Domestic cats can lift your spirits and make you smile

This cat has a charming way of responding to their caregiver's loving greeting. Take a look:

So, what can we say about domestic cats lifting your spirits? It happens all the time. Just their presence lifts the spirit by preventing loneliness creeping in if you live alone as I do.

And many other people living alone rely on their cat to help balance their lives. It is very easy to become despondent when you live alone if you don't have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. 

Interacting with your cat is vital. This charming cat responds in a way that I have not seen before. So charming. Both her body language and her sweet voice.

You can see that I have decided that she is female. She has female written all over her as far as I am concerned.

Here are some more thoughts about how a domestic cat can prevent despondency and lift your spirits

Companionship

I mention this above but let me add a few pointers. Domestic cats can be incredibly affectionate as we see in the video. People who don't know cats should understand that they are sentient beings with emotions and their own personalities. Once again, I refer to the video. This charming female cat responds to a loving greeting in her particular and very special way. And just having her there, nearby, can bring a sense of comfort and connection. She made me smile. Cats can do that.

Emotional support

Cats do have a calming presence and they can sometimes sense when their owner is feeling down or stressed. They may come up to you under those circumstances and sit on your lap and start interacting with you. You'll see videos of that on the Internet too. And simply stroking a cat can lift your mood because it can release endorphins in your brain to which you can add the purring sound of your cat which is known to be beneficial to one's health.

It's about the resonance and the frequencies of the cat purr which can help to heal a person.

Playfulness and entertainment

Cats are curious and playful. You can play with your cat. You can occupy yourself in this nice pastime. Both of you will like it. It's cool way to distract one away from any despondency or loneliness that you might be suffering from. And cats entertain their owners when they play because they can be quite funny.

Mindfulness and relaxation.

Simply watching your cat grooming themselves or jumping up onto their cat tree can be calming and a mindful experience. Looking at your cat being relaxed and comfortable can make you feel better as well. That's because you created the environment in which your cat can feel like this. You can pat yourself on the back.

Unconditional love

A lot has been spoken of the domestic cat's unconditional love. It is quite distinct from human love in this respect. They don't expect anything in return. There are no games. There are no conditions. It's a very simple, raw and fundamental connection which is quite special. This could have a positive impact on your emotional well-being. And they have a non-judgemental nature which can be great to create a safe and comforting environment.

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.

Choosing a second cat to get along with your resident cat?

How do you go about choosing a second cat to get along with your resident cat? Perhaps the first question is why you want to do it? I think you need to explore that and make sure that you are doing the right thing. You may want to introduce a new cat because you feel guilty that your resident cat is left alone too often. Maybe there is a different solution to that problem such as working from home more often! That's the current trend and employers are having difficulty getting employees back to work in the office! Introducing a new cat is problematic as they say.

Utopia. If you achieve this you've hit the jackpot. Image in the public domain.

But if you are fixed on having two cats, how do you choose a cat which gets along with the other? And I am drawn to that question because in the newspaper today there is an interesting article which kind of answers the question. The title to the article in The Times today is, "For animal magnetism, opposites don't attract".

Similarities work best

Tanya Horowitz of the University of Colorado Boulder researched 80,000 British couples and they found that they got along better when they were similar in their characteristics, personalities and backgrounds. In short, similar individuals couple up.

"The characteristics most likely to be shared included political and religious attitudes, education levels and certain measures of IQ".

Cats - energy levels

That's talking about people and this article is about cats so there will be different ways of matching up but the underlying conclusion is that a similar character is best.

And this takes me nicely to Jackson Galaxy, the well-known American cat behaviourist. He has a section in his book Total Cat Mojo entitled "Choosing That New Cat".

He opens the section by saying, "In my opinion, the main criteria to factor in to matchmaking is to match cats by energy level. Even the cat's history should have less of an impact on your decision. I'd say that the first thing to do before even going to the shelter is to think about what personality type best complements your cat's".

He has decided that cats should be matched on their energy levels. In other words, it should be at a similar level which reinforces what I stated above regarding the Colorado study.

And he goes on to state that, "If you have a shy cat, you don't want that Dennis the Menace because he'll fray her nerves by trying to engage constantly.".

And finally, he concludes with this, "In general, you should try to complement rather than bring home a carbon copy."

I think that his words support what the scientists say about people being complimentary in a stable relationship. A similarity is going to be more successful than opposites. The old adage of opposites attract is incorrect.

Jackson doesn't think that the gender of the cat is particularly relevant in terms of matchmaking. One reason for this is that domestic cats are spayed and neutered. They are neutered individuals. This takes away some of their gender differences.

