Cool Cats

[SoDesuKa]

I'm a big fan of cool cats, especially the way they remain unflustered unless there's something coming at them. You'll never see a cat worried by the Great Questions of Life.

However, I wonder if cats' celebrated cool is the result of their limited emotional range. For instance, they can't see all the colors we see, and they can't taste sweetness, either. While it's likely that no animal has the emotional nuances of human experience, I wonder if any of us would really want to be a cat. After all, our emotions are the greater part of what we call living. I wouldn't want cool as a substitute for the full range of human experience.

Then again, it would be neat to jump up on the table with no effort at all . . . which any cat can do, except the very young and the very old. I think I would enjoy that kind of mobility, and I suspect cats do, too.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. They can perceive things we can't.

Although they can't see as many colors, they can see in very dim light where we can't. They can also perceive the tiniest motion. Their sense of smell, though not quite as good as dogs,'is far better than ours. Their directional hearing, as well as their ability to hear extremely high-pitched sounds, is better than ours. They have whiskers on their faces and feet so they can feel things they can't see. Some biologists think the sound vibrations of purring help heal injuries.

I don't think cats are missing out on anything. They have as much sensory information as we do -- it's just different.

[badgerpup]

2. They can't taste 'sweet'?

Weird...
No sarcasm here...hard to put a wondering thoughtful tone into text...

I wonder why Finnegan likes pineapple juice so much then...or (and this was done years ago, before I'd learned it was bad for them and neither cat seemed adversely affected by it) Misha and Kaminari preferred chocolate milk to regular.

Just outta curiousity, I put down two saucers (gotta use a saucer...it's traditional ;) ) of 2% milk...
one regular, one chocolate (fiance at the time did so love his 'chocolate moo').

The chocolate milk was gone...saucer licked clean...and there was still regular milk left about two hours later.

Before anyone stones me...they didn't get milk (chocolate or otherwise) as a regular thing...maybe a couple tablespoons once a week or so.
I DID know then that older cats, while they may LOVE milk, mostly lack the enzyme for digesting it properly and it'll give them the runs.

[SoDesuKa]

3. Feline DNA Study - They Can't Taste Sweet

There's a study that shows that studies of cats' DNA prove they can't form a receptor for sweetness. Somewhere back in antiquity what began as a mutation has developed into a dominant strain, and now, no cats can taste sweetness.

Here's a link to the Los Angeles Times article, "Cats Lack a Sweet Tooth, Study Says" - http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/25/science/sci-catsweet25

Scientists say they have unearthed the reason for the feline's utter indifference toward sweet-tasting goodies: The gene for its sweet-taste receptor is riddled with errors and does not work.

The research, to be published today in the journal Public Library of Science Genetics, was conducted by scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition in Britain.

Previous studies have shown that cats don't care for sugar.

My post raised the question whether cats' famously cool demeanor may result from having a narrow emotional range. It's not that they're better able to manage their emotions; they just don't feel things. There's nothing to manage. Cats enjoy playing with mice but it's a mistake to call that a cruel streak. They're just not capable of cruelty. I'm not sure what has been caused a cat's "smile" really is that. That could be just human projection.

[Kookaburra]

4. That seems to be the case with my cats

They don't really care for sweets over any other foods. In fact, it appears their only criterion is that I'm eating it. Otherwise they could take it or not. They love 1/2 & 1/2, which I only give them a little taste every so often.

[badgerpup]

5. How narrow does an emotional range have to be to include 'heartbreak'?

I know this is just anecdotal, but I've watched two of my cats experience something very painful emotionally on the sudden death of their best buddy; the cat in the pride to whom they were most closely bonded.
Riktor went through this when Misha was killed...Misha had been his rescuer, mentor, and then closest companion for four years.

Wimsey and MacFeegle were closer in age (1 year apart) but there was the rescuer/best buddy/closest companion dynamic there, too.
Feegle and Wimsey hadn't been together as long as Misha and Ritkor (about a year), but it really threw Wimsey into a depression when Feegle died.

Both cats experienced behavior changes; increased meowing, 'searching', loss of appetite, lethargy, hostility/aggression towards both the remaining clouder and towards me.
It took time, an understanding vet and Bach flower remedies to help them get over the worst of it...
and I do believe they still miss their respective companions.

I'm wondering if how much emotional range a cat has sorta ties into Maslow's needs hierarchy.
If a cat is in a 'good place' physically...doesn't have to worry about food, shelter, etc., then they have the energy to expend on emotions and are able to love...and grieve...with the best of us.

[Kookaburra]

6. Similar thing happened to my Dolce

He lost his 2 best buddies in the span of 2 weeks (one was 22 and died of old age -- the other was a younger cat that got sick and the vet was unable to save her). Afterward we would run from window to window meowing loudly all day and night, stopping only from exhaustion. It was the saddest thing you've ever seen. My neighbor said he even did it during the day when I was not home. He was grieving himself to death, it appeared to me. The vet gave me a few options: prozac or a new kitty. Though apprehensive, I thought a new kitty preferable to medication. That helped. He didn't take to her right away, but she helped to take his mind off his grief.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Cats are certainly not the only animals...domestic and wild.....that can have deeply felt emotions.

Souls of Animals by Gary Kowalski
The Compassion of Animals: True Stories of Animal Courage and Kindness by Kristin Von Kreisler
When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy




http://www.jeffreymasson.com/library.html

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3702
COMMENTARY: Do Elephants Cry?
The science is conclusive: animals are emotional beings

[rox63]

7. One of my two cats definitely does have a wide emotional range

She is the cat of a thousand facial expressions. And she lets her feeling be widely known.

My other cat doesn't care much for anything that isn't food or isn't usable as a toy. So I admit that her emotional range is pretty limited.