Your cat is staring at you, does it actually want to eat you?

In the process of getting along with their cats, the "poop shovelers" love their cats deeply, but the aloof cats always seem to have an attitude of "everyone is drunk but I am sober". There is even a rumor that " when your cat stares at you, it is actually judging whether you are still alive and when it can eat you "!

Could it be that this cute looking pet is really so dark inside?

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01

Cold and distant

Because of the Lone Ranger gene in the blood

"The firewood in the stream is soft and the felt is warm, so my cat and I will not go out."

On a cold winter day, the warmest thing is to sit in a comfortable rocking chair, basking in the warm sun, listening to your favorite music, drinking hot coffee, and petting the cutest cat. What a comfortable life this is, I am almost drunk just thinking about it.

I am a cat lover. I have loved cats since I was a child. When I was young, I had to secretly pet the big white cat raised by my neighbor because my family didn't allow me to keep one. However, the irony is that when I had my own house and wanted to invite a cat to my house, I suddenly found that I was allergic to animal hair... It was fate that made me think of inviting a pure black short-haired cat to my home, and I even thought of a name for it.

I believe that there must be many friends who like to pet cats like me. However, do you really understand your pet?

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According to statistics, there are more than 500 million domestic cats in the world that have been taken home by the Blue Star Bipedal Beasts as their masters. It can be said that cats are relatively early animals raised as "pets" by humans. About 9,000 years ago, people living in the Fertile Crescent region began to raise cats .

Perhaps these people initially placed cats in barns where grain was stored to keep away mice that stole the grain. Compared to the approximately 15,000-20,000-year domestication history of dogs (some believe that humans have domesticated dogs since about 40,000 years ago), cats are less domesticated and retain more of their “wildness”.

However, when it comes to some horrifying incidents reported in the news, such as "cats will eat the owner's body after the owner died suddenly at home", it is difficult to judge the root cause, because there is no evidence to show that cats eat their owners on their own initiative or cannot bear the hunger and eat their owners to save their lives.

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When we raise cats, sometimes we find that “we call the cat, but the cat ignores us or even pretends not to hear us”. This is one of the reasons why we jokingly call cats “masters”.

In fact, it is not that cats are too arrogant, but that African wild cats are solitary animals and do not have much group awareness . When they hear people calling, they may just turn one ear in the direction of the sound to observe the movement, and then continue to do their own thing if they find nothing unusual. Dogs are social animals and will participate in human hunting activities. They are very sensitive to indication signals.

When humans first domesticated wild cats, their purpose was just to catch mice near the barn, so cats generally don't respond much to our commands and instructions. However, after training, cats can also complete some simple commands.

02

“Fear of drowning” is unreliable

Probably keeping watch for you.

When we take a shower or go to the toilet, cats often squat at the bathroom door and wait, or even peek in.

This series of actions makes some cat lovers think that their masters are caring about them, and they even imagine the plot of "the cat who is afraid of water is worried that I will drown and is really worried about me." So what is the truth?

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The areas where African wild cats live are mostly dry and water-scarce, and wild cats have no concept of bathing with water, so from the cat's perspective, they cannot deduce that humans are cleaning their bodies.

In addition, the bathroom in Chinese homes usually includes a shower room and a toilet. Leaving the smell of urine in a specific area is a way for cats to mark their territory, so as long as they enter the bathroom, they think they are "going to the bathroom."

Regardless of size, cats defecate when they are mentally relaxed, so there is a view that cats stand guard at the toilet door to watch how we "mark territory" and help us keep watch. If an enemy attacks, they can quickly call us to run away together .

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In fact, it is not difficult to understand cats’ minds. Although they are solitary animals, they still have rich body language:

When a cat comes up to you and meows softly or wags its tail, it's saying hello to you.

If a cat stares at you with a serious face and you look at it, it will think you are provoking it. If you look away, it means you are giving in.

When seeing you admit your weakness, many cats will raise their tails, which means they are happy that you know the situation.

