How Chekhov's uncle made his cat frightened of mice!

Anto Chekov in 1889. Image: Wikipedia.

Anton Chekov (1860-1904) wrote a story about his uncle and how inadvertently his uncle trained his cat to become frightened of mice when he was trying to train them to catch mice. At the time the cat was a kitten. Each time a mouse was caught in a trap, uncle Pyotr grabbed his kitten and pushed his/her face towards the mouse. When the mouse was released, the by then terrified kitten ran away.

I think it was the whole experience of being pushed into the mouse. Perhaps the kitten associated the mouse with the handling they'd received from uncle Pyotr. It was a form of negative reinforcement. The opposite to the classic positive reinforcement training model.

It is strange that the 'training' completely upturned the cat's natural predatory drive to catch mice. That said another factor would be that kittens might be cautious around mice as they might believe that they could be harmed. Mice are amazingly brave in the face of instant death in the jaws of a cat. They stand on their hind legs and scream at the top of their voice.

Chekov

Anton Chekhov, often spelled as Anton Chekov, was a prominent Russian playwright, short story writer, and physician. He was born on January 29, 1860, in Taganrog, a port city in southern Russia, and passed away on July 15, 1904, in Badenweiler, Germany. Chekhov is considered one of the greatest playwrights and short story writers in world literature.

He is renowned for his unique style that combined naturalism and symbolism, portraying the complexities of human nature and the subtleties of everyday life. Chekhov's works are characterized by their deep psychological insight, realistic dialogue, and the exploration of the human condition.

Some of his most notable works include plays such as "The Seagull," "Uncle Vanya," "Three Sisters," and "The Cherry Orchard." These plays often depict the struggles and disillusionments of the Russian middle class during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In addition to his plays, Chekhov wrote numerous short stories, often with a focus on the lives of ordinary people and their struggles. His short stories are celebrated for their concise yet powerful narratives and exploration of the human psyche.

Chekhov's contributions to literature have had a lasting impact, and his works continue to be widely studied, performed, and appreciated worldwide.

The mutually beneficial relationship between cats and writers

Canadian novelist Robertson Davies (1913-1995) amusingly described what he saw as a mutually beneficial relationship between domestic cats and writers in his line: "Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reason". He wasn't alone in those feelings.

Robertson Davies. Image: Wikipedia.

There is a natural connection between domestic cats and authors both in their character and in their lifestyle. Introverts tend to make good authors. It doesn't mean that all authors are introverts but it is probably fair to say that the majority are.

Introverted authors are introspective and they often work alone. There is a similarity in lifestyle right there because the domestic cat has this slightly solitary nature, living apart a little from mainstream life, doing their own thing. The cat's activities intersect with those of their human caregiver. There is this slight distance between cat and caregiver in contrast to that of the dog. That's because of the cat's solitariness.

And the writer works alone. Sometimes they go away to a quiet place to work, to think, to create to be introspective. It is said that writers can be shy because they are fearful of being rejected, being judged and not being good enough.

RELATED: Authors Who Loved Cats.

I guess one aspect of writing is that you are offering to the world your opinion, thoughts and ideas. In writing a novel you are expressing your imagination. You are opening yourself up to criticism. You're giving the public a bit of yourself. You are exposing your inner self to the public which can be difficult. Sometimes you have to put your head over the parapet so to speak to potentially be shot down.

The great Mark Twain loved cats and gave them strange names. He said that the reason was to teach kids how to pronounce words! Image in the public domain.

There is perhaps a similarity here between writers and cats. Cats, I would argue, are inherently slightly fearful of the environment that the human creates for them. It doesn't take much for a cat to become anxious which is why one of the primary roles of the caregiver is to create a calm and friendly environment for their cat companion to counteract this potential for anxiety.

