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Tuesday, 3 September 2024

Another cat-abusing trend on TikTok which veterinarians have criticised

It seems that TikTok is famous for animal abuse and in this instance a mild or perhaps in some cases quite severe example of domestic cat abuse from which the TikTok channel owners achieve an increase in viewings and revenue and also some celebrity.

It is a simple example of exploiting the domestic cat and abusing the domestic cat in order to achieve some fame on social media and this has been going on for many years. It is very unfortunate. 

In this instance, specifically, TikTok channel owners are carting their domestic cats off to the pub to join the throngs of people there which is all very well if the cat is very outgoing and entirely used to it, socialised to it and acclimatise to it and possibly enjoys it.

But that kind of domestic cat is going to be exceedingly rare. It seems to me - and this is what is being reported - that many of these cats are going to be stressed, anxious and worried about being manhandled by their owners to accompany them into a public house where people are going to be talking noisily, where there will be lots of people and where there will be lots of booze which makes people more noisy and sometimes irresponsible in terms of cat caregiving and cat care.


I'm not criticising in anyway people going to the pub for a good time because people need some fun nowadays in a stressful and difficult world. But it must be the case that these people are taking a domestic cat companion to the pub to achieve more views on their TikTok account. That's the objective. And that is a misplaced objective if it requires there cat is stressed and upset.


It appears, according to the Daily Mail that it is Gen Z cat owners (up to 27) who are doing this. One TikTok user, Lara, from the UK, took her cat to the pub and her video that she made from the exploit went viral.



It is a 16 second video which opens up with the social media user carrying her cat who appeared visibly stressed we are told in a blanket to her car. This is the first picture on this page (above). She has a white cat and a pink blanket.

After enduring a car journey her cat then spent the entire evening being cradled by Lara in a pub garden as she socialised with friends. Her video garnered over 262,000 views and is captioned: "Lola loves a pinot now."

There is a reference to Pinot Noir wine which no doubt Lara loves.

In another TikTok video another owner is seen bringing his pet to the pub fully kitted out in a black harness and a £240 Prada bag stop those the picture below.


You can see that the cat is anxious with her eyes wide open and her ears pinned back against her head. These are signs of anxiety which you must expect in this situation. It is very rare for a cat to accept being carried into a noisy interior full of strangers. Some do as mentioned but I would reckon about 95% of domestic cats would hate this.

There is a picture of a Scottish Fold as well taken into a boozer in London while wearing a harness. The cat rides the underground as well and is called Six Beans. That's the picture with the pint of lager on its head below. The cat looks quite calm actually and I suspect that this cat has been taken up for and has got used to it.


Veterinarians are complaining because it is ultimately likely to be an abuse, and the cats are going to be stressed normally. They argue that some cats can be trained to become more resilient in these busy environments but they need to be introduced to them slowly and positively from a young age they say. Correct.

Battersea Cats & Dogs Home recommend that cat owners take at least five or six weeks to ensure that their cat gets used to the outdoors and this difficult environment giving plenty of treats on the way and at all times using a harness because of a domestic cat becomes anxious and scared and runs away then you've got chaos and the cat becomes endangered.

And if you keep a cat in I harness you got to train the cat to accept a harness so all in all to do this kind of thing with a cat requires a lot of preparation and training and it appears to me that these people are not doing that.

Source: Daily Mail.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

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