cats looking at pictures of other cats

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Elizabeth Blake - 10 Jun 2005 03:02 GMT

At work today, I was going through the mail. There was a catalog from a
greeting card company, and the picture on the cover was of a brown tabby
with a white mouse on his head. The picture was just from the chest up, not
the full cat, but it was pretty much life sized. Just as I pulled the
catalog out, Stinky walked into my office. I held the catalog down and said
"Look, Stink", which she did. Her eyes got huge, her ears went backs and
she stopped in her tracks. She crept forward slowly still looking very
freaked out, then she decided the best thing to do would be to leave the
office.

Later on I showed the catalog to Harriet, as she was walking down an aisle.
She also looked freaked, and then moved quickly and darted around the
catalog that I was holding down at her level.

Usually, whenever I show the cats something that's not food or a toy, it's
as if they don't see it (I know, they just don't care!). I don't think
Stinky & Harriet have ever seen their reflection, as the only mirror at work
is in the bathroom up above the sink. They both definitely seemed to know
that the picture was of a cat. I think they were paying attention to only
the cat. If they noticed the mouse first, I'm sure the reaction would have
been different.

--
Liz

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clfr@adelphia.net - 10 Jun 2005 03:31 GMT

> At work today, I was going through the mail. There was a catalog from a
> greeting card company, and the picture on the cover was of a brown tabby
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> the cat. If they noticed the mouse first, I'm sure the reaction would have
> been different.

None of my cats have ever shown any interest in their reflections in
mirrors. I don't know if they don't notice it, or if it doesn't
interest them - for whatever reason.

But... Demelza has also had a reaction to life-sized photos of cats
(whole body photos), sort of like Stinky & Harriet had. In Demelza's
case, she has gone up to the photo & zeroed in on the cat's head,
pawing at it. But they have to be life-sized. Smaller ones haven't
elicited any reaction. She's also my only cat who's shown an interest
in the TV.

Cathy

> --
> Liz

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Diane Schirf - 10 Jun 2005 04:09 GMT

> None of my cats have ever shown any interest in their reflections in
> mirrors. I don't know if they don't notice it, or if it doesn't
> interest them - for whatever reason.

Maybe they're vampires. :)

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Meghan Noecker - 11 Jun 2005 10:56 GMT

>None of my cats have ever shown any interest in their reflections in
>mirrors. I don't know if they don't notice it, or if it doesn't
>interest them - for whatever reason.

Only Jay Jay has had noticeable reactions to himself in the mirror.
But all of my cats and dogs use the mirror and understand what it
does. Our bathroom has a large mirror on the wall, and a door that
separates the toilet and tub from the rest of the bathroom. I can
slide that door almost closed and see the cats in the mirror
reflection. I can wave at them, and they will immediately come to me,
not the reflection.

>But... Demelza has also had a reaction to life-sized photos of cats
>(whole body photos), sort of like Stinky & Harriet had. In Demelza's
>case, she has gone up to the photo & zeroed in on the cat's head,
>pawing at it. But they have to be life-sized. Smaller ones haven't
>elicited any reaction. She's also my only cat who's shown an interest
>in the TV.

I've never tried a life-size photo. They have never shown any interest
in photos of anything. If I offer it to them, they just sniff at it
and go back to whatever they were doing before.

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Meghan & the Zoo Crew
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Alex - 10 Jun 2005 10:02 GMT

Our cat didn't react at all to his reflection when we had a mirror leaning
on the wall at ground level. But a photographer friend's cat, when
confronted with a good printed picture (not quite lifesize) of *himself*,
started to swat/punch it! Maybe it was the pose:

http://androo.smugmug.com/photos/20652565-M.jpg

We thought it was hilarious...

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Elizabeth Blake - 11 Jun 2005 03:22 GMT

> Our cat didn't react at all to his reflection when we had a mirror leaning
> on the wall at ground level. But a photographer friend's cat, when
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> We thought it was hilarious...

Handsome cat! My two cats at home don't react to themselves in the mirror
either. When I first found Otto, who's almost 6 now, he was around 6 months
old. He jumped on my dresser and saw himself in the mirror and looked very
surprised/freaked, but after that first time he seemed to never notice his
reflection. Tiger won't even look at a mirror, so maybe she does see
something and just wants to pretend it's not there.

I brought home the catalog with the cat picture on the cover and showed it
to my cats. Tiger refused to look at it (hmmmm, she seems to do that a
lot!) and all Otto was interested in was my hand holding the catalog. He
shoved his head against it and insisted that I pet him. I put the picture
on the fridge, low down, and he sort of glanced at it for a split second.

--
Liz

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Cheryl - 11 Jun 2005 00:28 GMT

> At work today, I was going through the mail. There was a
> catalog from a greeting card company, and the picture on the
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> only the cat. If they noticed the mouse first, I'm sure the
> reaction would have been different.

Shamrock reacts to pictures of cats, mostly if they're on the
computer monitor - not good when it's the laptop! He's also watches
TV, but so does Rhett, but Rhett doesn't react to pictures. Here's
a pic of Shamrock sitting on my old computer monitor pawing at
Shadow's picture.
<http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shambondow/detail?.dir=/2a54&.dnm=
300d.jpg&.src=ph>

There was an online experiment of cats looking at pictures of cats
looking at pictures of cats looking at pictures of cats that was
pretty amazing, but I can't remember the URL. Maybe someone else
does. The Infinite Cat project or something like that.

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Cheryl

"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited
breath."
- W.C. Fields

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Elizabeth Blake - 11 Jun 2005 03:25 GMT

> Shamrock reacts to pictures of cats, mostly if they're on the
> computer monitor - not good when it's the laptop! He's also watches
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> <http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shambondow/detail?.dir=/2a54&.dnm=
> 300d.jpg&.src=ph>

Great picture!! When Stinky was a kitten she loved looking at the monitor
at work. The mouse pointer was her favorite part, but there were certain
programs that interested her. She outgrew that by the time she was a year
old or so. The cats at home are only interested in laying in front of the
monitor, not looking at it, and didn't react to the cat picture at all.

> There was an online experiment of cats looking at pictures of cats
> looking at pictures of cats looking at pictures of cats that was
> pretty amazing, but I can't remember the URL. Maybe someone else
> does. The Infinite Cat project or something like that.

I'll Google that and see if I can find it.

--
Liz

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