Cat Vs.Commoner, Part II

[Umbran]

Only an idiot...

Speaking of idiots ...

Guys, how about everybody stop saying or insinuating that anyone else is an idiot.

It was inappropriate for athos to do it. It is also inappropriate for Z_B to respond in kind.

So, let's call it even, and stop insulting each other now.

 

[Umbran]

What I don't understand is that, given the option to retreat, the cat didn't retreat.

An immediate riposte seems normal. But to press an attack?

To understand that in full, we'd probably need information about the cat and how it has been treated in the long term. And while analogies to human behavior often fail - if someone punched a person in the head, would you necessarily expect them to retreat? No. Sometimes, those who have been hurt go on the offensive.

Also, was this a full on attack, or something lighter?

The baby was scratched on the forehead after pulling the cat's tail, if the call to police is to be believed. But even those were not serious, as the father didn't think the baby needed medical attention. I don't recall reading that there were any other injuries in the incident.

 

[Scott DeWar]

To understand that in full, we'd probably need information about the cat and how it has been treated in the long term.

Now this is what I was referring to. Has the family treated that cat well regularly, or did the cat get tired of continued harassment?

 

[Zombie_Babies]

It doesn't really even need to be continued, IMO - a human sized thing kicking a cat size thing (even if it's a larger type) is a significant enough event to inspire full on 'fight' mode, IMO. That's a threat to life.

I don't think they abuse this thing. If they were abusing it I can't see them spending money on getting help with its and their behavior ... unless they're just doing it for the media.

 

[Umbran]

I don't think they abuse this thing. If they were abusing it I can't see them spending money on getting help with its and their behavior ... unless they're just doing it for the media.

Well, once the story has hit the media and become a big thing on the internet, the owners could conceivably feel a need to save face. How they deal with their pet going forward may be widely seen. I hope that's not what's going on, but it is a possibility.

And when I was talking about needing to know how it was treated, things you'd call outright abuse need not be in the picture for them to be relevant.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

It doesn't really even need to be continued, IMO - a human sized thing kicking a cat size thing (even if it's a larger type) is a significant enough event to inspire full on 'fight' mode, IMO. That's a threat to life.

I don't think they abuse this thing. If they were abusing it I can't see them spending money on getting help with its and their behavior ... unless they're just doing it for the media.

I'm going to go with 'doing it for the media.' First thing the guy does is kick the cat. It wasn't as if the cat going after the kid. The guy obviously kicked it hard enough to get an aggressive reaction from the cat. People probably got on his case about it, and the family, to not seem like total garbage - which they appear to be they said they would get help for the cat. Here is the thing - an animal behaviorist isn't going to be cheap. I'm betting as soon as they get a quote from a animal behaviorist, and the cameras are off of the family, the cat will end up in a shelter.

 

[Zombie_Babies]

Well, once the story has hit the media and become a big thing on the internet, the owners could conceivably feel a need to save face. How they deal with their pet going forward may be widely seen. I hope that's not what's going on, but it is a possibility.

And when I was talking about needing to know how it was treated, things you'd call outright abuse need not be in the picture for them to be relevant.

Definitely. There's a lot of ways to mistreat an animal and, like most things in life, the little stuff can add up to a big problem.

I'm going to go with 'doing it for the media.' First thing the guy does is kick the cat. It wasn't as if the cat going after the kid. The guy obviously kicked it hard enough to get an aggressive reaction from the cat. People probably got on his case about it, and the family, to not seem like total garbage - which they appear to be they said they would get help for the cat. Here is the thing - an animal behaviorist isn't going to be cheap. I'm betting as soon as they get a quote from a animal behaviorist, and the cameras are off of the family, the cat will end up in a shelter.

Yeah, it's honestly my feeling on it as well. I mean, I can see the rage a cat attacking a baby could inspire but there's other options than kicking it that could be entertained first. My dog has done some things that have pissed me off but I've never even considered hitting her. Granted, scratching up a baby isn't on that list but unless the thing is in full rage mode and can't be pulled away, getting into a fistfight with an animal smaller than yourself shouldn't be option number one.

 

[Lwaxy]

Only an idiot would be happy that an animal attacked people.

When we had our daughter, my cat thought she could attack the baby. First time my daughter got clawed, the cat got herself a one way ticket to the shelter. I was not going to put an infant, especially my daughter, at risk of being hurt, just wasn't going to happen.

Please do not ever get a pet again. Throwing away a living being because you are not able to teach it to deal with your daughter is a terrible thing to do. It's clear you didn't even make an effort. I also hope you do not teach your child to be as disrespectful to life as you were.

 

[Lwaxy]

getting into a fistfight with an animal smaller than yourself shouldn't be option number one.

There are too many people getting pets and not knowing the slightest about their behavior or instincts or even how to feed them right. Usually, it's all blamed on the animal without considering what the humans have done to cause the situation.

Bad thing is, the people who smack their pets often smack their kids as well.

 

[Zombie_Babies]

There are too many people getting pets and not knowing the slightest about their behavior or instincts or even how to feed them right. Usually, it's all blamed on the animal without considering what the humans have done to cause the situation.

Bad thing is, the people who smack their pets often smack their kids as well.

That's a good point. People get pets and expect them to behave rather than spending the time with them teaching them how to do that. A little research goes a long way but that takes time and people are lazy.