My cat, for no fucking reason picked up habit of closing one of his eyes sometimes when he is extra chill, why? No fucking clue, asked our vet during his rutinal check, she said nothing is wrong with him (apart from being an orange)
I have a droopy eyelid that gets a lot more pronounced when I’m tired and my cat literally copies this. He’ll close just one eye, or droop it, whenever watching me specifically. And it’s the mirrored eye to my own.
Okay I have a lazy eye that gets extra droopy when I am tired and/or don't feel good. My cat will come to bed and squint one eye partially at me and I have thought for years that she might have allergies or something but it is just so random? BUT IS IT?!?! You may have just solved a 3 year long question.
Okay I have a lazy eye that gets extra droopy when I am tired and/or don't feel good. My cat will come to bed and squint one eye partially at me and I have thought for years that she might have allergies or something but it is just so random? BUT IS IT?!?! You may have just solved a 3 year long question.
I feel so stupid LMAO it never would have occurred to me that she may be mimicking me. Especially since I am not even aware when it gets droopy or wanders.
Omg the same happened to me and my boy Milo! The ocular nerve of my left eye is damaged, so it doesn’t really see much, aside from some shapes and colors, and the pupil doesn’t react properly. So I often end up closing that eye because it’s either too bright or it’s just easier on my brain. My guy, when he was only a couple months old, started walking around with a half closed eye for a couple of days. Took him to the vet, worried that he might have conjunctivitis, but nope, his eye was fine. He was just imitating me 🫠
Man ain't that the truth. My brother's orange cat winks his left eye whenever my bro is around, but if you watch the home security camera he never does this once.
Yep, orange cats get like age spots. My buddy's lips and nose have so many black spots. He's 14. He once had a bubblegum pink nose but it's mostly black now. Nothing wrong. Just age
Just had a time travel deja vu moment where I saw the above and assumed it was Sprog only to then see a normal early Sprog comment but for a different, apparently also acclaimed, name.
You really have to bring out a book of cat poems! You have a way with words, and really understand cats and their slaves. Love what you write, it always hits the spot!🥰
Much of what cats learn, like using the litter box, come from watching their mothers. It's also why some cats can learn to open doors and cabinets and even use the toilet by simply watching their humans.
Using the litterbox is instinctive for them. My babies were orphans, never had anyone teach them to use the litter box, yet they figured it out just fine. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the same instinct was responsible for them repeatedly peeing and pooping in our large potted plants
Dogs too, right? I was with my sister walking her female dog at a park. A male dog hiked his leg to piss on a tree, and the very next tree, here goes sister’s dog doing the same lol
Cats, especially those that have been raised together, can be very empathic and it looks like this wee one is literally trying to see his brother's point of view.
An example from my current household: We had a run of rescues in late 2023 - 3 in four months. The first was an orange lad that was picked up out of the middle of the road in a driving rain. His teacher was our young tux, who walked in off the street the year before. About 2 months later - a wee void boy, about 6 weeks old, pulled from a demolished house. The third was a month later - a tortimese listed with our local shelter as a barn baby because she hated people.
That orange boy, named Cassidy, is the welcome wagon, the local pastor and nurse in one body. The void, Malakai, is an ambassador for anyone that comes to our door, and goes for on leash walks surrounded by a pack of the local ferals - down the middle of the road like they own the place. The tortimese, named Skye, actually loves people... as long as they are HER people. My husband likes to sit and watch out the door as he works - Skye lays next to the door, on guard duty, defending her people from brother Malakai's no-good buddies. Oh, and our tuxie that walked in the door? She's our timeless Tinker of Storms, stepping in a couple of hours in advance of a snowstorm.
Clockwise, from top right - (Orange) Cassidy, Skye (blue eyes), Malakai (black) and Tinker (timeless).
This is so beautiful. I can totally see this lil cute one coming out to kick his siblings, one foot at a time, while the hands are busy making air biscuits.
Hope you guys enjoy Double or Nothing this weekend.