And when a writer writes, alone at their desk, they create an ideal environment for a domestic cat companion. It's almost a merging of minds and character. And in being alone, the writer has an ever-present friend in their cat. They can just be there warming up the place emotionally without distracting by interfering except perhaps when desiring to sit on their lap or on their paperwork. Unlike dogs who are prone to loud barking and making demands to go for a walk.

One of the literary world's greatest cat lovers was Colette (1873-1954), the author of Gigi. She wrote, "By associating with a cat, one only risks becoming richer".

It is the aloneness of writers which enables them to produce their best work. If many are introverts, they love to read, sit quietly with their cat. Introverts love written communication. It gives them time to put their thoughts together.

They like attention to detail, in editing their work and they are constantly thinking, creating ideas and polishing their thoughts.

It is said that they are the masters of introspection. In their solitariness they observe the world around them. They are great observers. My mind turns to Dr. Desmond Morris, probably my favourite author who observed the world so well that he was able to write so beautifully about what's behind the behaviour of our feline companions as well as their human caregivers.

You can see the similarity between authors and cats! Cats are great observers too. Very alert to events occurring around them with sharpened senses.  Writers are also alert to events and happenings. And they think about them in their creative process.

Cats and authors go together like custard apple pie or steak and chips. Of course, not all authors like cats. Some will be fearful of them just like other people. But all things being equal you'll see a higher-than-average association between cats and writers.

The world's best-known veterinarian and author believes that declawing is barbaric

This is a short note but one that must be made. I would say that the world's best-known veterinarian/author on cat health, welfare, anatomy and anything else to do with domestic cats (and dogs and other animals), is Dr. Bruce Fogle MBE, DVM, MRCVS. Nobody comes close to him as a veterinarian/author. The only veterinarians/authors that come to mind are those that wrote Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook but they wrote one book and there are four of them. Fogle has written many books on cats and dogs and other topics.

Dr Bruce Fogle. Photo in public domain. Here he is photographed in his clinic in London.

In one of his recommended books, Complete Cat Care, he has a small section on declawing. Dr. Bruce Fogle lives and works in the UK to the best of my knowledge. He is British but born in Canada (dual passports I guess). He states that "declawing cats is a cultural issue". That is certainly correct because the operation is confined to a very small part of the world i.e. North America. And in North America it is more or less, nowadays, exclusively confined to America as Canada is doing away with this barbaric operation through a gradually extending ban across the provinces.

Dr. Fogle states that when he qualified as a veterinarian he declawed cats. I think I will quote verbatim:

"Personally, I performed this operation in the first years after I graduated, but I stopped once I thought about what I was doing. I haven't declawed a cat now for over 30 years. I think it's a barbaric procedure."

I think he is being very honest when he says that. He was trained in Canada, a declawing nation. He came to Britain in 1970 to work at Regent's Park Zoo.

I remember asking my veterinarian about 15 years ago in London what he thought about American veterinarians declawing cats and he wouldn't answer the question. He knew that I had a website and he simply wanted to keep out of trouble. He kept quiet. I wanted him to speak up like Dr. Bruce Fogle to help put some pressure on American veterinarians to stop the procedure but he failed me. He was a huge disappointment to me.

RELATED: Another vet tech reduced to tears by botchy cat declawing operation

Dr. Fogle statement is interesting because he changed his mind after performing the operation for a while. He had been presumably indoctrinated to a certain extent by his training to believe it was all right but after he had carried out the procedure a number of times he saw how barbaric it was. He is speaking on the back of first-hand experience of what domestic cats go through when they've been declawed.

Vet techs have come forward with the same thoughts: barbaric.

RELATED: Vet tech spills the beans on those evil declawing veterinarians

I hope people take note of that. One last point: he also states that:

"In other countries this type of surgery is considered a mutilation, and performing it is enough to have a vet's licence to practice revoked."

Yes, if a veterinarian performed the operation in the UK, I would argue that they would lose their licence to practice veterinary medicine and they would expose themselves to being charged, tried and convicted of animal cruelty and abuse under the relevant criminal animal abuse laws of the UK.