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.

More: A good example of domestic cat exploitation on TikTok showing a grossly obese cat

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.

More: TikTok: a hotbed for companion animal cruelty crazes.

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.

--------------

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.

5 Ragdoll kittens fully enjoy their first bath together (who said cats dislike water!)

Pearl is an attractive woman who loves Ragdoll cats. She has a successful TikTok account because of it. Her home is 'littered' with Ragdoll kittens. She probably loves Ragdoll kittens and who doesn't because they are gorgeous. In fact, her partner gave her a present of roses plus 6 more Ragdoll kittens (see pic below)! I find it remarkable. I have no idea how she is going to cope with so many cats in her home and I have serious concerns about it but it does make very interesting videos.

And here is her partner delivering 6 more of the beauties within a bunch of flowers. All for the cameras. Don't forget that all this would not happen but for the fact that Pearl has a TikTok page and she needs to make videos for it. It was Pearl's birthday and they are due to be married in four months according to the vide caption.

"This is all I wanted for my birthday," she said.

“This is what women really want when they say they want flowers.” Not sure she is speaking on behalf of women in general. No woman except her would want this. For me is screams: "Work!"

And in the one below we have 10 year old Ragdoll kittens being given their first bath and they love it, it seems to me. They fully accept it. They have no problem being in water up to their neck. Who said that cats don't like water?

@pearlsragdolls

I did in fact find somebody. It's exactly 4 months until our wedding 🤍

♬ original sound - Pattimifatti

When you watch the video you see her pick up a Ragdoll kitten to place the kitten in the bath and totally in line with their description of being Ragdolls, the kitten's head flops back just like a plush toy.

The ragdoll cat is one of those rare breeds with a character which matches up to their name. They are very affable and pliable and accepting and that is probably why they accept being in water up to their neck.

I am a little concerned also with the fact that she's bathing them. They don't need bathing it seems to me. You only bathe a cat when they truly need it (e.g., toxic substance on their fur) because you remove the oils from a cat's body when you do this.

What you end up with is siblings temporarily being unable to recognise each other because they identify each other through their body odour.

I have a strong feeling that Pearl bathed her kittens in order to make a successful video which it is because according to TikTok it's been seen 47 million times! But don't forget that TikTok constantly replays the video on a loop and so these very high viewing figures from TikTok are artificially inflated. 

A TikTok account does force people to make fresh videos all the time which can work against cat welfare. Just saying.

@pearlsragdolls

10 week old kitten get their first bath

♬ original sound - Pearl’s Ragdolls

----------

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.

Promotion of anorexia on TikTok harms women's body image. Don't watch them.

A few minutes of visiting TikTok and watching videos that promote anorexia (pro-anorexia) can lead to women being dissatisfied with their bodies. In short, they have a less optimistic viewpoint about their bodies when watching videos by people who make content about restricting food intake and sharing weight loss tips.

HELPFUL NOTE: PLEASE DON'T WATCH THESE VIDEOS. THEY ARE DANGEROUS. DON'T GET SUCKED INTO WATCHING THEM. BE YOURSELF AND DO YOUR BEST TO MAINTAIN AN OBJECTIVE MIND ABOUT YOUR BODY. COMPARE IT TO GOOD GUIDES PROVIDED BY MEDICAL EXPERTS.

A preliminary to anorexia nervosa might be and probably often is 'orthorexia nervosa': a proposed eating disorder characterized by an excessive preoccupation with eating healthy food.

Study finds pro-anexoria content on TikTok can quickly harm women’s body image by Michael Broad

These are pro-anorexia videos. The research on this comes from Madison Blackburn and Rachel Hogg at Charles Sturt University in Australia. Their project is reported in the online journal PLOS ONE. Link: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307597

The researchers concluded that their results underscore the need for new controls on content that glamorises starvation diets and very thin physiques.

"This research has implications for the mental health of young female TikTok users, with exposure to pro-anorexia content having immediate consequences for internalisation and body image dissatisfaction, potentially increasing one’s risk of developing disordered eating beliefs and behaviours."

The study involved 270 female participants aged between 18 and 28. They completed questionnaires and how satisfied they were with their bodies after watching TikTok videos.

A section of them watched videos featuring pro-anorexia content while another section, acting as a control group, were shown videos about nature, cooking, comedy and animals.

Both groups reported a decrease in body image satisfaction interestingly but those that were exposed to the pro-anorexia content experienced a significantly larger decline in body image satisfaction.

"Our study showed that less than 10 minutes of exposure to implicit and explicit pro-anorexia TikTok content had immediate negative consequences, suggesting psychological harm can occur for young female TikTok users even when explicit pro-anorexia content is not sort out."

Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at the British eating disorder charity Beat, said: "Unfortunately there is a great deal of harmful content shared on social media platforms, most often circulated by those who are unwell themselves."

