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If anything gets put near a cat and they're not aware of it, then they spot it, the cat gets startled. Heck my cat has fallen asleep next to toys, woken up, gotten startled by his own dang toy. Cats are very observant and borderline OCD animals, they constantly patrol their territory looking for changes and they're uncomfortable with changes. This is especially true of sudden and unexpected changes. Like getting something put next to you when you're asleep.
Zucchinis are fine though, right?
Unless your cat mentally unstable, I think doing it once won't hurt your cat in any way.
Unless your cat mentally unstable, I think doing it once won't hurt your cat in any way.
I just can't agree with this, and have a hunch that the animal behaviorists speaking out against it grew up as only children. Sometimes we like to be dicks to the ones we love, and I'd hardly call a single scare 'conditioning'. Conditioning repeated behaviour, a one time cucumber test though you're cat will probably forget it happened by tomorrow.President Bagel said:
I mean animal cruelty is a horrible thing, but the sort of standard being set here suggests we have be outright saints towards our pets/animals.
At this point, it doesn't appear that animal behaviorists universally agree that it is bad. What it does appear like is that three of them were interviewed by National Geographic, disagreed with the practice based on untested hypotheses, and used fiery language as a replacement for the doubt caused by lack of testing. Even the language used in the interview betrayed their lack of firm understanding of what is going on and the effects. So at this point, they don't know that this would cause a high amount of (long-term) stress. They just think that it will.President Bagel said:
Behaviorists that would disagree with those three, though, are probably busy finding a way to test whether or not it is harmless. After all, there's no penalty for prematurely declaring it harmful and then later being proven wrong. There are, however, penalties (even if just having a guilty conscience) for prematurely declaring it harmless and then later being proven wrong.
With all that said, I think that this video made a decent point:
Basically, it's very easy to be entertained by a cat in ways that the cat also enjoys and won't potentially harm them. With so many of those ways, it would probably be best to avoid going to these measures to get a quick laugh.
Great now I want to try this out on my cat. See if you hadn't made this thread I wouldn't have to go out and buy a cucumber just to see how my cat reacts. I dont even really like cucumbers
This is coming back to a nanny state thing here, don't do this one thing it might hurt something. "Don't scare people they could have heart trouble and scaring them could cause them to have problems of some sort", "don't climb trees you could fall and hurt yourself" ... it's ok to have fun at someone or something sometimes.
I'm not saying start torturing animals for kicks but a scare or two wont harm anybody or anything in anyway.
I'm not saying start torturing animals for kicks but a scare or two wont harm anybody or anything in anyway.
No. It's coming back to the Golden Rule. "Do unto others". Or better put, don't be a dick.omega 616 said:
Giving someone a scare is being a dick, but at least they can understand it and laugh about it later. Don't fuck with your pets for the lulz, that's just sick. They don't understand that it's a joke. Saying "please don't be a jerk and frighten cats" is the nanny state is true in the same way that my bathtub qualifies as a lake.
How is it sick? Is it sick to play tug of war 'cos the dog really wants the rope but you're trying to take it off it? No. The animal gets a short sharp spike of adrenaline, as do people from scary situations and then they go back to normal. Hell, we go on roller coasters, watch scary movies and even have a "holiday" where we dress up as scary things (or slutty things) ... Also, look at all the videos of cats being pricks to each other, should we stop them doing that 'cos it's sick?Loonyyy said:
Huh, I didn't know that.
I definitely wouldn't condone doing something like that often but in most cases one or two occasions are not going to hurt the cat or condition them to feel unsafe in their environment. Animals are not made out of glass and aren't going to break at the slightest amount of stress (Disclaimer: I am not condoning actual animal abuse).
Cats can be scared or startled by a number of everyday items or events. Hell, I've seen my cat get scared because I've sneezed but it doesn't stop her from rubbing against my leg and begging for attention and/or food the very next minute.
That said, I can see a point in the "don't do it" aspect due to the video that MysticSlayer posted. The last thing I would want is for my cat to slam into furniture and potentially get injured as a result. If the cat also has a history of abuse or is mentally unstable then it very likely isn't a good idea to startle your cat on purpose.