On the energy level topic, Jackson Galaxy says that it is not a good idea to introduce a kitten to a 12-year-old female cat in the expectation that the female adult cat will mother the kitten. He believes that the energy differences are too big.

Finally, it might be useful to quickly touch on what is often referred to as "expectation management". This is a reference to what the human caregiver expects of the relationship between her two cats when they first encounter each other. It would be a very rare situation where they both get along really well instantly and snuggle up to each other. However, it does happen and it's wonderful to see. And sometimes it happens between dogs and cats. There is this instant connection; it's chemistry on a feline and canine level.

But normally you will do well if a new cat and the resident cats tolerate each other initially and then learn to get along and even become friendly with each other. To enhance that prospect, it might be useful to follow Jackson's advice and think about similarities but not carbon copies.

Are cats ticklish under their arms and on their belly?

Are cats ticklish!! We don't know. Image: MikeB.

The truth is that we don't really know why humans tend to be ticklish. If we don't know why humans are ticklish, we are not going to be able to answer the question in the title!!

There is another obstacle to discussing the ticklishness of domestic cats. Cats don't laugh. When a person is tickled, they laugh. It's a kind of social bonding if you agree with what is stated below.

And thirdly, it is impossible to tickle a cat's skin. Genuine tickling, as I understand it, is about touching the skin directly often under the foot of a human. But there has to be direct contact between hand and the skin of the person being tickled.

We can't do that with a cat. There's too much fur in the way.

I conclude, therefore, that cats are not ticklish because you can't tickle them in the first place and they don't laugh in the second place. And we wouldn't know if they were ticklish or not anyway because we don't understand it.

Some more in answering the question: Why do humans laugh when tickled?

The phenomenon of laughter in response to tickling is still not completely understood, but there are a few theories that attempt to explain why humans and some other animals laugh when tickled. Here are a couple of the prominent theories:

Reflex Theory: According to this theory, tickling triggers an involuntary reflex response that causes laughter. When someone is tickled, the body experiences a tactile sensation that can be interpreted as a potential threat. The laughter is thought to be a way for the body to signal to others that it is experiencing a non-threatening interaction, thus helping to maintain social bonds.


Social Bonding Theory: This theory suggests that laughter resulting from tickling is primarily a social behavior. Tickling is often associated with playfulness and is commonly performed among family members or friends. The laughter that arises during tickling serves as a form of communication and bonding between individuals, reinforcing positive social interactions.

It's worth noting that not everyone finds tickling enjoyable, and different people have different tickle sensitivity thresholds. Additionally, tickling oneself is generally not as effective at inducing laughter because the brain can predict and suppress the tickling sensation when it's self-induced.

Gay couple's cat changed loyalty from one to the other and the loser is bummed

One member of a gay couple is bummed out because one of their cats has change loyalties from him to his partner. He doesn't know why. There was a time when this cat spent a lot of time sitting on his lap and snuggling up to him when he went to bed. He greet him when he came back from work. At that time his boyfriend wasn't living with him and when his boyfriend (BF) tried to curl up with this cat, the cat rejected the BF and went back to him.

Gay couple's cat changed loyalty from one to the other and the loser is bummed. Image: MikeB

Now his boyfriend is living with him things have changed and the reason is this in my view. He says that:

"My boyfriend doesn't work from home, but works substantially less than I do, so he's home all day with them and I'm home in the evenings."

That must be the reason, surely? His boyfriend now lives with him and is at home a lot more than he is and therefore he has the time to bond with this cat who has changed loyalties.

I don't think that there can be any other reasonable reason. They share the work in terms of maintaining the cat so there's no big difference there. The difference is in the amount of contact with this cat. This is obviously vital to forming a trusting relationship.

He did nothing wrong. It is just that cats take a somewhat mercenary approach to whom they appear to be friends with. I don't think it is so much about friendship but about the cat getting what they can out of the relationship which means sitting on the boyfriend's lap and keeping warm. And the reassurances of a cuddle. And being fed when asked. All these interactions add up to bond building.

And while that is being created, it is bound to loosen the bond between him which existed before his boyfriend moved in.

On that basis, the lesson of the story is that you can't really create a great friendship and relationship with a cat companion if you are out at work all day and then after work you go to the pub for a drink and come home at 10 o'clock in the evening. That's just not going to work in my opinion.

In fact, it will stress out the cat if there is nobody else living in the property. They'll be alone all the time. That's bound to be stressful. I can remember my ex-wife doing exactly that. When we were married, we had two cats and I took the female and she took the male on divorce which was a bad idea-in retrospect. I think one of us (me!) should have taken both of them as they were siblings and they got along.