He added that it is time for tech companies to act by "ensuring that pro-eating disorder content isn't promoted in their algorithms, preventing irresponsible content from being uploaded to begin with, and making it easier for users to report and block any videos they might come across."

In response, TikTok said that its community guidelines do not allow the showing or promotion of disordered eating and/or dangerous weight loss behaviours. They also ban the facilitation of the trade or marketing of weight loss or muscle gain products.

Comment: TikTok's response is typical of social media companies. They know the problem. It is that they simply can't enforce their policies because there's too much uploaded content on a daily basis. They don't have the manpower to administer their website properly to a rigorous standard. This allows pro-anorexia content to be uploaded and remain on their website for a long time. No doubt they delete some and no doubt they'd bar some individuals from uploading this kind of content but far too much gets through where it is viewed by vulnerable women further fostering and encouraging poor body image which can cause anorexia and mental health issues of other kinds such as depression and anxiety.

Pro-anexoria as per AI research

Let me explain about pro-anorexia (says AI) , but I must stress that its beliefs go against medical facts and can seriously endanger health:

Pro-anorexia, sometimes called ana pride, refers to communities and mindsets that promote anorexia as a lifestyle choice rather than a serious mental illness. They make light of harmful behaviors and even encourage weight loss competition or "thinspiration." While those affected may view it as empowering, scientifically it undermines recovery.

Certain online forums used to share tips for concealing/maintaining anorexia from others were labeled pro-ana. They touted disordered eating as glamorous or rebellious. Though some sites have since closed, remnants of this mentality still exist online and offline.

Pro-ana beliefs argue weight is purely cosmetic and willful starvation proves self-discipline. However, modern research conclusively shows eating disorders are biologically rooted illnesses. Severe calorie/nutrient deprivation harms the brain, heart, bones and every organ system. It seriously shortens life expectancy long term.

Internalizing pro-ana attitudes can increase social isolation for those struggling. Sufferers may avoid help due to feeling their illness is a lifestyle/identity rather than a medical problem. However, without a multidisciplinary treatment plan supervised by credentialed experts, full recovery is highly unlikely.

While some involved in pro-ana communities feel empowered choosing their own path, the ugly truth is that disordered eating habits rob autonomy through addictive food/body preoccupations over time. For whatever reason people develop eating disorders, promoting and glamorizing harmful behaviors around them can have tragic consequences.

I hope this breakdown provided clarity on why medical professionals fully denounce pro-ana beliefs/mindsets as unhealthy and unfounded. My role is to share science-based facts, not condone putting lives at serious risk through medically disproven ideologies. Let me know if any part needs further explanation!

-------------

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.

Owners trick dogs with lemon slices in new animal exploitation trend on TikTok

A veterinarian, Dr. Anna Foreman, is yet another who has expressed concern about videos on TikTok in which animals are abused and exploited. TikTok has acquired a bit of a reputation for animal abuse videos; videos to attract viewers at any cost and the animal is there as a convenient subject to be used for this goal.

Owners trick dogs with lemon slices in new animal exploitation trend on TikTok. Screenshot.

On TikTok there is a hashtag  "#DogVSLemon" which has amassed 20.1 million views on the social media platform. That said, we should recognise the fact that TikTok statistics are heavily distorted by the way videos are looped to replay immediately after you've stop viewing it. I would estimate that all TikTok videos have received accurate views which are somewhere near a quarter of that which is stated adjacent to the video.

In one video which has apparently been viewed 16 million times, we see an uncomfortable puppy after its owner throws a lemon into its mouth. There has been a 65% increase in online searches for "dogs eating lemons".

It would seem that the amusing aspect of these videos is to see a dog's discomfort when they chomp down on a bitter lemon. Dr. Anna said that: “Many dogs will eat anything thrown at them (or grab any food on the floor etc.) without a second thought, often not even sniffing or tasting it first. “This can be good in a few scenarios, for example with giving a dog a tablet, however, it can be quite dangerous in many others.”

She added that “Sour citrus fruits such as lemon and lime tend not to be palatable to dogs, however if eaten in anything more than minimal quantities can cause gastrointestinal upsets or more severe clinical signs like collapse.

“Throwing food at a dog for them to catch is a choking hazard, particularly if the piece of food is too large to swallow whole.”

Owners who do this might at least slightly erode the relationship between themselves and their dog. They might undermine the trust that the dog has in them.

And it is also worth saying that this trick cannot be repeated with the same dog over and over again because they will learn that if they participate they'll be uncomfortable. It is a good example of negative reinforcement or punishment to alter behaviour. It is a clear-cut case of owners exploiting their companion dogs.

We have seen on numerous occasions owners exploiting companion cats in the same way. They are called "funny cat videos" but they aren't so funny for the cat because a study found that more than a third of cats in these videos are stressed.

