Dogs can't even tell if you launched the stick or not...
this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025
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Nor can kids up to age 5 if you're good at deception.
Cats can't tell the difference between a real object moving on a surface and a beam of light..
Yeah, well, cats rule and dogs drool.
Nanny nanny boo boo, stick your head in doo doo. :-p
Dogs are the same. They think they are humans. The first tribe members that clearly know that they are not humans are apes and some monkeys.
It kinda blew my mind that dogs are more empathetic than chimps. Maybe they used autistic chimps in the thing I watched, still seems unbelievable.
Eh, any time someone ascribes motivations to animals, my butthole spasms.
The best that should be said is that the behaviors they exhibit are similar to the behaviors they exhibit for kittens or sometimes sick cats.
Somehow, somebody decided that meant they think we're bad hunters, and the idea took off because it's funny, but you can't know what goes on inside the thoughts of other humans reliably, much less other animals.
There's competing possibilities that the cats are showing off their kills to their social group, which is not only a common behavior when cats are young, but when they're mated, but you don't see people crowing about them bringing us food to get in our pants.
Overall, cats seem to treat us like other cats. Not exactly the same, but with less distinction than other domesticated animals. Horses, as an example, have a much wider distinction, for equally unprovable reasons.
My personal pet idea is that any sufficiently social animal, including humans, is instinctively going to seek out groups. They/we will negotiate the lack of a unifying language as best as possible, but with plenty of misunderstandings. It isn't so much that other animals see us as being the same as them. It's that they don't really have the need for the distinction; there's the in group (pride, pack, clan, whatever you want to call it) and out groups. When dealing with the family group, any animal will perform the same basic behaviors that their instincts tell them to.
Domestication just means that a given type of animal has developed or been bred to have, a stronger instinct for social bonding than wild animals, to the degree that they'll accept other species as family easier.
That's it, you're part of my pack now!
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Dog brings you things because you asked, it's asking to play, or because they wanted to reward you.
Cat brings you things because it thinks you fucking suck at hunting and feeding yourself.
My dog gives me stuff all the time. At first I thought it meant he wanted to play with the object, but, nope. He's just spent the last fifteen minutes fighting the other dog away from it, running around the house with it in his mouth. Then when he's finally "won", he gently places it down right in front of me, sits and stares at my eyes, "This is very important to us dogs, but I love you the most, so you can have it."
picks up slobbered cow hoof with a pinch "Thank you so much, buddy! How about I hold it, you can chew; we can share."
He does do this with the other dog at times too, though. Usually when she's calmed down and snoozing, he'll bring a treat over to her, watch her accept it, and goes on his way.
Gifting is his love language.
"I take care of my human. I bring them mouse once a week, twice after new moon because so dark. Hope they survive on that."
My cat played fetch, just like a dog. Cats like playing.
I hate it when people just assume stuff about cats, treat them that way, and then say stuff like 'cats are so aloof and they only like me because I feed them.'
Meanwhile, my neighbour's cat loves my family even though we don't feed her, because we snuggle her. The person who feeds her just chucks her outside when she gets home. And then she comes to us for scritches.
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I mean, she knows I'm much better than her at opening wet food cans.
“This cat is awful, but I’ll keep it around because it knows how to open the food stones.”
Am science. Can confirm.
All I'll say is cats meow at humans and they don't meow at other cats except their own mom. To me this instantly defeats this take.
It's just a fun post though so I'm not judging.
Cats have great singing voices especially when humans are asleep. Do cats sing for humans? Maybe they sing because they love opera?
I have 2 cats. One of them meows at people, cats, dogs, birds, butterflies, toys...
The other only meows when she's suffering horrible torture, like being picked up, or needing to scratch at the door the times without it opening.
Is the first one a siamese..?
Extremely chatty critters, those...
They're both "european shorthairs" we got from the pound. But she might be, she's definitely chatty and mean like one.
Cats meow at other cats besides their mother too. It's a complete myth that they don't.
I have 4 cats age 11, 11, 6, and 1. I also grew up with cats in my childhood home. In 34 years, I have never had a cat meow at another cat.
My two meow at each other, humans, and the dog.
I kind of am judging. Misrepresenting how science works and what it can and can't do ia a dangerous game on the age of intentional misinformation. Even if you're just trying to be cute and fun.
You know what, you're right, framing it as a "scientific discovery" isn't cool.
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I'm not so sure my cats and dogs identify as different species tbh