She lived in a flat and she was the kind of person who would go out in the evening drinking and smoking. She'd leave the boy cat in her flat all day and all evening until late I suspect. Pretty bad. She wondered why he defecated on her bed! No surprise there. He was stressed and he was scent marking to try and reassure himself. Her bed was a 'scent soaker' in Jackson Galaxy's words. It smelt of her. That was the place to deposit his faeces as it merged their scents.

It is common sense but you have got to be around and I don't think a domestic cat should be left alone for more than half a day at a time which is a tough rule I agree but it doesn't work properly unless you are there for them.

For how long should I cuddle my cat?

For how long should I cuddle my cat? The short answer is not long. Image: MikeB.

These are my unresearched views on the topic. Please share yours in a comment as I'd be pleased to hear from you.

What do cats do?

For how long should I cuddle my cat? This is a question people ask on the Internet. The short answer is not long (normally, but there are exceptions). How often do you see cats cuddling each other? And if you do see one domestic cat with their 'arm' (foreleg) around the other (which happens) for how long do they do this? To the first question the answer must be rarely if not sleeping together and to the second question the answer must be for a short time (unless sleeping together).

Domestic cats regard us as surrogate mothers. That's why we keep them in a mental state of kittenhood. On that basis, they wouldn't expect to be cuddled, human-style, by their feline mother other than for a short time unless they are sleeping together. That's a point worth making I feel.

Sleeping together

There is probably a bit of an exception here. Sometimes cats can settle down on a cold winter's night with their human and spend hours with the arm of their caregiver around them. A quiet, gentle cuddle. But this is I feel an exception to the general rule.

It is a state of affairs where humans can share their behavior with cats and dogs.

Cat cuddles a dog friend sleeping. Image in the public domain.

Cultures

This is really about a clash of cultures. The human race has a culture of cuddling each other when needed. And it is needed quite often as a form of reassurance and friendship. It can be part of a greeting or a departure. It's a sign of affection indeed love. We know all these things.

Cat greetings and contacts

But domestic cats don't have the same culture. When they greet in a friendly way, they do so with their tail held erect with the end just flopping over slightly (tail-up greeting). They might touch noses having approached each other (the nose touch greeting).

In subsequent interactions they may rub against each other flank-to-flank. One cat's tail made curl over the other cat's back. These behaviours happen quite fleetingly. They are delicate movements.

But as mentioned there can be long-term cuddle contact when resting and sleeping.

Devon Rexes cuddle. Image in public domain.

Human cuddle

The human cuddle is quite a forceful action. There is an element of squeezing in the human cuddle. This is likely to be uncomfortable for a domestic cat even if they have a close bond with their human caregiver.

And of course, the cuddle means that the two parties are in very close proximity. They are in contact. The human is much larger than the domestic cat. We can be intimidating. They live in a land of giants. We need to be sensitive to that.

If we place our head close to their head, they can feel intimidated. If we squeeze them at the same time, it can be uncomfortable as mentioned. These elements combine to make the experience perhaps tolerable but not particularly enjoyable for some cats.

And if it is enjoyed because they become habituated to it as it happens a lot, they'll normally accept it for a relatively short period of time perhaps around 30 seconds.

Body language

In fact, domestic cats tell you when they want to get down or stopping cuddle. They may wriggle a bit or if you are carrying them at the same time as you see in the picture, they may twist their bodies and look towards the ground to indicate they want to get down.

Wild cat ancestor

The answer comes from observing domestic cat behaviour. Domestic cat behaviour is the product of evolution of the African wildcat. This wildcat is solitary. The domestic cat has learned to be sociable within the human environment.

But essentially this solitary character is within the domestic cat and this is the last factor as to why domestic cats will normally accept being cuddled (but not always because it depends upon the individual cat's character) but for a time which is shorter than the human would wish for.

For our benefit

It perhaps is worth reminding ourselves that when we cuddle our cat, we often do it mainly for our benefit. We are seeking reassurance. We are looking for a friend and companionship. So, we do it for ourselves and therefore we can only expect that our cat will accept it rather than seek it.

Cats are individuals

That said, each cat has their own personality as mentioned and therefore sometimes cats will ask to be picked up and cuddled if, in the past, they have learned to understand that it is a sign of friendship from the human caregiver and enjoyable. Cats do pick up on human behavioral traits and some learn to copy them or integrate them into their livestyles.

Young tabby cat appears to comfort his owner in a video

The news headline for this video is that a cat is trying to comfort their crying owner. I think this is a reference to the tear that you can see from the left eye of the cat's owner. Although, to be frank it is not clear that this man has been crying. 