RELATED: 34% of cats featured in ‘funny cat videos’ are upset and stressed.

Finally, a cat or dog might become stressed when performing the lemon throwing trick for a social media video. This may lead to aggression and that aggression might, on rare occasions, be directed at their owner or somebody else in the vicinity.

It is unwise behaviour and TikTok should stop it. They do promise to moderate videos but as usual for successful platforms like TikTok, the administrators have an impossible task. 

There are too many uploaded videos and they are therefore reliant upon other users to notify them of animal abuse or other policy breaches. This doesn't happen enough and never will. It is a failure within social media.

---------

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.

Amir Anwary a TikTok veterinarian gives us three vital tips on cat caregiving

It is always nice to have a veterinarian provide cat caregivers with useful tips on how to improve cat ownership. There is always a need to improve it although I think we can argue that the Internet has been incredibly useful in educating millions of caregivers.

Amir. Screenshot.

Amir Anwary says that three important cat caregiving tips would be to (1) if you need to change your cat's diet do it slowly to avoid stomach upset and (2) watch out for your cat's changes in behaviour as it might point to a severe disease and (3) know the signs of kidney disease because this is a very common disease in older cats.

@amirthevet Must know for all Cat owners !! The advice you needed to hear ! #catowners #catlovers #veterinarian #learning #vet #cats #catlearning #kidneydiseasecat #fyp ♬ original sound - Amir Anwary

I will briefly touch on these three points.

Changing diet slowly

For me, this applies mostly to reducing your cat's food intake because they are obese. There is an obesity epidemic according to veterinarians amongst the cat population in the West and therefore a lot of cat caregivers will be considering reducing their cat's diet. It should be gradual in order to avoid hepatic lipidosis which is fatty liver disease, a serious disease. You can read about that disease and how it develops by clicking on this link.

As to changing a cat's diet by changing the wet cat food you provide them, I don't think that will cause upset. I am presuming that you buy decent or high quality commercially prepared wet cat food. They are very similar if they are balanced and complete. Your cat will like the food or possibly reject it. You are currently giving them a food they like. If you give them new cat food which they reject then there is no change in diet! Problem solved.

Changing from a good quality wet food diet to a full-time low quality dry food diet will probably cause stomach upsets and may well affect a cat's health detrimentally. There are strong arguments for not providing dry cat food as the sole diet for a domestic cat because it's too unnatural and cats don't compensate sufficiently by drinking more water. 

It's been argued that this kind of diet can lead to cystitis if the environment in which the cat's lives is also stressful. Stressing cats is probably more common than people think particularly in multi-cat homes. Cat caregivers should look out for signs of stress particularly in timid cats who might be prone to hide and are being bullied.

Changes in behaviour

If everything else has stayed as normal by which I mean the environment in which the cat lives, and the cat suddenly starts to behave differently by hiding or becomes lethargic and losses appetite (common signs of illness) then a caregiver might presume there cat is ill. It might be a serious illness. There would be a need to take him or her to a veterinarian for diagnosis.

These changes should be pretty apparent to an observant and reasonable cat owner. Amir Anwary is simply reminding cat caregivers to be aware of these changes in order to allow a veterinarian to tackle any underlying health problems promptly. That I think is the message he is trying to deliver in his TikTok video. A good one.

Kidney disease

As Amir Anwary states this is a very prevalent disease in elderly cats in the West and is probably due to cats living longer (as occurs in humans) and the environment in which they live which may contain pollutants which are hidden or unknown by the owner and thirdly the diet might predispose the cat to this particular health problem. More work needs to be done on this in my view. There may be an inherited genetic element too.

Diabetes can damage the kidneys and diabetes is a growing disease in our feline companions. The increase in kidney disease may be linked to the increase in feline diabetes. Diabetes in fact has a severe negative impact on health in various ways so it's important that caregivers ensure that their cat maintains a healthy weight.

The biggest sign of kidney disease in elderly cat would be drinking a lot more water and urinating more and more often. That's because the kidneys are malfunctioning and not processing the liquid and so it passes straight through them. This means they're more thirsty and so they drink more and then pee more. Watch out for that particular sign as it will pretty well certainly be kidney disease if your cat is elderly. There is no cure the kidney disease and it often leads, sadly, to humane euthanasia.

----------

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.

Social media "influencers" must put an advert label on their video if they're paid to promote a product

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has introduced rules which affects how TikTok influencers and other social media users promote products of all kinds including cat products which is my area of interest.

I have just visited a TikTok page where the influencer appears to me to be promoting all kinds of cat products including a cat massager which amusingly appears to be operated by a blue British Shorthair cat (Ciccio) without any intervention or help from their human caregiver!

You can see the video below.