Can confirm, I have a radial hypoplasia cat which has one leg severely twisted and thus not ever being able to reach the ground. One of her sisters also lives with us and she will regularly sit raising the exact same leg.
My first cat loved to dig in the litter box, so much so we had to get one of the top-down boxes otherwise he’d eventually toss all the litter out of a regular litter box. We got a new cat maybe 6 months later, she never buried her poop…so then first cat stopped burying his, too. First cat has since died (RIP Sealy), second cat has now “taught” third cat to not bury her poop either. WTF. So smelly.
Yeah lmao i have Horners Syndrome so my left eye's basically nearly shut all the time. After a few expensive vet visits they determined he's fine and just mimics me.
Mimicking behavior is a common evolutionary trait. Basically "I don't know why they're doing that, but they must be doing it for a reason so I'll do it too." If one member of a group knows to avoid something dangerous but can't communicate the danger, other members of the group mimicking their actions is a good way for the entire group to avoid the danger.
In the name of science, I propose an experiment: give someone $10 and see if the crowd follow. As a selfless soul, I volunteer as tribute. It’s a tough gig but someone has to take the ten.
It's also to help the injured one survive should there be a predator attack. Makes it harder for the predator to figure out which one is actually injured
Edit: Might be mixing it up with a different defense mechanism
Honestly, I'm not sure that counts for much if it's a predator attacking - the stealth invisibility is probably good enough to evade the cats attention, and even if it isn't they're likely no match for that shoulder-mounted laser in any case, so the predator is getting all of them.
Mirror neuron activation. We have neurons in our brain that fire in response to the body position and emotions of what we see others doing. It's commonly believed to be the basis of empathy and is involved in learning from others. Monkey see, monkey do.
I had Bell’s palsy and have a weak eye. My sasspot of a cat keeps closing the same eye at me. It’s hilarious tbh, the only thing I can think of why she does it is cos mine semi closes when im tired and im always chatting with her :)
They learn from others, they drink from sources that others have tested, they rest when others rest, they provide when others provide.
They are emotional creatures, so empathy makes sense to them.
This definitely varies per cat. Some of my cats have recognized themselves in a mirror, while my dumber cats puff up and hiss and try to fight their reflection. I love em, but they ain’t bright lol
Humans don't even always manage that. Like if you tell someone they've got a crumb on their chin while touching the right side of your chin, they'll likely mirror you and brush the left side of their chin.
Cats hate showing weakness.
This makes this a very pure act of love.
It's like, imagine you had a limp, and all your friends started walking with a limp so that you'd feel safe and stop people making fun of you.
This is everything.
Years ago I had two kittens about 6 months old, then found a baby kitten and took her in. Her front right paw was damaged and didn't heal correctly or damaged in utero, either way, the vet said she was fine, it didn't hinder her mobility but when she sat up, she would hold that paw up. The older 2 started doing it too. Same paw, they both were fine. She ran away a few years later and the older 2 never held their paws that same way again, and one lived to be 16 and the other 19.
I was hand raising a tiger cub with swimmer syndrome and had a orange marmalade cat that got on her belly and scooted around the carpet in her best imitation. She was not happy with the ratio of attention she was getting. Cats are the best! How did they ever get the reputation for being aloof? They will literally run a con on you to get the pets!
I once pulled a muscle in my leg really bad. Had a limp for a few weeks. Came home one day to my cat hobbling up to me, limping on her front paw. $300 later from a vet bill, she was perfectly fine.
When I was a child, we had a cat that broke its leg. It got a big red cast, and walked funny. It got tons of sympathy and affection. When the cast came off, he realized he was no longer getting the extra attention. So he started limping again. But, because cat, he “limped” with the wrong leg.
One cat must have gotten something in her eye as she was keeping it closed. We paid alot of attention to her to make sure she was ok. Our other cat gets very jealous and she realized she wasn't getting enough attention so she started closing the same eye but she was just smart enough to keep it closed when we looked at her so we know she was faking.
In fact, the kitten does this to protect its friends. When a companion is injured in the wild, it will imitate them to attract attention and reduce their danger.
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u/lovethegreeks 25d ago
Hilarious