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erroneous animal stereotypes Anonymous
I always thought cats liked fish naturally and it was healthy for them. But it seems fish is not a natural food for cats (felis catus) and can even be bad for them.

"If fish is to be included in the meal plan of the domestic cat, one may only do so sparingly as treats, or to entice a sick cat to eat. Other than that, the story of fish and cats shall remain a fairytale."

This really is a commonly believed erroneous stereotype if correct. I don't think my cat owning friends would even believe me if I told them they shouldn't feed their cats any more fish.
>> Anonymous
the two oldest cats in the world have been fed only cod and ham, I've been told. can't be that bad
>> Female.
Cats originated from the desert, as in, no water, no fish.
>> Anonymous
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Felis Sylvestris Catus' native diet is small rodents, snakes, and other lizards.

For example, a cat's 'boxing' attack is ideal for clawing poisonous snakes to death with little or no risk of being struck.

A cat's angry hiss is a camouflaging adaptation that mimics the hiss of many lizards, including poisonous snakes.

Cats' canine and incisors are positioned to be ideal for holding and severing rat-sized cervical vertebrae.

However, every cat I've ever had seems to have a preference for some other kind of meat, including fish, chicken, or ham.

Cats go nuts for fish because of the strong smell. Cats typically have less sense of taste than they do smell (moreso than humans), so strongly-smelling food is more attractive to them.

Fishing and bird hunting is learned behavior for cats and not something they do naturally. Cats can get by on instinct for catching rodents, but have to really work to catch birds.

^
>> Anonymous
Look up 'fishing cat'. It is a real species of cat.

Thread over.
>> Anonymous
>>49848
which is not the same species as the housecat.
>> Anonymous
>>49849
In which OP failed to specify what type of cat he was talking about.
>> Anonymous
>>49845

lol how did you deal with that?
>> Anonymous
>>49855I are dumb. I are also the reason we need disclaimers on everything.

fixed.
>> Anonymous
>>49798cats (felis catus)

>>49855OP failed to specify what type of cat he was talking about

Pwned. What's a n00bian?
>> Anonymous
The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus or Felis viverrina) is a medium-sized cat of Asia. Its habitat in Southeast Asia ranges through Indochina, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java. Its fur has an olive-grey color with dark spots. The face has a distinctly flat-nosed appearance. The size is variable: while it is 80 cm (plus 30 cm tail) in India, it is only 65 cm (plus 25 cm) in Indonesia.

The trinomial name of the domestic cat is Felis silvestris catus. Its closest pre-domesticated ancestor is believed to be the African wild cat, Felis silvestris lybica.[1] Humans have developed several dozen breeds of cat, in a variety of colours.
>> Anonymous
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>>49860

<-- Another pic of game hunter cat

Usually when she'd bring a big bird in the house, I'd hear either my wife or mother-in-law screaming something like 'She's done it again!'
When the cat sees me, she lets go of the bird, hoping that I'll kill it for her.

When a big bird like that is in an enclosed space, it panics. While the cat was holding it, it was screaming and clawing, but not flapping. As soon as she let go of it there're feathers and bird shit flying all over.

It's amazingly hard to try to catch a bird like that without hurting it. If you try to grab its wings, they'll break simply because the bird won't stop flapping. Instead, I tried to find something like a towel or blanket to throw over it like a net. Once I had it immobilized, I'd carry it outside and let it go. Ever time this has happened, the bird still has enough strength to at least flop away from me and hide in the bushes.

Every time I do this, the cat gives me a look like 'good job, asshole. I went through all the trouble of catching that for you and you just let it go!'
>> Gingitsune
Sometimes our python wouldn't eat the mice we bought it...so we'd end up keeping the little buggers till the snake acted hungry again...well one time our youngest cat got ahold of one of the mice some how...and normally he's pretty playful, but he would not let the little squeaker go, as much as I tried to get it away from him....anyway he bit down on it and it kind of...exploded...nothing says fun like cleaning mouse guts off the back door of the laundry room >_<
>> Anonymous
>Fishing and bird hunting is learned behavior for cats and not something they do naturally. Cats can get by on instinct for catching rodents, but have to really work to catch birds.

Don't they naturally attack anything that moves in an interesting way? Plus my cats make this weird little coughing sound when hunting birds, where did they learn that from?
>> Anonymous
>>49941

Cats are visual hunters-- thus the very huge eye/skull ratio. Their eyes are adapted to be particularly adept at sensing very slight movement so that they can detect hiding prey.