To me, the video promotes this product. But I don't know if this woman or man (I think it's a woman) is being paid to promote it. But she does tell viewers that there is a link on her TikTok page where interested viewers can find out more about the product.

That seems to be a way of selling this product but I can't be sure. But under the ASA rules if an influencer is being paid to promote something they have to put on their video or over the video a label to tell viewers that they are being paid to promote the product.

I'll quote The Times newspaper which explains it nicely:

Since then the ASA has drawn up rules that state that influencers are required to put an advert label on content if they have received payment, and any other incentive or are personally or commercially connected to the brand."

And The Times newspaper reports that ASA did some research to find out whether people were complying with this rule and it showed that 65% of adverts on social media were still insufficiently labelled. 

The rule applies to all kinds of social media content but often times it is on TikTok which has become a very powerful promotional tool for advertisers.

In essence, these people are advertisers. TikTok has become an advertising medium effectively and a very powerful one because the video you see on this page has been seen 48 million times. My guess is that a lot of people have bought this product on the back of the video.

Screenshot.

The TikTok account is cicciothebrit.

--------

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.

Cat café has cats in cages in the restroom

Cats in cages in the restroom of a cat cafe. Screenshot.

This is a slightly amusing video but it was not mean to be like that. This a cat café somewhere, we don't know where. In the restroom there are four stacked cat cages some with cats inside. Is this deliberate to give the user an audience of cats?! A bit disconcerting perhaps although cats like to be with their owner when they go to the loo. So, it is okay for the cats.

I suspect the reason why the cats are in the restroom is because there is nowhere else to put them. As simple as that.

The video comes from the TikTok account of Hadeelo915. She is a Muslim and wears a headscarf which made me think that this was in the Middle East but I don't think it is. I think it is in the US (perhaps) as she calls the toilet a 'restroom'. Only Americans do that. In Britain we call them 'loos'. Very quaint.

Woman allows her cat to repeatedly knead her face with claws out (video)

Woman allows her cat to repeatedly knead her face with claws out. The claws must have been trimmed beforehand. Image: Screenshot.

Would you allow your cat to do this to make a high-hitting TikTok video. She did and I'll tell you why she is not being scratched to blazes! She trimmed her cat's claws before she started videoing! Simple. That's the only reason why the cat is not drawing blood because untrimmed front claws are often very sharp especially immediately after the cat has sloughed off the outer sheath of the claw on a scratching post. 

The woman is smart because (1) she knew it would make a high-hitting TikTok video and it has at 83m and (2) she knew that doing a careful job of trimming her cat's claws would save her from pain!

This is clearly a close relationship. Normally domestic cats knead their caregiver's lap. The motivation for doing so is exactly the same. The cat, in their mind, is a kitten because the owner keeps them in that mental state and they are at their mother's nipple drinking colostrum. 

Obviously, what you see in the video is nothing like that description but in the mind of the cat this is exactly what is happening. The typical human-to-adult cat relationship is one of surrogate mother to kitten because the owner keeps their cat in a constant state of belief that they are a kitten as they are cared for so comprehensively.

Veterinarian gently chides a TikToker for facilitating animal abuse

 Ben the Vet who, as you might know, has his own TikTok page likes, sometimes, to comment on the work of other TikTok users. And I think it is fair to say that some TikTok users use the platform to abuse their companion animals. This is not a direct ploy to abuse animals but in order to create an interesting TikTok video they end up either mildly or even perhaps sometimes greatly end up abusing their companion animal or allowing it to happen.

@ben.the.vet #duet with @honeycat vet reacts - not sure tiktok needs to see a cat vs. duck fight #catsoftiktok #duck #animalwelfare #fight ♬ original sound - honeycat

This is an example. The TikTok user being criticised videoed their cat batting their pet duck around the head. It looks unpleasant. It probably is for the duck who persists in trying to approach the cat.

As you can see, Ben suggests that it might be a good idea if the cat and dog were separated and that the TikTok user did not video the encounter in the first place. It is an example, once again, of pushing too hard to try and make a good TikTok video to get those precious high viewing figures. There has to be a limit.

TikTok, to the best of my knowledge, is known to be a social media platform which allows animal abuse to be presented on it. In this way, it actively promotes animal abuse, you could argue.

7-second, shallow cat video gets 3.8 million hits. The world is becoming lazy and frivolous.

7-second, shallow cat video gets 3.8 million hits. The world is becoming lazy and frivolous.

I know that I am a grumpy old man and nobody wants to listen to me. I know that nobody will read this. But I will say it anyway. This is a seven second video which has received 3.8 million hits on TikTok. It surely reminds us that the world has become lazy and frivolous. Covid-19 made the world lazy. The Millennium or Gen X generation are lazier than we were when I was a kid.