Sometimes people shed tears for a range of reasons other than the emotional state of the person. Snoozing can lead to the production of tears as eyes can tear up when a person goes to sleep.

Although I will give the benefit of the doubt and say the guy is upset and his darling and charming cat is comforting him.

It is a charming video although I have seen many similar videos and I have personally experienced this kind of cat behaviour myself. I am sure many others have too.

The video comes from the Twitter account of Sander from the Netherlands. Although it is not clear that this is him or that he made the video.

The cat's caregiver is snoozing it seems to me, and his young tabby cat wants to cuddle up. His cat wants a bit of contact because cats like that sort of thing. Often you see cats who are friendly with each other lying next to each other.

And you often see cats touching their owner. They thrust their foreleg out and touch their owner on the face or hand. That is what we see here, and you'll see it happen all the time. It is a silent method of communication by a cat to their owner through their behaviour.

Mutual support between cat and person. Screenshot.

For example, my cat touches the edge of my duvet near my head when I am in bed her wants me to lift it up so that he can crawl underneath. Another example of communication through action rather than a vocalisation.

So, this young tabby cat wakes up his owner with a gentle touch by his right paw near his mouth and then he snuggles up. It is beautiful and it is what I would expect to see in a close relationship between person and cat.

Of course, it goes without saying that the relationship must be strong and the bond good. This is not the case in all households.

And, as mentioned, this is a young cat. I sense that this man might have raised this cat from a kitten. This enhances the bond between human and cat.

Sometimes kittens who've been raised by humans have their human caregiver imprinted on their mind as their feline parent. They genuinely believe that the person is the birth mother which as you can expect leads to a strong and lifelong bond.

Why should a cat want to lie on their human caregiver like this? Perhaps this is a silly question but perhaps not.

RELATED: 15 facts on cat bunting.

Cats like the smell of their owner through their body scent. They like to scent exchange which means they want the scent of their human caregiver on them, and they want to transfer their body scent onto their human caregiver. Emotionally speaking, this merges the two entities.

It is reassuring for a cat to do this, and I believe that domestic cats seek reassurance many times throughout the day. I believe that humans should be aware of the need to reassure their cat.

The human world can be a bit scary for a domestic cat who is a fraction of the size of a human. They live in an unnatural world to which they have adapted successfully.

Domestic cats are very alert and emotionally sensitive partly because their senses are so finely tuned. Small sounds can, for example, create temporary anxiety. Strangers in the home can make them anxious. Long periods of absence by their owner can leave them with separation anxiety.

RELATED: Size difference between humans and cats makes them vulnerable and fearful, a dog study suggests.

There are lots of possibilities for a cat to be anxious and it is the duty of a good cat caregiver to prevent these feline anxieties and to reassure their cat in a mutually supportive cuddle as we see in the video.

Europeans are apprehensive and experience heightened emotions. Cuddle your cat.

Google offers the world Google Trends. It's a useful service to see what people are thinking what they are doing in real time. It provides background information as to what is bubbling under the surface of the news and what we see happening around us. And today, Google search trends 2022 indicates that the searches are driven by heightened emotions. This applies to people across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This implies that people in America are not suffering from heightened emotions. 

This is probably because the major source of heightened emotions is the Ukraine war which is a long way away from America and I sense that Americans feel distanced from the Ukraine war whereas it is on the doorstep of Europe.

And I say "suffering" because it seems that these emotions are anxiety or apprehension.

Peoples of Europe are apprehensive. Cuddle your cat. Image: Image by Prettysleepy Art from Pixabay.

And a reason why this exists is because of issues with personal finances due to high inflation which is destabilising the economic systems. With high inflation you have higher interest rates in order to suppress inflation and with higher interest rates you going to have far more costly mortgages when they are on variable accounts. This puts in jeopardy keeping one's house because some people can't afford to pay their mortgages anymore.

This leads to anxiety. There is just one example. And of course, you have the Ukrainian war which is costing the world about US$2.3 trillion in terms of trade and loss of revenue. The Ukraine war is seriously damaging economic growth and prosperity which has a knock-on effect in the way people feel and of course it fuels inflation because Putin has stopped the supply of gas and oil to Europe which has forced up energy prices dramatically. This has fuelled inflation and the consequential high number of problems that emanate from that.

And on a very basic and raw level, the Ukraine war threatens the lives of Europeans and arguably people across the world. It may expand to a world war and that would affect everybody including America. This possibility generates anxiety.

