If you want to choose a pet that is suitable for home keeping, the most "not worrying" option is the cat. Although the emotional communication between dogs and humans is more in-depth, but the cat does not have to go out twice in the morning and evening, the estranged and independent nature determines that the emotional dependence on the owner is not high, as long as enough food and water are prepared, regularly clean up the excrement, the "shoveling officer" is qualified. Many people love cats deeply, but the cold cat star people always have a "everyone is drunk and I wake up" posture, and there is even a rumor that "when your cat stares at you, it is actually judging whether you are still alive and when you can eat you"!
Does a pet that looks soft and cute really have such a dark heart?
Figureworm creative
01
High cold alienation
Because of the lone ranger gene in the blood
"The creek firewood is soft and warm, and I don't go out with the tanuki." On a cold winter day, the warmest thing is to sit in a comfortable rocking chair, basking in the warm sun, listening to favorite music, drinking hot coffee, and holding the cutest cat to pick up. What a pleasant life it is, think I'm almost drunk.
I, a cat slave, have been particularly fond of cats since I was a child, and when I was young, because the adults in the family did not allow me to keep them, I had to steal the big white cat raised by the neighbor's aunt. Ironically, however, when I had my own house and wanted to invite a master to come to my house, I suddenly found that I was allergic to animal hair... It was a creation, and even I thought about inviting a pure black short-haired master to come home to offer it, and I even thought of a name.
I believe that like me, there must be many friends who like to pet cats. But do you really know the master of your house?
According to statistics, more than 500 million domestic cats in the world have been invited home by blue star bipeds as their masters to provide for them, and it can be said that cats are animals that were raised as "pets" by humans earlier. About 9,000 years ago, people living in the fertile crescent area began to raise cats. Perhaps at first these people simply put cats in barns where grain was stored and asked them to drive away rats that stole food. Compared with the domestication history of dogs for about 15,000 to 20,000 years (and the view is that humans have been domesticating dogs since about 40,000 years ago), cats are relatively less domesticated and retain more "wild".
But when it comes to some news reports of "after the cat owner dies suddenly at home, the cat will eat the owner's carcass", it is not easy to judge the root cause, because there is no evidence that the cat actively eats the owner or cannot bear hunger to eat the owner in order to save his life.
When we raise cats, we sometimes have the appearance of "calling the cat, but the cat loves to answer or even pretend not to hear", which is one of the reasons why we call the cat "master". In fact, it is not that the cats are too arrogant, but the African wild cat itself is a solitary animal, and there is not much group consciousness, when hearing the call of the person, perhaps just turn one ear to the direction of the sound to observe the movement, find that there is nothing abnormal and then go on to do their own thing; and the dog is a social animal, and will participate in the hunting activities of people, which is quite sensitive to the indication signal. When humans first domesticated feral cats, their purpose was only to catch mice near the barn, so cats generally did not react much to our orders and instructions. However, after training, the cat can also complete some simple instructions.
02
Fear of drowning is unreliable
Probably a whistle for you
When we take a shower or go to the bathroom, cats often crouch in the bathroom door and wait, and even peek at the door. This series of actions made some cat slaves feel that the master was caring for himself, and even made up the plot of "the cat adult who is afraid of water is worried that I will be drowned by the water, which is really fucking broken for me". So what about the truth?
Most of the areas where African wild cats live are dry and lack water, and wild cats do not have the concept of bathing with water, so from the perspective of cats, it is not possible to conclude that humans are cleaning their bodies. In addition, the bathroom of the Chinese living room is generally to include the bathroom and the toilet, and leaving the smell of urine in a specific area is the way for cats to mark the territory, so as long as they enter the bathroom, they are "convenient" in their impression. Regardless of the size, defecation is a time when the cat is mentally more relaxed, so there is a view that the cat is guarding the toilet door to see how we "draw the ground" and help us to put up the sentry, if there is an enemy attack, you can quickly shout at us to run together.
In fact, it is not difficult to read the cat's heart, although they are solitary animals, but the body language is still very rich: when a cat runs to you, the cat ~ mi ~ whispers or shakes the tip of the tail, it is greeting you; if the cat stares at you with a serious face and does not move, and you also look at it, it will think that you are provoking, at this time, if you look away from the face, it means that you recognize it; see the performance of your recognition, many cats' tails will, which means that it is happy with your knowledge of current affairs If the cat is frightened, the hair on the back will "explode"; when the cat is crouched and the back is arched, it may be about to enter a predatory state; if a cat lies down to expose its belly to you, this is a sign that it trusts you.