It is just that the kids are lazier - and I'm talking here of comprehensive school kids - they are becoming rowdier, more apathetic and more aggressive in the classroom. They are becoming more disrespectful of their teachers. They walk out of classes. There is an increase in bad behaviour in comprehensive schools in the UK and it is causing teachers to seriously consider leaving the profession.

A total of 78% of secondary teachers said that they would leave teaching if they were offered a job in a different sector which offered a better work-life balance.

The head teacher of a girls' secondary school in Barnet, north London, said that "We never had that level of defiance from students, for example, walking out of classrooms, and the level of apathy that we are facing now. We didn't have that before Covid, and I think other school leaders are saying the same."

Self-discipline is missing at school children level. I'm generalising. Clearly there are many schoolkids who are self-discipline and to our achievers. But there are far too many who are apathetic and don't give a damn. 

One reason is because the adults of this world, the grown-ups, have created and continue to create a world that children find unpalatable. This is a reference to, for example, global warming. Children just don't see a future. And couples are no longer deciding to have a family because I believe the same problem. The future looks too uncomfortable to bring a child into it.

There is also a gradual dying of that old-fashioned idea of self-discipline. Self-indulgence is on the increase. I believe that self-discipline is being replaced by self-indulgence and I think we can thank the Internet for that. Particularly social media which is populated by navel gazing young people.

YouTube is also populated by young people making rude and stupid comments. TikTok is pretty much the same. Just tons and tons of frivolous fluffy nonsensical videos which don't, for me, move forward the world. It doesn't progress anything. It is just idle entertainment. Not all of it of course but if you just surf through TikTok, in general, you see this fluffy nonsense.

I think that it is a symptom of the world gradually going off the rails. We are not moving in the right direction. And I do not see a lot of hope in today's youth. I don't think that they are going to change the world for the better. Quite the contrary: it's going to get worse. Sorry to be so disillusioned by today's young people but that's how I see it.

How can this 7-second video attract so many viewers? It's a nothing video.

Wives should not tell husbands to take their cat or dog to the veterinarian (the surprising reason)

The TikTok video below on Ben the Vet's TikTok page is very short but very clear! Ben has used a TikTok facility called "duet". This is when you take the TikTok video of one person and put a video of yourself next to it in a split screen effect. I presume you can also comment on the video but this is impossible when, as is the case in this example, the female delivers a rant about not letting your husband take your pet to the vet!

But Ben does not disagree with her. The point that the lady is making - and I presume she is either a veterinarian or a vet tech - is that when wives tell husbands to take the family cat or dog to the vet without being emotionally engaged and/or without full knowledge of what is going on, they are unhelpful to the veterinarian in diagnosing the illness.

Without knowing more, I have a feeling that this advice mainly applies to domestic cats and not dogs. It is fairly common knowledge that the husband will be more invested in the family dog than the family cat. And it works both ways because the wife is much more likely to be invested in the caregiving of the domestic cat. They may also be equally involved in dog caregiving but it might be fair to say that the 'man of the house' - to use a classic old-fashioned term - is the person in charge of the dog. Is that fair comment?

RELATED: Disgruntled pet owners disillusioned with private equity-owned veterinary practices in UK.

Wives should not tell husbands to take their cat or dog to the veterinarian. And Ben the Vet on TikTok does not disagree! Screenshot.

And the presumption here is that veterinarians like to receive decent input from the patient's owner in the consultation room. They need to ask questions of the owner to hear the history of the disease sometimes.  The backstory and lead up to the current symptoms. This allows them to better understand the presented health problem.

I have always said that a cat caregiver who knows a little bit about cat health can be useful to a veterinarian. It also allows the caregiver to keep an eye on what's going on in a knowledgeable way.

Not all professionals are good at their job. Not all veterinarians are good veterinarians. An intelligent cat caregiver of long-standing who has read up about the domestic cat's behaviour and health may know almost as much as a recently qualified veterinarian.

You don't want to get into an argument with a veterinarian about diagnosis and treatment but you do want to provide useful input to speed things up and improve the accuracy of the diagnosis and therefore the treatment.

90-year-old couple take their elderly cat for a homemade cat stroller walk daily!

Cool. What makes it even cooler is the homemade cat stroller (re-purposed) used by an elderly couple to give their equally elderly cat, Angus, some mental stimulation. 

This is not the real thing but a neat substitute for an elderly cat who stays put. There's no roof on the 'stroller'. No problem. He has no intention of jumping out. They are a great elderly threesome, and I bet they catch the eye of pedestrians.

90-year-old man pushes a homemade cat stroller with elderly cat on a walk for himself, his cat and his wife who is the same age. Image: Screenshot.

It is their granddaughter who posted the video below on TikTok. They've got some attention there too as the video is heading towards 1 million views. Although TikTok fudges the viewing figures because they put the videos on a loop which probably doubles the true number.