But after Covid people want to socialise, they want to get out and do things. The end of Covid brought an optimism but this has been counteracted by apprehension. Google trends say that there are two moods in place: optimism and uncertainty. They say, "We are curious but cautious and were turning to search for answers".

Health is a bigger issue with people because of Covid. Long Covid is a major issue. It is believed that it affects the heart, and a substantial number of people suffer from it. And in the UK the NHS is broken causing long waiting lists which affects health treatment which of course affects the health of the citizens of the UK.

So, two fundamental problems exist which cause apprehension: health and wealth! In the background is the Ukrainian war which is like a disease that affects everything insidiously. It undermines society.

I would suggest that apprehension is outstripping optimism. I am not optimistic but I'm naturally pessimistic, I guess. I can see things getting worse not better all because of Putin and his mad escapades. He is digging himself into a massive hole.

Just recently the Nord Stream Gas supply pipes were blown up. There's a big question mark as to who did it. I think it is somebody in Europe we did it in order to ensure that Europe never goes back to Russian gas. It's a method of preventing Europe having two minds about going back to buying Russian gas because of the difficulties of doing without it. So, I think it's people who want to hurt Russia and to strengthen Europe's independence of Russia's energy supplies.

But it all adds up to more apprehension in European citizens. Which brings me to my last point: cuddle your cat! I had to get domestic cats into this discussion somehow, but we know for a fact that if your cat is sitting on your lap as mine is at the moment, keeping you warm and keeping you company, you feel better. You feel reassured and your cat feels reassured. You have a companion; you have a friend.

And cat companions are far more reliable than human companions. They will always be there for you. Good human caregivers reciprocate. For 15 or more years you have a relationship which improves your life and which chips away at that apprehension which world events, out of our control, generate.

Ginger tabby kitten asks for another kiss. Do cats understand kisses?

A super cute video. It seems to all the world that this little fella (ginger tabbies are nearly always males) wants another gentle kiss from his female caregiver and why not? Good idea. The way she delivers it is like the classic, friendly feline nose greeting. So perhaps her kitten interprets the kiss as that. Cats don't understand human kisses! Sorry but that is true. But they understand friendliness, warmth and affection from humans and respond positively to it as we see in the video.

Ginger tabby kitten asks for another kiss. Screenshot.

This is a TikTok video. They allow downloads and uploads. So, this is not my video. Update: I have delete it because Vimeo don't allow it.

It is a very successful one because of the behavior of the charming kitten. It reminds me of another post I wrote not long ago in which I said that cat caregivers should try and find out what their cat particularly likes and give it to them as much as possible and I am not talking about food! I mean, give them the food they like but not as much of it as possible unless you want your cat to become obese.

RELATED: Do cats know what kisses are?

My cat likes the back of his head rubbed and pressure applied to it. I always take the time to place my hand on the back of his head and hold it there. He meows silently to me when I do it with a look of delight on his face.

My cat loves the feeling of pressure from my hand at the back of his head and neck. I give it to him whenever I can. It is reassuring to him.

RELATED: National Kissing Day: Don’t kiss your cat on the lips.

Domestic cats need reassurance all the time I feel. They want to know that all is well. Perhaps this is because we make them feel like kittens even if they are adults. As we provide their every need like a mom, we keep them in that mental state. And kittens always look to their mom for reassurance. They purr to her and she returns the purr when nursing her them.

Two disabled cats make each other happy

Through their friendship in this household these two disabled cats make each other happy. And the relationship has a nice balance. I called it symbiotic on Reddit.com but apparently the word "symbiotic" refers to animals of two different species and here we have two domestic cats with different coats. One of them is a tabby-and-white coat and the other has a calico or tortoiseshell-and-white coat. So, technically, this is not a symbiotic relationship but a mutually beneficial one.

In order to get the video to work you should click on the start button in the middle of the video initially and then move down to the bottom-left and push the start button bottom-left afterwards!! The video will then play. Sorry for the complication. 😎. I think I'd turn the music off too! And it is sentimental. I like the friendship they have.

The tortoiseshell-and-white coated cat has dead hindlegs because they're paralysed. This may have been caused by an injury to the spine or it is a congenital disability. Her close friend and companion, the tabby-and-white cat has no forelegs. As I understand it, they had to be amputated because she was electrocuted.

Super mutually beneficial friendship between two disabled cats is great to see. This is a screenshot from the video also on this page.

The backstories to both these injuries are very sad but the friendship is very warm and beautiful. Perhaps they need each other and they found each other. Luckily, they got on and it must have made such a big difference to their lives.

Disabled cats can have very good lives and one way to achieve this is to have a cat companion. Another way is for the cat caregiver to be particularly committed in providing a lot of entertainment and interaction. Provided their lives are enriched in a safe environment they will live a life as good as any other.

