Domestic cats don't understand smartphone and iPad cat games

This video tells us that when push comes to shove cats are bemused by mice and fish wriggling around computer screens. They want to look under the device and are generally confounded by what they see. They have a similar or same reaction to looking at their reflection in a mirror or when watching television. I have seen cats look behind the TV to find the cat on the screen. Their mentality is rooted in reality. They can only understand natural events because they don't understand human devices. And rightly so. They are not meant to understand them. Link to this video (opens new tab/page)

Domestic cats are bemused and ultimately frustrated by phone cat games. Screenshot.

So, the question which comes from this observation is whether the phone and iPad cat games are a minor form of cat cruelty. A very minor form of it. They can't be defeated. The cats can't attack the mice and fish and eat them. This might cause minor frustration and confusion. It we deliberately frustrate our cat is that a form of minor cat cruelty? Maybe, but the intentions are very genuine. Cat owners want their cats to be entertained and there are a lot of apps on phones and iPads which purport to achieve this. 

It is just that they are unsuccessful in the long term. Short term they work but soon the cats realise they can't get at the prey animal leading to frustration. The bottom line is that the best cat toys are the old-fashioned ball of paper and string. They invariably work well and both can be damaged by the cat which mimics a real prey animal. Do cats scratch iPad screens when playing with games?

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.

Heath Robinson's Multi-Movement Tabby Silencer

A museum is to be built to house the work of William Heath Robinson (1872-1944).  The work will start this autumn (2014).

The name of Heath Robinson is part of the English language.  “That's a bit Heath Robinson-like isn't it?!"  I've used that myself a number of times.

His bizarre contraptions always consisted of wheels, pulleys, weights etc.  They always looked very fragile and totally impractical but fascinating nonetheless.

One of his contraptions possibly gives us an insight into his thoughts about the domestic cat: the Multi-Movement Tabby Silencer.

This is a device to spray water over noisy cats to silence them.  It is the classic way of stopping a cat doing something.  It is not recommended by me because it is a form of punishment and punishing cats is ill-advised as it tends to simply alienate the person's cat.

The Heath Robinson Multi-Movement Tabby Silencer consists of an extendable arm and a long stick.  There is a wheel and numerous ropes which are tied together in places.  There are 2 candles and a mirror together with a patterned china job containing water!  Two people operated while hanging out of open windows.

PET Plastic Bottles Cat Deterrent Japan

In Japan PET plastic bottles are used as a cat deterrent. "PET" is a type of plastic used in packaging. We are talking about plastic bottles lined up, filled with water and placed on surfaces where a feral or stray will tend to walk and/or jump. The bottles are on their sides in the picture. Do the Japanese stand them upright sometimes?

PET bottles lined up on a wall in Japan. Photo tokyostories.pnn.com

For me a couple or more things come to mind. There are lot of stray and feral cats in Japan it seems to me. There are photographers who specialise in photographing stray cats! One is MAR and he is featured on PoC: Stray Cat Picture.

Another is a photographer of stray cats who uses a iPhone to take the photographs. He or she was featured by VG on her blog: Street cats in Japan by brilliant photographer toru umeda.

Next thing that comes to mind is that it looks a bit odd to us in the West to line up plastic bottles like this. It does not look great next to those gorgeous Bonzi trees.

But...it beats shooting and poisoning cats, something that you read about a bit (a lot?) on the internet.

It has to be efficient because a cat simply would not jump onto the plastic bottles you see in the picture. They would know that they are unstable. Of the off-chance that a cat did jump onto them he would soon learn his lesson.

Associated: Cat Deterrent.

Cat Stroller

Cat Stroller photo by ehavir

Never thought about them, never knew about them

I have never seen one in action, but a Cat Stroller could be one way to get our cats out of the house safely. If we combine a pet stroller with a cat enclosure we are maximizing our cat's lifestyle. This post is a voyage of discovery for me. Update: I bought one years later and still have it and use it! :) Click this link to read about it if you think it might interest you. This is my girlfriend with the stroller by the Thames River. I took the picture.

Cat strollers must be used far more in the USA than the UK or in Europe because as I said I have never seen them. I've seen some cats on leashes. There is a Siamese cat that walks around the back garden of this block of flats on a leash, very sedately and ladylike. I've seen a cat on a leash on a busy Paris street in the 1970s when I lived there; very brave, I thought, and quite eye catching.

People search for Pampered Pet Strollers, pink pet strollers, a double pet stroller, a Jeep pet stroller, a Four Paws pet stroller and so on. There are a lot of manufacturers making these but I never see them.