Look, there is hardly anything better in the world of cat ownership and caregiving than seeing an elderly couple adopt an elderly cat (I presume from an animal shelter) and then use a cat stroller to provide some mental stimulation for their cat and some exercise and mental stimulation for themselves at the same time. Wise.

How do I become a professional pet sitter?

Professional pet sitters on TikTok. Screenshot.

To answer the question in the title, what I would do is go to the TikTok website and search for "pet sitting" or "pet sitter" and look at one or two of the videos and from that you will find all you need to know to start off on a career as a pet sitter. These people have done it. They've got the t-shirt! They should know and it is a very simply starting point. But makes sure that you are the right kind of person.

In essence, there are quite a few organisations which act as an agent between a professional pet sitter who wants to provide the service and the customer who has a cat or dog that requires pet sitting. But I would strongly recommend looking at these TikTok videos because it really does get you going and one of them is below. There are many others.

@frogmommyyy Reply to @magic.melk here you go folks #petsitting #SmellLikeIrishSpring #petsitter #rover #UnsealTheMeal ♬ original sound - riley

One couple do it professionally and they travel wherever their work takes them which often means travelling abroad and sometimes staying in really nice homes while they look after a couple of cats.

It obviously cuts down the cost of travelling and enjoying the experience of visiting new countries tremendously. And of course, there is time during one's day at the customer's apartment or house to take a quick tour around the location and become a tourist briefly.

@nomadsandpawpads Our first of many sits in Europe is going to hard to top! We had so much fun with these two and we miss them already. 🥰 We’re so excited to share where we are now! More updates coming soon, and If you want to learn more about travel by pet sitting follow our page of check out our website!🙌🏼 #fyp #fypage #europetravel #travelhack #abroad #travelingpetsitter #travel ♬ Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - Mozart

If you like travel and animals and are conscientious, self-disciplined and well behaved then I would suggest that a professional pet sitter is a good job because they are in demand. And the work is internationally based.

Link to rovers.co.uk

In the UK, there is a cost-of-living crisis and I suspect that quite a lot of people are supplementing their income through pet sitting. I have recently read a story of a young woman who earns over £3000 annually pet sitting to help her make ends meet. It is a way of earning money on a freelance basis as a self-employed person. This is always welcome because it allows some flexibility. But also, it carries extra responsibilities.

---

You can ignore this section if you simply want to know how to get started on pet sitting and you are convinced that you have all the right attributes.

Attributes

Nonetheless, I think that it is useful to at least touch on the attributes of a good pet sitter. Not everybody can do the job. You've got to really like cats and dogs if you pet sit cats and dogs and often there will be a cat and a dog in the same home, so you got to like both of them.

Oh, and it pays to have no family obligations like kids and pets of your own! Common sense, I guess.

It doesn't really work if you are allergic to cats and dogs!

You really must have some knowledge of cat and dog behaviour. And indeed, some cat/dog health knowledge would certainly help so that you can pick up health issues quickly and be observant about them and be able to distinguish between health issues which you can wait and watch and those that require veterinary treatment urgently.

Above all else you need to respect domestic cats and dogs. You need to respect their behavioural traits, demands and requirements.

Vis-à-vis a domestic cat, you really must not let them escape and there is a potential for a full-time indoor cat to try and escape.

There is no other breach of contract greater for a pet sitter than to have to tell the cat's owner that you have lost their cat during the time that you were a pet sitter for them.

To avoid the possibility of losing a cat you have to be diligent, cautious and aware of the potential problems that might exist and shut them off in a timely manner.

It probably pays for a professional pet sitter to have with them their own first-aid box and other professional health accessories and medication to use as and when required.

On a personal level, pet sitters will have to be insured against liabilities in relation to damage to the pet's owner's property and against, for example, losing a cat as described above. Any accident should be insured against.

Pet sitting is a responsible job. Image: Pixabay.

The corollary to that is that the homeowner and pet owner should also take out insurance to protect themselves. What if a pet sitter is injured while in their home and it is because the home is defective? That would be an instance where the owner would be personally liable. There are countless other possibilities. It's about what is called 'occupiers' liability' and protecting against it.

Clearly, a professional pet sitter needs to be a good communicator both with humans and pets! They need to reassure the cat and dog owners that they can trust them. The greatest problem or the greatest barrier to a cat or dog owner permitting a pet sitter to live in their home and look after their companion animals is believing that the pet sitter will respect their home and their animals. 

It is in believing that when they come home after their holiday or whatever they come back to a home in exactly the same state that they left it.

Companion animal owners need to feel completely relaxed with pet sitters looking after cats and dogs. Otherwise, is going to be difficult for them if, for example, they are on holiday.