I am sure that you know that cats don't feel sorry for themselves if they are disabled. They just accept it and get on with it. It is one of the charms of the personality of the domestic cat. They are very stoic, enduring and great survivors.

It seems that this person is attracted to caring for injured or disabled domestic cats and in doing so she has made a number of videos on TikTok which have attracted quite a high number of viewers. If I am being overly critical it could be argued that it is not wise or clever to make videos of disabled cats in order to attract a lot of viewers. It looks like that to me. I don't think videos of disabled cats should be made because, at heart, they are abusing the disability for commercial gain. Perhaps that is way over the top in terms of criticism but it does come to my mind.

Here is another video of the two:

Picture of soldier on rifle range with cat across his legs

This is a very strange picture about which I know little. All I know is what I can garner from the image. I don't know if it is linked to the Ukraine invasion. It is a first for me and I've seen hundreds of thousands of cat pictures. This is a soldier apparently on a rifle range practicing. He has a box of cartridges to his left. Judging by the sights on the rifle it looks like he has a Kalashnikov. 

RELATED: Ukrainian citizens flee or shelter with their cats (pictures).

His cat friend is a grey tabby-and-white. He is quite stocky and well fed. He jumps slightly each time the rifle is fired which is to be expected at least. Can somewhat tell me more ❓

Comrade Kytikat ensuring the hooman soldier is safe. Best spotter ever. #cats #CatsOfTwitter #Ukraine #animals pic.twitter.com/KFpnbfm6u9

— Ovidiu Suteu 🌻 (@ovidiu_suteu) March 2, 2022

Note: This is an embedded tweet. 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.

Picture of soldier on firing range with cat across his legs. Screenshot.

Boy has special relationship with neighbor's cat in suburbia

Boy has special relationship with neighbor's cat in suburbia. Screenshot.

This is a particularly delightful little video. It comes from Springfield, Oregon, USA. The encounter was videoed on December 7, 2021. His mom said:

"My son and I visit this cat in our neighborhood walks. She’s not a stray, just friendly."

Comment: it is great to see. I always think that children of this age learn to love animals more when they have these sorts of experiences. Is it probably fair to say that this boy inherited a love of animals. Perhaps all children like animals. That inherited characteristic is sometimes knocked out of them by their parents and early life experiences if they subsequently learn to dislike or even hate cats. But the inherited starting point for children is not to hate cats. That's my viewpoint.

Although, it is also plausible that humans might inherit an innate fear or anxiety around large cats because millennia ago they genuinely did prey on humans or they were competition to humans. But domestic cats are not large and I would suggest that the default attitude from children to domestic cats is either neutral or positive.

Note: This is a video from another website and 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.

Video example of antagonism between cats in multi-cat household

This lady bought some new cat shelves which attach to the glass in a window frame through suckers. It's quite a clever idea as cats love to look outside and high vantage points. She is pleased that they work. She is not going to be pleased that her cats are fighting. It looks like a minor contretemps between two family cats in a nice home. 

Video example of antagonism between cats in multi-cat household. Screenshot.

They, are no doubt, well looked after and loved. But my guess is that there is a background of quiet, simmering animosity between these two cats. They probably get along pretty well nearly all of the time. But they both jumped onto these new cat shelves to try them out which put them close together and a slapping competition commenced.

CLICK FOR A PAGE ON FIGHTING IN MULTI-CAT HOMES

This is an embedded tweet. They often go caput because they are pulled from Twitter. Sorry if that's happened. You have a still image instead which is nowhere near as good.

Was looking at “cat shelf” reviews and found this truly perfect user-submitted video: pic.twitter.com/s7IzHpg5e2

— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) August 24, 2021

The experts say that if there is a cat behaviour problem described as "bad cat behaviour" in a home it's often caused by friction between cats in a multi-cat household. If that isn't the cause it is going to be the behaviour of the human caregiver which has rubbed up against feline emotions.

Adopting a second or third cat into a home is a problematic process which should be carried out with great care. Rescue centres should allow people to "suck and see" when adopting a second cat. They should allow them to bring the cat back after a week if it doesn't work out. Perhaps they do this in some shelters but it should be the default policy.

You get chemistry between cats. We don't know why some cats get along and some don't but I'm going to propose that the reason is a common sense one: they just get along like people get along because it's the right chemistry. But the big issue with multi-cat homes is that you are putting cats quite close together; unnaturally so. 

