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I Often Wonder What It's Like To Be A Cat

LandsUnknown

LandsUnknown

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Having a cat, this is something that I often wonder. While I obviously see the things that he does, I seriously wonder what his experience of the world is like. Of course, not being able to talk, I'll always wonder. Since they don't have words to think in, what does their thought process tend to be like? The idea of thinking without words just seems so foreign to me. Like do they tend to daydream and ponder things or more tend to just live in the moment?

For some reason, they must not get bored as easily as us humans do, which is interesting. Since I stopped letting him outside, he mostly just sleeps, eats, walks around the house a bit, and hangs out with me whenever I'm home (and sits on the porch with me when it's a nice day out)..... and doesn't even leave the house other than the once a year trip to the vet. Other than that though, If I just spent every day at home without ever leaving the house, I would be completely bored out of my mind. It's just something that always has interested me. Like what types of things do they typically think about?

It also gets me how people just assume that they're just "instinctual". Like, how could they possibly know what goes through their cat's/dog's mind? For all we know, pets could have access to some sort of hidden knowledge that us humans are unaware of for some reason. I don't know what exactly, but since they can't talk there's no way of knowing that they don't. Even if that's not the case, it seems pretty obvious that there's something a lot more than "instinct" going on. Of course, I feel like that's kind of a difficult term to define. Really, maybe most of the things that us humans do are effectively "instinctual".
 
I've long pondered this one given my affection and affinity for my feline friends. Many people don't give them enough credit for their unique slice of perfection. Yes there is a primal instinctual component, just like us, but there is a level of consciousness, intuitiveness and empathy that I don't often witness in other animals. I would even go as far to say there is something mystical about cats that humans don't quite understand. They are so easily content with life to just roll around, take naps, eat and occasionally play like a kitten. I am impressed with how easily get into their element and find peace within their bounds.
 
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Having feline family members was part of growing up for me and I can't imagine life without at least one. They are mysterious, incredibly diverse, admirably independent for a species domesticated as companions, and possessed of something that may look like stubbornness but it probably just a very successful training method for human companions. (What cat person has not repeatedly opened a door on demand, regardless of whether the cat goes out or not?)

I've probably had about 50 cats over my lifetime--all very different, some almost dog like in their engagement and devotion and others almost wild and extremely cautious around humans despite familiarity. My sister is a Feline Veterinary Specialist whose practice often deals with feline behavior (therefore psychology) and she has probably taken in 100 cats over her lifetime. Neither one of us has a clue.

One of my favorite cartoons ever shows a cat facing a wall staring. The thought bubble above his head is simply a blank wall.=D
 
two of my most favourite authors; king of the junkies, William Burroughs, and the god-emperor alcoholic Charles Bukowski both mused on similar topics,

William Burroughs, The Cat Inside
Charles༼ ༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ༽ Bukowski, On Cats

seems fitting
 
Their senses are far more sensitive than ours like they can hear up to 64kHz compared to our 20kHz, their sense of smell is 13 times stronger and they can see well in near darkness. Can you imagine what it would be like to have such acute senses? Maybe there is no consciousness in the cat brain to appreciate them.
 
cats are conscious beings! they have personalities, their own little quirks, like and dislikes and i believe cats posses the necessary neurological substrates to be considered sentient beings just like monkeys and parrots and some forms of clever fish.
 
chasingabee said:
Their senses are far more sensitive than ours like they can hear up to 64kHz compared to our 20kHz, their sense of smell is 13 times stronger and they can see well in near darkness. Can you imagine what it would be like to have such acute senses? Maybe there is no consciousness in the cat brain to appreciate them.
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There is no way cats are not conscious. I always found the assertion that only humans have consciousness to be really arrogant (not trying to call you arrogant by the way, just saying). If you get to know an animal it is abundantly clear that they are an individual that is having a life experience and is aware of itself.

I love cats. <3
 
Do you ever think cats wonder what its like to be us? My cat is pure enjoyment.. I could stare at him all day lol, he literally is the king of the house, and has full mind control over my pitbull.. Whats funny is that when I punish my dog for doing something wrong, my cat immediately runs over and smacks him upside the head, as if he somehow needs the dog to know that he is reinforcing my decision to punish the dog lol..

Cats are truly marvelous creatures..
 
LandsUnknown said:
For some reason, they must not get bored as easily as us humans do, which is interesting. Since I stopped letting him outside, he mostly just sleeps, eats, walks around the house a bit, and hangs out with me whenever I'm home (and sits on the porch with me when it's a nice day out)..... and doesn't even leave the house other than the once a year trip to the vet. Other than that though, If I just spent every day at home without ever leaving the house, I would be completely bored out of my mind.
Click to expand...

LandsUnknown said:
It also gets me how people just assume that they're just "instinctual". Like, how could they possibly know what goes through their cat's/dog's mind?
Click to expand...

It seems to me you are being inconsistent here. I am assuming boredom is a mental state (i.e. boredom is something that 'goes through the subjects mind'); you seem to be asserting that cats are less disposed to this mental state than humans, yet, you also state (rhetorically, at least) that people have no way of knowing about the mental states of cats. Assuming that boredom is a mental state, how do you reconcile these views? And, if boredom isn't a mental state, what do you think it is?
 
Don't know but my girlfriend's felion can say my name. She greets me by name when I come home. She does a kind of dance with me too.
The strange thing is that she never greets my gf.
 
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