I don't think that a pet sitter can do a good job if they think it's easy. If they think it's easy, they might be lazy, and laziness can lead to unforeseen catastrophes. It is absolutely essential that the cats and dogs are kept safe in their charge. That's the first requirement.

If things go wrong, they should contact the owners and talk through what is going on. There needs to be excellent communication as it will help to reassure the owners that all is well.

I think a pet sitter takes on a very responsible job because they are taking charge of a family member or family members for a period of time, and these are very important individuals to the owners.

Woman's new home came with two stray cats and they changed her life

Julia Davis, 24, begins the story of her relationship with 2 stray cats that she met at her new home by saying: "The new house that I'm moving into literally came with a cat". She subsequently found another! So, her new home came with two cats, one white and one black, and they changed her life.

Davis, Coop and in the background the chicken coop where he was found. Image: Julia Davis.

She already had a TikTok page and decided to document the story of her new cat companion who with the help of TikTok visitors decided to call him 'Cooper' because he was found in a chicken coop at the back of the house (is it a chicken coop?). I guess he had used it for cover and as a home. As she approached the construction, she saw the fluffy, white stray cat.

The video explains what happened. 

@julia_adavis Drop name suggestions in the comments! Bonus-I really like names that are nouns or names that have shorter nicknames that end in the “e” sound #names #cat ♬ original sound - Julia Davis

Note: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.

---

She noticed that he had not been cared for and was therefore a stray perhaps formerly owned as he was very friendly. She adopted him there and then it seems to me. She decided to take him to a veterinarian pretty well immediately and I guess as soon as possible because his ears were in a bad way and he needed to be checked over and receive some basic veterinary care. He had probably been in fights with other cats. That's how their ears get scratched and torn.

RELATED: No One Owns Stray Or Feral Cats.

A few days later Davies posted another TikTok video showing the discovery of a second cat, this time black, sitting on the roof of the chicken coop and waiting to be adopted! He was also in poor health. She named him 'Rufus' and decided to take care of him as well.

She provides regular updates on her TikTok page about her relationship with these two friendly stray cats who are no longer strays. As long as her viewers are interested - and they are - she said that she would continue to provide updates.

And she kindly said: "I honestly like to say these cats belong to all of us. Everyone who watches my videos has played a part in their care. It's been a massive group effort that's restored my faith in humanity."

She said that because of the help that she had received from the community of TikTok users, "These cats have a better life than they had before. I think that's really awesome".

And of course, they have helped her. She has a better life than before it seems to me with TikTok success. And the backstory is a good one: cat welfare. Two cats have a much better life; a life that they should have as domestic cat companions and not struggling strays. You can see how keen Coop was to receive the touch of a human hand in the video.

P.S. There have been instances of people moving home who have deliberately left their domestic cat companion behind because either (1) they want to get rid of their cat or (2) they believe that domestic cats should stay with their home as they are wedded to their home range.

Grey cat manically eats dry cat food with left paw and stuffs the pellets into his mouth

Get this 😃. I have never seen a cat eat dry cat food pellets using their paw in such a manic manner. This cat looks starved to me. And there is no benefit to eating the pellets with his left paw. He would get them into his mouth faster if he ate in the conventional way. 

No matter. It makes for an interesting if slightly disturbing video. Eating with paws is not that unusual. It is just the crazed performance of this cat which is. 

People ask why cats sometimes use their paws to eat and drink. I think it is natural. It is easier to eat with the mouth directly but an alternative is to use a paw, usually the left incidentally which indicates that cats are generally left-handed and/or ambidextrous.

Grey cat manically eats dry cat food with left paw and stuffs the pellets into his mouth. Screenshot.

Humans use hands to eat sometimes. And humans eat direct from the plate using the mouth sometimes (rarely 😉). Anyway, to get the food into the mouth is the objective especially when starved. The same rules apply to the cat. Cat paws are pretty dextrous. They are good at grasping objects.

@dimsimcoco

♬ Oh no, oh no, oh no, no no - Hip Hop

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Shelter says: "The only cat left on our adoption floor is Bell" -video

This is a TikTok video of an eight-year-old shelter cat named Bell. She is female which is unusual for a ginger tabby and she is the only cat at the shelter as you can see when the video camera roams down the aisle of shelter cages with not a cat in sight. By implication, Bell is the only cat left because she is middle-aged in cat years. She looks very cautious when the person making the video enters her cage. This is understandable.

Bell emerges from hiding in her shelter enclosure. Screenshot.

On the outside of her enclosure there is a sign saying "free roaming". I am not sure what that means in this instance. I don't think Bell was free-roaming but she might have been. Perhaps it means that she is able to roam freely in a larger than usual enclosure or area at the cat shelter.