Domestic cats need several acres at least of home territory and they have to adapt to a much smaller space especially if they are confined to the home. They do this but it is easier for some cats compared to others. This is likely to cause stress if the cats are not friendly with each other. This is what has happened in this instance in my opinion.

Every day cat greets woman going to work on her bike

"On my way to my previous workplace i met every morning this cat at the same spot. She jumped always on my lap while i was on my bicycle and collected her daily cuddles...."

on my way to my previous workplace i met every morning this cat at the same spot. She jumped always on my lap while i was on my bicycle and collected her daily cuddles ☺️ from r/aww

Note: videos on this site are typically made by people other than me and held on YouTube servers or the servers of other businesses (not the server storing this website). Sometimes the videos are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened I apologise but I have no control over it.

Once again, this is a particularly sweet story. I actually feel very sorry for this cat. Perhaps I should not. But, the cat needs company. And as you can see in the words of the woman she mentions her "previous workplace". This means that she no longer takes this route, I believe. This in turn means that this cat no longer meets this woman. So neither of them can enjoy their company. I wonder how the cat feels. I would bet that she feels lonely and misses her human, female companion.

It was a small thing but a quite unimportant part of their lives. After all, the woman felt it important enough to post the story to the Reddit.com website. Clearly it made an impact on her life and the same must be said about the cat.

It is these little things which enhance our lives. I would guess that this cat's owner is away all day and the cat is allowed outside which is why she is looking for company. Of course, I am guessing and I could be completely wrong but my gut feeling takes me to that thought. Because a cat is domesticated they need the company of their human companion.

There is a misconception by some people that cats are independent and can be left alone all day while they are at work. This is not true. Of course they can be left alone but after a few hours they will be waiting for their human friend to come home. It's called separation anxiety. Call it what you like. They need companionship. I feel sorry for cats who have to endure this loneliness. There is not much choice for the person because they have to work.

The only choice they have is not to adopt a cat and hopefully the cat that they would have adopted goes to a home where the person is around most of the day.

Every day this cat greets woman going to work on her bike. Screenshot.

John Dolan And George. The Power of Companion Animal Friendship

John Dolan has spent a total of 12 years in prison.  It was mainly for theft and drug offences.  He was living rough in east London in 2010 when he was given a Staffordshire bull terrier called George.  Dolan says:

 “Just before I got George I was on drugs, it was terrible.  The day I got the dog I wasn't sure what to do.  I realised I had a big powerful animal on my hands that needed a lot of looking after and there was I, barely able to look after myself...  What George has given me over the past three years is a belief in myself and my ability to draw."

Dolan credits George with helping him to transform his life from a homeless criminal into a successful artist.  He now sells his drawings to £2000 each.  John Dolan knew he had some talent because he used to dabble with art when he was a teenager.  While he was sitting on the pavement doing nothing as a homeless person with George he decided to draw the buildings opposite.  I suppose it kept him occupied. Up until that time he was simply begging for money it seems receiving the odd coin here and there.  Then he started to supplement the donations by selling his drawings for £10 and £20 each.

Gradually John Dolan became known as street artist and a lawyer, Richard Howard-Griffin, got to hear about him and recognised his talent.  He organised an exhibition of his work.  And now a forthcoming book is about to be published about John Dolan and his dog George - John and George: The Dog Who Changed My Life.  It is due to be released next month.

Which brings me nicely to the next topic of this short article which is that John Dolan's story very nicely mirrors the story of James Bowen who adopted an orange tabby cat named Bob.  At the time James was a drug-addicted busker. His story has been well publicised and as I recall, two books have been published about him and his relationship with Bob.  More than 1,000,000 copies have been sold.  James Bowen's life has been transformed and he too credits that transformation, at least substantially, to Bob.

John Dolan says,

“If I had not had George, I would never have picked up a pen.  He is my saviour...  He's like my child, the one I never had.  He's given me a life."

Both the stories of James and John remind us of the power of the friendship of a companion animal.  Don't underestimate it.

Photo by Rob Weir

Domestic Cat Supports Wild Cat in Prison (zoo enclosure) - Feline Solidarity!

I love this. The stray calico cat wandered into the lynx enclosure at St. Petersburg Zoo and made buddies instantly. Then they engaged in mutual grooming. It is like the domestic cat wanted to support his wild cat friend because he is in prison. I wish the domestic cat could have got him out. Why can't he take the lynx back the way he came in?!

This is probably a Eurasian lynx.

Super Cat Hug Based on the Smell of the Owner

This is a good example of a domestic cat enjoying a cuddle with his owner. I hate to say the word “owner" at any time but when watching this video it seems to be particularly inappropriate. This gentleman does not own his cat. They are simply best friends.

