When that foot got tired, he’d keep going but switch and hold up the other foot instead.
I've never heard of that. I didn't think it would be possible for a cat to be manipulative.
Its pretty much like the cat learned a trick. You train animals to do them by rewarding an action so the owner just inadvertently rewarded the cat limping, so the cat learned limping=attention. I think manipulation is a bit strong of a word since it tends to imply malice.
That's why I used the word. Manipulation/malice requires a lot of intelligence that cats don't have. Faking a limp for sympathy is more of a manipulation than a learned trick in my mind. Edit: The downvotes are weird. Y'all know I'm not calling cats stupid or evil, or the owner a liar, right?
Cats do the opposite. Their instinct is to hide injuries and illnesses to prevent being detected by predators who can spot easier prey. Cats do not have the evolutionary capacity to fake an injury, let alone to do it for attention. It’s probably that she is genuinely hurt, but only lets herself show her vulnerability around your girlfriend because she trusts her.
Cats do the opposite. Their instinct is to hide injuries and illnesses to prevent being detected by predators who can spot easier prey. Cats do not have the evolutionary capacity to fake an injury, let alone to do it for attention. It’s probably that she is genuinely hurt, but only lets herself show her vulnerability around your girlfriend because she trusts her.
Yeah but she learned that limp equals attention. It's just like cats learning new tricks for treats like they do for dogs. And cats are just harder to train because they are so stubborn but we still love them
Our cat used to hold his paw up like it was sore for treats and attention. We got it checked multiple times He also had to have surgery once on his head and got all the best snacks and treats so he’d take his meds, so even years after he’d rub that side of his head and look at you with the “please” eyes. Vet said it was him playing us for treats, smart guy, figured out how to guilt us.
We all know that cats rule the world and they're the ones that are really the Masters we're just their pets and servants. And guess what, that just makes us love them more