If a cat is frightened, the hair on its back will "explode";

When a cat is crouching with its back arched, it may be entering a hunting state;

If a cat lies down and shows you its belly, it is showing that it trusts you.

03

Get a cat

It's a serious matter

In the city where we live, we often see stray cats. There are several "residents" in our community that I am familiar with. But should we invite these stray cats back home?

In fact, raising a pet is not a simple matter, and not everyone is suitable for raising a cat. Before deciding to raise a cat, you should make a serious assessment:

1) A domestic cat can live for more than 10 years , and the average human life span is about 70 years. In other words, we have to devote 1/7 of our lives to take care of it. It can only accompany you for a while, but you are everything to it.

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2) Cats need enough space to keep them, unlike crabs or fish, where a fish tank is enough. Cats need a certain amount of space to move around in order to stay healthy. Do you have a separate house? Can you meet their needs to run around? This is very important.

3) Can your family accept your cat ? We humans are social animals. Can your parents and your partner accept the cat joining your life? You must do a good job of working with your family and determine whether the physical condition of the family members allows you to realize your dream of petting the cat freely.

For example, people like me who suffer from severe animal hair allergies will sneeze constantly even if there is cat hair on their clothes; if there is too much cat hair, it may trigger asthma and affect breathing, with very serious consequences.

4) Raising a cat requires a sufficient financial foundation . You may think: raising a cat does not require much money, adopting a stray cat does not cost money, and buying cat food does not cost much money.

However, cats are subject to misfortunes at any time. What if your cat gets sick? It has no medical insurance, and the cost of pet hospital is not cheaper than that of human treatment, or even more expensive. If you raise a cat, you must be responsible for it to the end, and you must take birth, aging, illness and death into consideration.

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5) Domestic cats need education, and as an owner, you need to guide them to behave correctly .

Cats are curious animals. They may accidentally break something in your home or scratch your expensive leather sofa. These behaviors will cause great trouble to our lives.

As a pet owner, you need to prevent your pet from doing these things as much as possible. This process requires scientific education and guidance, and more importantly, patience and perseverance.

6) Can stray cats be taken home? The author supports adopting stray cats, because these abandoned poor little ones will be driven by their nature to capture a large number of small wild animals, causing serious pressure on the ecological environment. Adopting instead of buying is a true love for stray cats .

However, stray cats may have been harmed by some bad people, or they may have become accustomed to life in the wild and become unruly, thus becoming less friendly, loving to destroy things, and even scratching and biting you. All of these require you to spend more time and effort to heal its injured heart before it will truly accept you.

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7) Finally, I would like to emphasize: Do not let your cat roam free!

Some people may think that free cats are happy cats. It is true that free-range cats can have a wider living space, but they are also accompanied by extremely high risks, such as poisoning . Many cities are using large amounts of rat poison to kill rats, and a rat that has eaten rat poison is really a suitable prey for a cat, but once the cat eats such rat meat, it will also be poisoned.

In addition, the risk of parasites cannot be ignored. Many wild animals have a large number of parasites in their bodies. When cats prey on wild birds, snakes, frogs and other animals, the parasites will be transferred to the cat's body, seriously affecting the cat's health. Ticks and fleas in the wild environment are also very common parasites, and most free-range cats will carry some.

In addition, fighting with stray cats may cause injuries, falling into traps may cause cat dealers to catch them, and poisonous creatures such as wasps and centipedes may seriously harm the health of cats, etc. For domestic cats, outdoor activities are really dangerous...

Raising a cat is not an easy and pleasant thing. You should not just see how pleasant it is to pet a cat. This happiness contains a great responsibility. As the saying goes: "Maybe it is just a passer-by in your life, but you are everything in its life."

I hope every cat lover can enjoy petting cats, and I wish every cat owner can live happily forever.

Author | Li Weiyang, science writer

Review | Huang Chengming, Researcher, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Source: Science Refutes Rumors

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