@gcace_rescue The only cat left on our adoption floor is Bell💔 #adoptaseniorcat #foster #rescue #animalshelter #fyp #catsoftiktok ♬ original sound - m.a.r.y s.h.a.n.t.i

Once again, it looks like a very nicely set up cat shelter with great facilities. It is a sad video and it provides an insight into how shelter cats feel.

I wonder if they could have provided a better hiding place for Bell? She hides under what appears to be a plastic stool. A customised hiding place might be better. She needs to hide because she is timid or understandably anxious. That is very clear judging by the video. She is out of her normal environment and in a very strange and rather sterile place.

This shelter cat she needs a nice home where she is loved. It is, of course, sad that she has been rejected by potential adopters. Elderly cats are not infrequently left on the shelf so to speak. This is not only unfair but inadvisable.

RELATED: Video: POV-what a senior cat at a shelter sees and hears as adopters walk by.

Elderly cats make really good companion animals. They know the ropes. They settle into a new home more easily and more quickly. They are more accepting because they have more life experience. They don't chase around the place like kittens do causing a certain amount of mayhem. All-in-all they are an excellent cat to adopt. 

RELATED: Florida veterinarian said senior cat was ‘suffering’ and euthanizes her on the day of intake at SPCA.

The only downside is that they are likely to die before the adopter. In which case you have to be prepared emotionally for that very difficult time in a caregiver's duty when you have to decide if and when you need to euthanise your cat. 

It is the toughest time for a concerned cat caregiver. The moment might be protracted because of chronic illness. Not easy to deal with. But the benefits, in my view, of adopting a senior cat far outweigh the negatives.

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

184.9 million views and climbing: UK's most popular TikTok video features a white cat

This is the UK's most popular TikTok video and it is all about a cat 👌.

@mmeowmmia

🥺🤍🐾 ##cat ##uk

♬ оригинальный звук - 🐾 Mia the Cat 🐾

Most popular video in the UK shows agile kitten Mia, who has 2.6 million fans.  She is famed for navigating plastic cup obstacle courses in owner's viral clips. We have to give the humans a lot of credit too for dreaming up the idea for these unique videos and for showing the world how clever and nimble domestic cats are at navigating tricky obstacles with great precision. Their TikTok videos gather an awesome number of views. Even the less popular ones have over 100k views.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

RELATED: Mother cat carries kitten: Amazing feat of athleticism and courage

When the stray cat you were feeding shows up with her kittens

When the stray cat you were feeding shows up with her kittens

The film maker says:

"You kidding me, who said you're allowed to be this frigging cute"

This happens quite a lot. It seems to me that when a kind person feeds a stray female cat it is as if the cat is finding out if that person is friendly. And when they have confirmed in their minds that the person is, indeed, friendly they feel confident enough to show them their kittens. And they hope that the same person will be as friendly to the kittens as they were to them. 

It is a calculated, almost rational, decision to improve survival. I've always said that cats are not very good at rational decision-making. They are great when it comes to instinctive action. But I believe they do think rationally. They think more slowly than people or at least most people! But they know which side their bread is buttered on. They find a way. 

This mother and kittens look in fantastic condition, it has to be said. The woman now has a family to take care of and I have a feeling she will do a good job. She will probably find homes for them or perhaps I should put that in the past tense. You can see the bowl next to the building.

@girl.wonderlost

New members of the fam 😆 I need names 👀 ##cat ##mothercat ##kittens ##catsoftiktok ##cute ##foryoupage

♬ original sound - Leezenyyy

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

---

Caring mama cat Aila cuddles her kitten Tigger

Here is a little bit about the video. The video was made on August 29, 2021 at Mission, Texas, USA. The video maker says that the mother is 18 months old and her name is Aila. She has had her first litter and is very affectionate with a sweet temperament. As a mother she is very attentive. She had five kittens in her litter of which four have been adopted and rehomed. In the video you see her laying down to get some rest. Her kitten, Tigger, began to cry for her because he wanted attention and cuddles. She responded with a soft and loving chirp and Tigger arrived. Tigger plops down to her side and she comforts and cuddles him and gives him a bath.

@po.the.pup

Reply to @barracudabites ##kitten ##copypaste

♬ I'm A Survivor - Reba McEntire

Caring mom cuddles her kitten

Here is the same video on Buzz Videos in case one of them stops working:

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

---

TikTok video shows a cat, Wilbur, surprised to hear that he’s a cat - frozen expression

TikTok video shows a cat, Wilbur, surprised to hear that he’s a cat - frozen expression

Cute video. Popular video because of this cat's frozen expression of surprise after being told that he is a cat!

Yeh, Wilbur you do know you're a cat, right. Yeh, I thought you knew!

@_unctarheel_

Wait until I tell him he’s adopted 😬 ##cat ##animals ##funny ##cute

♬ You Found Me - Instrumental Pop Songs

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

---