Domestic cats are 'stalkers' rather than 'hounders' like dogs. They're very good at being still and quiet, and then striking suddenly at their unaware prey.

Capturing birds requires a lot more 'hounding' behavior. Cats have to be a lot more aggressive when trying to catch a bird. Rather than waiting for their chance, they have to either charge birds and grab them before they can react or provoke them and then grab them when they come near.

My cat prefers the 'provoking' method because it was what she used to catch starlings. She didn't know it before she saw other cats in the area using it.

Incidentally, it also causes her to play a game that most cats don't seem to play. She rolls over and shows her tummy. For most cats, this is a sign of trust. They usually don't want you to actually rub their stomach like a dog might.

If you don't rub her tummy, however, she gets up, moves in front of you, and rolls over again. Of course once you actually move your hand, she grabs it with all four paws and begins mock-chewing your fingers.


>> Anonymous
>>49848

Thread over? Good thing it re-opened just in time for you to get 0wnd.
>> Anonymous
I'm convinced that one of my cats was a serial killer in a past life. An excellent hunter, being feral whe she was young, she would catch alot of mice. She ate them herself, but would give us "presents". It was always at the head of the dining table, a face, a paw, and an unknown organ. All in a row. All equally spaced too. It was CREEPY.
>> Anonymous
>>49984

According to cat research I've read and Morris' 'Catwatching' again, this is actually fairly normal for any cat, but very common in females. This is your cat's parental instincts kicking in.

A parent cat, male or female, instinctually leaves 'presents' for you because this is one of the ways it helps teach its kittens to fight and hunt on its own. Your cat is trying to teach you how to kill your own mice.

Once kittens begin to play with dead mouse parts, the parents will bring them whole dead mice. Once the kittens start playing with or eating the whole dead mice, the parents will bring them live, but injured mice to finish off. Eventually the parent brings them mostly uninjured mice to stalk and kill.

The best way to deal with this behavior is to praise your cat for the gift and then discreetly get rid of it somewhere your cat can't smell it. Bury it outside if necessary.

Once your cat has perceived that you're capable of dealing with prey, the drive to bring you 'presents' will taper off.

Scolding the cat won't help at all because this means that you're doing it wrong and still need help.
>> Anonymous
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>>49986
>you're doing it wrong
>> Anonymous
>>49855
A picture of a housecat, the context of a housecat, the scientific name of a housecat - what else did you need?!? Dang, Pwnd.
>> Anonymous
>>49986
This shit had me laughing out loud for some reason. I know they are selfcentered, but thinking of the humans living in the home as children.. :D
>> Female.
"Gifts" from cats arn't uncommon, they're giving you a gift because they think you're the "pack leader"
Mine brings me dead socks. (she's an inside cat, only.)

>>49984
Try seeing a bird, decapitate all of it's kill and hang it from a thorn on a tree. Literally my uncle had a tree of headless dead things hanging from EVERY BRANCH. IT was weird but cool.
>> Anonymous
>>50106

...? Cats are not pack animals. Try dogs, next time.
>> Anonymous
Cats are very adaptable animals. Their main diet may be rodents and reptiles, but if a cold snap drives reptiles underground or disease or food shortage reduces the mouse population they turn to birds and fish. The only reason they don't normally eat birds and fish, and therefore aren't designed to survive off of their particular nutrients, is because their are already predators in their range better equipped to catch them.
>> Anonymous
To return to the topic of the OP, one could reflect over the fact that almost any (canned) cat food is based on meat products. Even the "fish" kind rarely contains more than 4% fish.
>> Anonymous
>>50137

Cats are 'pride' animals rather than 'pack animals'. This means that they're solo hunters, but feel the need to provide for their family.

Males will be more territorial than females. Their job is to protect the females and kittens from predators and other males. They're more likely to scavenge, but less likely to share their own kills.

Females will be less territorial, but far more protective of their 'home' territory. It's not uncommon to observe both desert cats (F. lybicus) and stray house cats (F. catus) taking turns watching the 'creche' of kittens while the others hunt. They'll sometimes even nurse each others' kittens.

Trusted humans are usually 'parent' figures to adult cats rather than pack leaders, as adult dogs would perceive. If you're trusted, that means you're part of the pride and are responsible for taking care of the territory.

This doesn't mean that your cat still won't feel the need to exercise its parental instincts from time to time and leave you 'presents' in order to teach you how to hunt. =^_^=