because they stay smol!
I can hold onto many feelings and ideas at once.
My orange baby boy is an old man.
Mama Trump, is it you?
You can call your cat anything you want, they still won’t come.
Because their real name sounds like a food pouring into the bowl.
My cat was an “old man cat” for a while before he passed.
Anyhow, a “man cat” just sounds like a cat who dresses up like a man and fights crime
Yes, but Lady Cat and Gentleman Cat just sounds like cats being fancy. And cats are fancy.
You haven’t met my chonker
fancy chonker
He is not fancy
He reminds me of Missouri
Shape wise? Or because he particularly enjoys barbecue?
The people
That’s still fancier then mississippi
Worse food tho
Removed by mod
My cats are gentlemen and ladies
I only have one lady. The rest I call terrible names.
Oh I call them like 100 terrible names as well but they are still nobles without rank or title
Because they are all fur babies. Always.
Human/animal bonding is aided because their faces retain neotenic features that remind us of babies. So many are inclined to relate to them like children.
From that article:
Accumulating behavioral and neurophysiological studies support the idea of infantile (cute) faces as highly biologically relevant stimuli rapidly and unconsciously capturing attention and eliciting positive/affectionate behaviors, including willingness to care. It has been hypothesized that the presence of infantile physical and behavioral features in companion (or pet) animals (i.e., dogs and cats) might form the basis of our attraction to these species.
It has been hypothesized that both behavioral and physical infantile features present in companion animals might form the basis of our attraction to these animals and may bear some part of the responsibility for our motivational drive to pet-keeping and pet-caretaking (Archer, 1997).
I think this might be a case of cart-before-horse. It seems obvious to me that domesticated animals have these traits because they were selected for by our ancestors, not the other way around.
That’s true for dogs, less so for cats. It’s also immaterial since we’re talking about present attitudes toward pets.
I feel like the factors that shape our drive towards cuteness and what we find cute are not immaterial to our present attitudes towards pets… but no doubt you’re right to point out that there can be more than one factor at play.
That’s weird because babies are ugly. Cats, on the other hand, are just so… hey wait a minute, my cat stole my heart 💘😼
This spell, so potent… 😍🐈
IMO:
Boy/Girl cat implies gender.
Man/Woman cat implies anthropomorphism.
Right but why is that your opinion of how those words work? Because the only strict differentiation between man/boy and woman/girl is age.
Because they get neutered/spayed
The only true man cat is Idris Elba in Cats
“And that’s where you’re wrong, buddy. Damn I look good.”
One of my cats is a man cat. We always call him a man unless it Big Bubba Boi for the alliteration. The other cat is a demon.
my cat always acts like she’s a year old and is pretty small for a cat (we assume she’s the runt)
when we got her the pound said 2 years old (info from previous owner) but when we took her to the vet we got told that she’s actually about 5She’s about 7-8 now and still looks just as adorable as when I got her!!
edit: this image also shows her bent whisker that got messed up when she tried to stick her head in the food container as I was shutting it a couple weeks ago lol
Same reason I refer to my 14-year-old dachshund as a puppy.
Because he’s my puppy.
I have a dead cat. 🤷♂️
How long have you had it?
I’ve read a lot about how dogs have evolved to hit some of the same triggers that human infants do. I’ve also read about how we tend to view pets as children in our minds. I imagine that that all plays a role in it.
We totally do.
You can address a pet like you would politely address an adult, but only in a jokey way. Like “oh, and who’s this handsome gentleman/lady?”, same as with kids.
I dunno. I view my dogs as companions. Yeah, they need me to look after.them like they’re children, but I need them to take care of me in the wilderness, protect the house, cheer me up, entertain guests, tow me on the longboard.
There’s no association with them and a human child for me. If anything dog ownership has shifted my mentality into the symbiotic relationship of a pack. I think being stuck thinking of them as children would make for some very miserable times and bad behaviour from both the owner and the dog.
I agree, but I also think the studies are speaking more broadly and possibly on a subconscious level. I feel the same as you but at the same time I can acknowledge evolutionary traits they might have.