I definitely wouldn't condone doing something like that often but in most cases one or two occasions are not going to hurt the cat or condition them to feel unsafe in their environment. Animals are not made out of glass and aren't going to break at the slightest amount of stress (Disclaimer: I am not condoning actual animal abuse).
Cats can be scared or startled by a number of everyday items or events. Hell, I've seen my cat get scared because I've sneezed but it doesn't stop her from rubbing against my leg and begging for attention and/or food the very next minute.
That said, I can see a point in the "don't do it" aspect due to the video that MysticSlayer posted. The last thing I would want is for my cat to slam into furniture and potentially get injured as a result. If the cat also has a history of abuse or is mentally unstable then it very likely isn't a good idea to startle your cat on purpose.
Do you actually have any cats? It's one thing to playfully deny your pet something, it's another to actually cause them a mild heart attack due to a massive sudden spike in stress and, as the video posted by Mystic pointed out, can actually cause harm because when a cat is scared, sometimes they get really freaked the fuck out, leading to them running around/away from the source of the sudden freakout which can, from personal experience, lead to a cat being harmed ranging from just crashing into something, to damaging a wall from the sheer force of slamming into it. Not even getting into if your cat has a unknown-to-you heart condition that, by any source of stress, could kill them outright.omega 616 said:
People doing most of the things you mentioned are typically willing participants and in the cases where they aren't, the same rules apply. As for cats being dicks to each other, that's for the most part a different thing and if it's an actual fight or such, yes, you should stop them from tearing their eyes out because there is a major difference between playful mauling of each other to trying to tear throats out.
springheeljack said:
They're not scared of the cucumbers in particular, they're just startled by the unexpected appearance of an object they don't recognize.
You can do it to people too. (Although without the spectacular reflexive gymnastics.) If you enter a room that somebody is in without them noticing and position yourself near them there's a good chance they'll startle when they turn around and see you, even if you're just standing still.
As for whether or not you should do it... eh, startling a cat isn't the end of the world. Doing it repeatedly is verging on cruel though. And if your cat does one of those reflexive leaps and fractures its head on a nearby table leg you're going to feel like the shittiest person on earth.
You can do it to people too. (Although without the spectacular reflexive gymnastics.) If you enter a room that somebody is in without them noticing and position yourself near them there's a good chance they'll startle when they turn around and see you, even if you're just standing still.
As for whether or not you should do it... eh, startling a cat isn't the end of the world. Doing it repeatedly is verging on cruel though. And if your cat does one of those reflexive leaps and fractures its head on a nearby table leg you're going to feel like the shittiest person on earth.
Look, giving your cat a fright once for a giggle probably isn't going to cause it any lasting harm. It's really not much different than giving a person a snake in a can. It'll give you a shock but you'll forget about it soon afterwards. The only way this would be a real problem is if you were constantly causing your cat stress by scaring it regularly.
What I'm saying is, a joke is funny once. Don't be that annoying kid that repeats a joke over and over again til it's not funny anymore. Your cat isn't a fragile fucking snowflake that will die from a scare. Have you ever seen cats outdoors? They get scared of shit all the time, they can handle it.
What I'm saying is, a joke is funny once. Don't be that annoying kid that repeats a joke over and over again til it's not funny anymore. Your cat isn't a fragile fucking snowflake that will die from a scare. Have you ever seen cats outdoors? They get scared of shit all the time, they can handle it.
The video Mystic posts is right. I've seen some of the cucumber videos and some of the cats run dead into walls and furniture. I've had several cats and they do not react well when suddenly startled. And any little thing can do that, so to do so on purpose just for some likes on youtube seems unnecessarily nasty.
No.
My cat probably wouldn't give a shit anyway. The dumb fleabag would just try to eat it or cuddle up to it.
My cat probably wouldn't give a shit anyway. The dumb fleabag would just try to eat it or cuddle up to it.
