Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/12/06/codependent-cat-waits-for-his.html
…
6 Likes
I love cats, but they are really stupid. We impose all kinds of projections on them, fooling ourselves that they aren’t. But they really are really stupid.
2 Likes
Is there a “last cat” problem like there is the “last pig” problem?
2 Likes
Cats can deal with missing humans in very funny ways. I remember a story my parents told me about our two outdoor cats when we came back from vacation. We were gone for a week and my parents came back to find a mountain of dead squirrels, mice and a large variety of birds on all of our porches. They made me wait in the car while they cleaned up the mess out of concern I might be traumatized by the sight.
8 Likes
The cat would likely cope with the missing human by getting a 2nd cat. Assuming they are not keen on getting another one there are a few things they can set up and leave behind to make sure the cat is distracted and mentally stimulated.
5 Likes
Looks like there’s a second cat there, from the first few seconds of the video.
6 Likes
Haven’t checked it out just yet, at work but i will eventually. If there is a 2nd cat that’s great 
trying to retrain and help a cat to be less anxious is something i don’t have much knowledge on unfortunately (despite being a cat owner, have more experience with dogs). I presume a cat this attached would be difficult to redirect. My own cat loves people more than other cats so i sympathize with the owner here.
3 Likes
That cat needs an emotional support ferret.
Oh boy. . . here we go. . .
11 Likes
What we’ve found works for out cat with separation anxiety (especially after our second cat passed away) is to not acknowledge her 15 minutes before leaving, and when we get back home. That way our coming and going seems like NBD. It was hard at first because we love her and she’s effing cute, and she worked pretty hard to get our attention, but that’s part of the process. After a few weeks she stopped making a fuss about us leaving, and is mostly sleeping when we come home now (which is what a kitty should do!). We give her good bouts of cuddles and snuggles, and have firm but loving boundaries when she’s being too clingy.
15 Likes
Seriously. As a biologist, I can assure you that they are incredibly, stupendously stupid.
2 Likes
Just watch, next he’ll be telling us how much smarter dogs are…
13 Likes
Or: “Cat complains loudly about loss of privacy when human leaves camera running all day”
15 Likes
The owner comes home to two stressed cats waiting by the door.
5 Likes
Our cat makes that same vocalization - we refer to it as crying. Typically its after he’s gotten in trouble for doing something wrong - he’ll go into the next room and cry like that loudly. Sometimes he does this late at night after we’ve turned in, for abandoning him when the night is young. Our other cat never makes this vocalization.
But they both deal with us being away all day by sleeping most of the day. They get up promptly when we arrive home, typically hearing our approach or the car. They are happy for social interaction at that point, through the dinner routine, and settle down with us in the living room later.
As far as intelligence, I say there is very high level peer to peer interaction with cats. As opposed to a dog’s “you complete me” deference to the “pack”. Clearly some prefer the dogs mode of interaction, and so will interpret cats as being stand-offish, or generously “independent”. But I thing, regardless of relative intelligence, cats have a more human like relationship to us, where as dogs are simply and fully reliant.
4 Likes
No, dogs are pretty stupid too. Not as stupid as cats, though. (I hate dogs, btw.)
2 Likes
If I was a dog I’d respond “that’s ok – what are we doin now!!!”
If I was a cat I’d respond “you say something? . . . . . didn’t think so…”
who’s smarter, hmmm
8 Likes
Can’t tell if trolley or dog.
22 Likes
Given the article title, I expected a time-lapse of a cat waiting all day by the door. What I saw was 4 minutes of a cat adjusting to its owner leaving, then losing interest and walking away. You know, being a cat. And?
2 Likes
Had to stop playing the video after ten seconds, it was driving my cat bonkers.
2 Likes
Must be the reason they are so capable of surviving. They are far from stupid, probably in the top one thousanth of a percent of species worldwide. Just slightly behind us.
3 Likes
