Catitude (yes, it is meaningful)

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Rikkitic

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#288270 17-Jun-2021 17:04

Cats are the creatures I know best. There is no question that cats feel love, but I am not so sure about gratitude. There is an item on the news about prosthetic limbs for cats. They can learn to use these and to be glad of them, but do they make any connection with the people who provide them? Does the cat think this is great, I can run and jump again. Thank you for this boon, owner!

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Networkn
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#2730263 17-Jun-2021 17:10

I'd pay dollars to donuts that if that cat could talk, it's first response to it's owner after getting prosthetic limbs would be......

What took you so damn long!?

Catitude.

A dog would be like.... "OMG OMG OMG thank you so much! slurp, lick lick, here have my undying gratitude and loyalty and love"

elpenguino

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#2730264 17-Jun-2021 17:10

I don't know if cats can truly feel love. I do know they can feel body heat.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Eva888

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#2730346 17-Jun-2021 18:25

More likely to snarl at it then try to chew it off after jumping around like a lunatic to get rid of it. Our old cat now deceased would go ballistic when the kids would attempt to dress it in a skirt and bonnet, let alone strapping a leg on to it.

TwoSeven

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#2730821 18-Jun-2021 18:25

What I would suggest is that cats could be what we call Sapient, which kind of means the ability to accumulate wisdom and make decisions from it - demonstrable traits related to sapience I would suggest might be independent behavior and also complex emotions.

In regards to the question of gratitude, I would suggest there is complexity in that question because it needs to be defined in context of the cats physiology, not with regard to human physiology.

for example, I would suggest that cats have a different view of past/future and work primarily in immediate mode. However, they do also form community social structures called clowders and as I mentioned have an ability to accumulate wisdom, however, whether there is enough long term memory to differentiate cause and effect of the degree required? That would not be an assertion I would make.

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1101

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#2731939 21-Jun-2021 11:04

Plenty of 3 legged cats and dogs . They seem to be doing OK with a plastic leg .
So , for the benefit of the cat , or the benefit of the owner/inventor ?

If a cat was 4 feet high , its relationship with its owner would be quite different .
Ask those owners whose pet lion/tiger ripped them up .

tripper1000

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#2732002 21-Jun-2021 11:55

Cats and dogs don't really feel self pity (that is a human thing), nor do they naturally use tools, so I don't think they truly appreciate stuff like prosthetics.

Our little dog lost a leg after being attacked by a big dog, and it didn't phase him. To begin with, he kept falling over and looking really confused, but after a few weeks he got used to it and he got on with life like he was meant to have 3 legs. No real change in his personality etc. I think he would have just found a prosthetic leg an un-necessary imposition and tried to chew it off.

Rikkitic

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#2732005 21-Jun-2021 12:08

Four-legged animals can generally get by pretty well on three legs, not so well on two. A cat or dog can learn to use prosthetics which means they accept them, but I wonder if they are able to reflect on them to any extent. Does the animal realise that it is able to run again because of the prosthetic, and does it associate that ability with human intervention? Maybe that is too abstract for the cat brain, but my cats definitely appreciate the fact that I feed them treats. Would they appreciate the fact that I enabled them to run again?

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gcorgnet

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#2732066 21-Jun-2021 13:59

Rikkitic:

There is no question that cats feel love [...]

I find the fact that you are not even considering the possibility of cats not giving a rat's ass about their human(s) rather intriguing. I like my cat and all but I am under no illusion that he's only around due to:

- Force of habit
- Steady supply of food
- Source of heat

I am convinced that cats feel no love or attachment and that if they could TXT back, they simply wouldn't :-)

neb

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#2732070 21-Jun-2021 14:07

1101:
Plenty of 3 legged cats and dogs . They seem to be doing OK with a plastic leg.

I assume you mean without... yep, nature takes care of this, they'll get by fine without having something strapped to them. I would imagine having this weird thing attached to them could be far more traumatic than bouncing around on three legs...

Paul1977

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#2732074 21-Jun-2021 14:10

We tend to project our own feeling onto animals. I don't think cats feel complex emotions like love or gratitude - at least not like we do.

neb

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#2732078 21-Jun-2021 14:17

They definitely feel attachment. When I head up the path with luggage, meaning I'll be gone for awhile, the cat sits by the side of the path crying as I leave. She doesn't do that for anything else.

Rikkitic

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#2732087 21-Jun-2021 14:46

gcorgnet:

I find the fact that you are not even considering the possibility of cats not giving a rat's ass about their human(s) rather intriguing. I like my cat and all but I am under no illusion that he's only around due to:

- Force of habit
- Steady supply of food
- Source of heat

I am convinced that cats feel no love or attachment and that if they could TXT back, they simply wouldn't :-)

Define love. I'll bet I can find cat equivalents for anything humans do or experience. No silly sex jokes, please.

Anyone who has had an intense emotional bond with a cat, which is by no means one-way, knows they experience and express love. Anyone who thinks otherwise simply does not know cats.

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Paul1977

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#2732111 21-Jun-2021 16:08

Rikkitic:

Anyone who has had an intense emotional bond with a cat, which is by no means one-way, knows they experience and express love. Anyone who thinks otherwise simply does not know cats.

I've had cats my whole life. I love cats, but I don't for a second think they love me back in the same way. They trust me, and am accustomed to my company - but do they love me?

gcorgnet

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#2732114 21-Jun-2021 16:14

Paul1977:

I've had cats my whole life. I love cats, but I don't for a second think they love me back in the same way. They trust me, and am accustomed to my company - but do they love me?

This. 100%. I have also had cats my whole life, BTW.

Rikkitic

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#2732119 21-Jun-2021 16:22

Cats have complex brains, a lot like people. They are individuals, a lot like people. Some may not be as affectionate as others.

I had an extremely close relationship with one cat, and I know of at least one other person who had the same. In every possible sense of the word, by every possible definition, that cat loved me. He was the best friend I ever had. I am not anthropomorphising about this, though of course you can choose to believe what you will.

Cats are capable of complex emotions. Love is one of them.

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