It took me a while to figure out what it actually was. I think this is because it is a kind of "pram", a child's pram. I'm not sure that the word "pram" is used in the US, I think not. So, a stroller is probably more a US term (wrong?). So, a pet stroller for us Brits is a "pet pram", which actually sounds more interesting. I think in this country we use the term "stroller" for a pram for bigger children. Another term would be "buggy".

RELATED: Picture of a cat stroller with cat by a river.

Cat Stroller - photo by jesshibb

The thing is, how can you get a cat to use one? A dog, I can see using one as this is more their style, particularly if the dog is small. But cats; my first thought is no, it wouldn't work. But for an old cat that used to go out but can't so much it might work. It may even work for a defensive nervous cat but I am not sure (see "privacy parlor" below). A nervous cat might want to escape the stroller and get stressed nullifying the whole point of the exercise. Then again, some cats simply don't mind being caged for a while and looking out. It's really guess work, until we try.

But looking at the pictures published on this page (which are published here under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License), I'm beginning to think differently. In fact, it is very nice of people to take their cat for walk like this, to stimulate the cat's brain and keep him/her mentally active. I'm warming to this and I can see my cat actually liking it. I could take her with me when I go across the park to get the morning paper.

The best and most practical way, it seems, to me would be to train our cats from an early age to use a pet or cat stroller, but I am sure that this rarely if ever happens. By the way people search for a Pampered pet stroller. Is a "Pampered Pet Stroller" a brand of stroller or just a device that pampers a pet? I think that I may have just found the answer (stress "may"). There is a business called "Pampurred Pets". So, people who search for Pampered Pet Strollers probably mean Pampurred Pets, which is a UK company with a large number of large shops in the south and south west of England.

RELATED: Jennifer Garner, actress and entrepreneur pushes her cat in a stroller.

On the basis that we can get our cats to use a pet stroller, do we have the courage to use one? From a personal point of view, I might feel a bit foolish, at least at first. But you know that is my problem, which shouldn't get in the way of giving me the best possible life experiences. Anyway, I might feel stupid until people came up to me and looked into what they thought was an unusual child's pram and saw ah, no a cat. Gosh that's a funny looking child! Great way to meet people.

Maybe on a more philosophical level a Pampered pet stroller is a good thing as in using it we are treating a cat as a human, to the same high standard of care and that is the kind of care I like to see. However, I've just seen one Flickr photographer's caption to a photograph of a cat in a stroller. It says, "Lazy bastards". Amusing, but I wonder if that is the impression we might give if we go out with a cat in a cat stroller? You know what I mean, over pampered pet, slightly crazy people? I'm not sure.

Cat stroller in Central Park - photo by bnittoli.

The photographer's caption to the photo left reads, "random strange sighting in central park". That's the point I am making. It does look a bit strange. But in a quite hostile world for the domestic cat the stroller and a cat enclosure seem the only practical answer.

Some (perhaps all?) pet strollers can be converted to pet carriers by detaching the cat stroller frame and wheels making the device more useful. If you're thinking of getting a carrier, think stroller!! No I'm not getting a commission.

What does a cat stroller cost and where can you buy them?

I've just seen an American website (http://justpetstrollers.com/) that specializes in pet strollers. I like their Kittywalk Blue Fifth Avenue model at $199 including shipping at the date of this post. It is designed to take a pet of no more than 25 lbs in weight. The only cats of that kind of weight are F1 Savannah cats and a Savannah cat is not, in my opinion suited to a cat stroller, maybe a leash though. (go to Largest Domestic Cat Breed).

It looks nice and functional and not too much like a child's stroller. I'd prefer that as people might think you're a bit crazy if you put a cat in a child's stroller (pram). It looks lightweight and it can be folded as well. It is nice an open and suited for cats that like to watch lying down. There is also a "privacy parlor" (love that phrase). This is a curtained off area where our cat can seek some privacy if it all gets too much. You'll see the same kind of thing at cat shows when the show cats are in their pens waiting to be taken to the show ring. This company do a wide range of dog and cat strollers (the same thing).

In the UK a business called PretaPet (http://www.pretapet.com) do a pet stroller but this looks more suitable for a dog and for the animal to look out of the top window he/she would have to be quite a tall animal, probably a dog. Price: £61 at the time of this post.

Another UK business is http://www.roofrackshop.co.uk. Their pet strollers are I think more suited to dogs too and look (for me) too much like a child's pram. Prices are in the mid £50s.

Conclusion

Let's throw away our pride, our self-consciousness and do what is best for our cat. If we think a cat stroller would improve her life, let's get one and meet people.

Pampered Pet Stroller to Home page