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[fix-the-spade]

I just tested this on my cat.

The internet is full of lies and the cucumber was met with mild interest at it's sudden appearance followed by utter disdain once it was established as inedible.

 

[Albino Boo]

I don't frighten cats with cucumbers, I just stick to using my 100lb dog.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Cats are entertaining enough as it is without getting them to freak out. See boxes, gift bags, string, laser pointers for more.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Who knew that people really needed advice beyond the, "Don't be a jerk..." part.

You'd be amazed.

On these forums few things are more revered than the right to be an asshole. If someone suggests not being an asshole, that's evidence of some kind of nu-facism, and must be struggled against with every last breath.

 

[RandV80]

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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.

This guy only feeds his cats at specific times? Talk about a controlling jerk! My cat's freak out if they can see the bottom of the food dish. Outside of the regular dry food bowl they've also conditioned me to give them their Greenies (softish dry dental treats) first thing every morning, and to maintain some sense of human dignity it's a constant struggle to maintain evening fancy feast to be every second day. Although again they've conditioned me there to dispense the fancy feast immediately upon return from my two weekly sporting events, so it's impossible to keep it strictly at every second evening.

 

[LordLundar]

This guy only feeds his cats at specific times? Talk about a controlling jerk!

Cats are in general creatures of habit to the point of obsessive compulsive. Feeding his cats at specific times is how they're used to it and it's more about keeping them calm by maintaining the routine than being a "controlling jerk." Your cats on the other hand are used to having food in the dish at all times. There's nothing wrong with either method, it's just the cats are used to different things.

 

[redmoretrout]

Meh, I really cannot imagine that the occasional prank can do serious psychological and emotional damage. If you people want to advocate for a cause, there are much more serious issues than cats & cucumbers.

 

[RJ 17]

Yeah, I'm in the group that doesn't buy into it being cucumbers that scare the cat, specifically. The video that MysticSlayer posted kinda proves that the cat doesn't really give a damn about the cucumber. I'd imagine if you place any object that's large enough to be immediately noticeable right behind a cat while it's eating you'll probably get a startled reaction when the cat turns around and sees said object.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

i put a cucumber on the floor , but my cat just looked at it and ignored it.. I then used a piece of lettuce to scare him.. but he ate the lettuce..

 

[MysticSlayer]

This guy only feeds his cats at specific times? Talk about a controlling jerk!

I've read in a few places that it is potentially better to put cats a "rigid" feeding schedule. In other words, don't leave the food bowl out, minimize how often they receive treats, etc. Part of it is for health reasons (e.g. the cat is less likely to overeat), and some believe it minimizes their late-night "rampages" around the house, provided the last feeding time is early enough. I don't remember all the details, though, as it's been a while.

That said, my experience with cats has generally shown it to not be necessary. I think it is more something to try for those concerned about the cat's health or its late night "rampages" that keep the house up.

 

[Fijiman]

Why would I waste a perfectly good cucumber when jiggling keys or shaking a plastic bag scares the crap out of them just fine?

 

[lacktheknack]

Yesterday, I put an eyeless garden gnome in my dorm-mates bed. He freaked out.

He is now OK.

If I continued to put the gnome in places that he didn't expect it, that would do bad things to him emotionally, and make me a jerk. As it is, having happened once, it's a joke at his expense that even he found funny in post.

Not everything's even a fifth as critical as people nowadays would want you to believe.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I just tested this on my cat.

The internet is full of lies and the cucumber was met with mild interest at it's sudden appearance followed by utter disdain once it was established as inedible.

If the cat heard you placing something near her that would be the reaction. They get scared when they have absolutely no idea that something in their environment and so close to them has changed. They're all autistic basically.

 

[Seraj33]

Yesterday, I put an eyeless garden gnome in my dorm-mates bed. He freaked out.

He is now OK.

If I continued to put the gnome in places that he didn't expect it, that would do bad things to him emotionally, and make me a jerk. As it is, having happened once, it's a joke at his expense that even he found funny in post.

Not everything's even a fifth as critical as people nowadays would want you to believe.

Except that cats are not humans and their mentality and phsyce does not work exactly the same way as ours does.
I think people tend to humanize their pets or animals in general too much. Believing they will be grateful for things we would be or let things go we would be able to let go off.
Cats are cats, not humans.
In this case, it simply makes more sense that by scaring the cat while it is doing something such as eating, you are making that cat feel unsafe. Now the cat will know that "once I got attacked at that feeding place. If I wish to eat there again, I must be on my guard."
Feeding is in already instingtively a nervous thing to do for any animal as it, under wild conditions, puts them in a dangerous position to begin with.
There are several studies and quiet a bit of science behind all this. When my sister studied to become a vet they even got to listen to presentations about how the cat views its domesticated home.

Sure, the cat probably wont DIE from it. But it doesnt have to bleed for it to be cruelty.

 

[fix-the-spade]

If the cat heard you placing something near her that would be the reaction. They get scared when they have absolutely no idea that something in their environment and so close to them has changed. They're all autistic basically.

No danger of that, she's deaf as a post.

What she is not is nervous or stressed inside her own home. Stuff comes, stuff goes, with the exception of my sister's dog coming to visit very little makes her freak out.

 

[Pseudonym]

The emotional welbeing of other peoples cats matters to some people? Of all the things that we as a society do to animals, and scaring cats with cucumbers (which sounds hilarious, I haven't tried it) is what gets people in a tizzy?

Besides that, do people regularly kick their cats or something? I wouldn't have anything against it, it's just that I can't imagine how cats become so easily scared that they freak out over cucumbers or strange objects lying around. My parents own a cat and already owned a cat when I still lived there. That cat is not scared of cucumbers or strange objects lying around. The only time when she isn't particularly calm is at new years and occasionally when she sees a bird or is hurt or something.