I mean, I’m not a veterinarian and my words should not be taken as scientifically valid, but I feel like way too many stories like this are just … veering way too far into anthropomorphism. I mean, I’m fully aware that many mammals are way smarter than we give credit to and in some ways more human than many people are willing to admit, but this just seems a bit incredulous.
Is it too difficult to imagine a cat seeing another human laying in bed and other humans giving them food etc and mimicking that behaviour? 🤔
Surely anyone who’s had a pet has at some point experienced that pet doing something for attention? Iirc That’s literally why dogs chase their own tails.
Aren’t animals commonly-ish being recorded faking injuries such as a hurt/broken legs? Maybe the videos were fake too but there are certainly videos out there of dogs limping (and switching the leg they limp with) even though their legs are fine
yes, we had a dog that would shiver to be let into places. …even when it was over 70f. the* learn a behavior gets som thing and sometimes they also learn to lie, lol.
My sister’s cat had leg injury and even though it has healed completely, he still sometimes limps. Especially when he wants food.
But then he runs on all four legs if she’s trying to shoo him away from her plants or trying to give him his medicine.
Idk…some animals are just like that. I have two dogs. One is unquestionably a dog. One might be an animorph or a human trapped in a dogs body. He’s so much smarter. I don’t teach him things but he figures it out in his own. Ex: opening doors, making trades, knowing individual names of people/animals, etc. I didn’t teach him any of that.
And when I adopted the “dog” dog he would look at what the “human” dog was doing and copy it to get treats.
It wouldn’t surprise me if a cat wanted attention so it acted like someone else. Sometimes, I suspect animals are a lot smarter and more aware than humans give them credit for.
Just a reminder that cats don’t meow in nature. They learned to mimic the sounds of a needy toddler.