My assessment is that not only does this cat like to be close to his human caretaker, which as you know is very common and normal, he also likes to smell the scent of his caretaker.  It is that, in fact, which keeps in so close to his caretaker.

You can see this beautiful orange tabby cat embedding his chin into the neck of his human companion, which allows him to smell the scent from this man.

Scent plays a central role in the life of the domestic cat.  It is as important as seeing. They remember you years later by your scent.  In fact, it may be more important because the olfactory skills of the domestic cat are highly advanced - far superior to ours - whereas a cat's visual skills are less advanced than ours or perhaps it is more accurate to say that they are attuned to crepuscular activity, meaning activity at dawn and dusk and therefore attuned to dark conditions.  In that respect their eyesight is far superior to ours.

This video, for me, is all about olfactory skills and that all-important scent off the cat's companion, which in this case is a human but it could just as well be another cat or any other animal to which he or she is socialised.

Family Cat Courageously Saves Boy From Vicious Dog Attack

This is a genuinely amazing example of domestic cat behaviour in the family environment.  I believe the video was made with a home security video camera which just happened to record what was going on.  There appears to have been 2 cameras in fact.

It appears that the family's son was playing at the front of the house on a bike or scooter and a dog comes around from behind the family's car and viciously attacks the boy by biting into his leg and dragging him around.  The dog attack appears to be unprovoked but we don't know the history.  The dog might belong to the neighbours.

Immediately, what appears to be the family's cat races out and knocks the dog away from the boy and then proceeds to chase after the dog.  The cat demonstrates total commitment and confidence with a lot of courage.  I have the feeling that no matter what the size of the dog, the cat would have done the same thing.

You can see that the title of the video is “My Cat Saved My Son".  That may well be true because the injuries that the boy did suffer are quite severe despite the intervention of the family cat.  Who knows what might have happened if this amazing domestic cat had not intervened.

The interesting part of this cat behaviour is that there is no doubt in my mind that the cat was protecting the boy which means that the cat saw the boy as part of his family, a colleague, a friend or an associate.  The cat is protecting an associate.  This throws wide open the door to the kind of emotions that a cat can sense and what motivates a cat.

I hope people will think about the behaviour of this cat.  It is almost as if the boy's father had raced out of the house and saved his son himself but it wasn't the father it was the family cat!

Why does my cat rub my leg?

Why does my cat rub my leg? This was a very common question about cat behaviour. People may still ask the question and the answer is quite straightforward, so I will keep it short.

Cats also rub against objects to leave scent to make
the place more friendly. Photo by Drab Makyo

When a cat rubs against our legs she transfers some of her scent that is on her to us and some of our scent is transferred to her. This is called “sent exchange". So why do cats do it? Well, cats depend upon their sense of smell far more than we do. If the place smells friendly it is friendly. For us, if the place looks friendly, it is friendly, or it usually is and we use our eyes to ascertain that, whereas the cat uses her nose. Perhaps the cat uses her nose because it is more sensitive than her eyes. The domestic cat's nose is far more sensitive than ours but the domestic cat's eyesight is less good than ours.

The cat deposits her scent on us to make the environment in which she lives more friendly. Our sent on her is a merging of body odour which is an act of friendship, which once again makes the place where she lives more friendly. Perhaps, sent exchange is is analogous to a kiss between human beings as that too is an exchange and a merger.

In short, therefore, the cat rubs against our legs to make the place where she lives more friendly and the relationship between us and her also more friendly. It is often called an act of friendship but is a little bit more than that, in fact.

Do cats make friends with other cats?

Yes, cats make friends with other cats. This applies to feral cat colonies and groups of domestic cats in households. Studies have concluded that within a colony of cats you will see clear friendships ("preferred associates" to use scientific language). "Preferred associates" are cats that are "found close to each other more often than they are to other conspecifics" (1). "Conspecific" means the same species of animal - i.e. another cat.

In their language, it appears that scientists are reluctant to attach the concept of friendship to cats. Although when two cats stay together throughout the day in a range of activities and places, as is the case in cat colonies, it would seem sensible to refer to these cats as friends.

Cat Friends - by Tim Pearce, Los Gatos

As expected, cats need to be familiar with each other to be more likely to remain close and allogroom. Allogrooming is mutual grooming - one cat grooms the other cat and vice versa.

When cats are related (e.g. brother/sister, cousins) there is an even greater likelihood that they will be close and allogroom.

Elisa, a regular contributor to this website has her own cat rescue and therefore multi-cat household and she will no doubt confirm the above.

Note: (1) The Welfare of Cats (Animal Welfare) by Irene Rochlitz.