03
Keep a cat
It's a very serious thing
In the city where we live, stray cats can often be seen, and there are a few "residents" in our community that I know well. But shall we invite these wandering masters home? In fact, having a pet is not a very simple thing, and not everyone is suitable for cats. Before deciding to own a cat, you should make a careful assessment:
1. The lifespan of a domestic cat can reach 10 years+, and the average human lifespan is about 70 years old. That is to say, we have to dedicate 1/7 of our lives to take care of it, it can only accompany you for a while, but you are its whole.
2. Raising a cat requires enough space, unlike crabs or fish, a fish tank is enough. Cats need a certain amount of space to move in order to stay healthy. Do you have independent housing? Can they meet their needs to jump up and down? This is very important.
3. Whether your family can accept your cat. We humans are social animals, can your parents and your partner accept cats into your life? Be sure to do a good job as a family member and determine if the body of a family member allows you to fulfill your dream of cat-picking freedom. For example, people like me who suffer from severe animal hair allergies will sneeze constantly even if they have cat hair on their clothes; if there is too much hair, it may also cause asthma and affect breathing, and the consequences are very serious.
4. Raising a cat requires an adequate economic base. You may think: it doesn't cost much money to keep a cat, it doesn't cost money to adopt a stray cat, and it doesn't cost much money to buy cat food. However, the weather is unpredictable, the cat has a bad luck, if your cat is sick, what to do? It has no medical insurance, and the consumption level of pet hospitals is not cheaper or more expensive than that of human medical treatment. If you raise it, you must be responsible for it to the end, and you must take into account life, old age, illness and death.
5. Domestic cats need to be educated, and as owners, you need to guide them to behave correctly. The cat itself is a curious animal, and perhaps it will break something in your home if it is not careful, or scratch the expensive leather sofa at home, which will bring great trouble to our lives. As a "shoveler", it is necessary to avoid these behaviors as much as possible, and this process needs to be in line with scientific education and guidance, and more importantly, patience and perseverance.
6. Can a wandering master take home? The author himself is in favor of adopting stray cats, because these abandoned little poor people will be driven by nature to capture a large number of small wild animals, which puts serious pressure on the ecological environment. Adopting instead of buying is a true love for stray cats. However, stray cats may have been hurt by some bad people, or they may have become untamed by life in the wild, thus becoming less loved, loving to destroy things, and even scratching and biting you, which requires you to pay more time and effort to heal its hurt heart, and it will truly accept you.
7. Finally, let me emphasize: be sure not to keep free-range cats! Some people may think that a free cat is a happy cat, and it is true that free-range cats can give it a wider living space, but it is also accompanied by extremely high risks, such as poisoning. Many cities are stocking rat poison in large quantities to kill rats, and a rat poison rat rat is really a suitable prey in the eyes of cats, but once such rat meat is eaten, the cat will also be poisoned. In addition, the risk of parasites cannot be ignored. Many wild animals have a large number of parasites, cats prey on wild birds, finches, snakes, frogs and other animals, parasites will be transferred to the cat's body, seriously affecting the health of cats; ticks and fleas in the wild environment are also very common parasites, and most free-range cats will carry some. In addition, fighting with stray cats may be injured, stray traps may be caught by cat dealers, poisonous creatures such as horse bees centipedes can seriously harm the health of cats, etc... For domestic cats, the outdoors are really dangerous...
Raising a cat is not a very easy and comfortable thing, and you should not only see how cool it is to pet a cat, this happiness contains a great responsibility. Again, "Maybe it's just a passer-by in your life, but you're the whole of its life." ”
I hope that everyone who loves cats can happily pet the cat, and I also wish every master a happy old age.
Author | Li Weiyang's popular science writers' works have been published on Fruit Shell Network, State Forestry Administration, China National Geographic, Naturalist Magazine, Juvenile Science Magazine, etc
Audit | Huang Chengming, Researcher, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
This article is produced by the "Scientific Rumor Dispelling Platform" (ID: Science_Facts), please indicate the source when reprinting.