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Richard Gowan: It's OK, I get asked embarrassing animal things all the time. At least we're on the phone and not face-to-face.
OK, so my cat is pretty aloof, but the second you get changed or get in the shower she can't get close enough. Why is she so into nudity?On Motherboard: How Does a Rat Learn to Dunk Tiny Basketballs?
From your perspective it's about nudity, but from her perspective it's about a ritual operation that she can predict. The amount of times my clients tell me "my cat's watching me in the shower" or "my cat's watching me take a dump"—that's because your cat knows that routine. Whether the cat is a perv or not, it's more that they know what that routine means.That makes sense for things I do at the same time each day, that she can expect, but what about watching me in the toilet? She's obsessed with that too.
Again, it's about a ritual and a routine, they know that room, they know the behavior. You go and sit on the toilet and your cats follow you. Most behaviors are routines cats can depend on for a positive interaction—anthropomorphism means we place extra value on these interactions and therefore further reinforce the routines. It seems cute or quirky, you respond, the cat gets a positive reinforcement for a totally random behavior.
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That's a weird commonplace fetish behavior your cat has.Why does she watch me have sex? I don't do that at the same time everyday, and I don't give her attention when I do it.
A lot of clients have asked that. A different way of illustrating it is, say you're watching TV, your cat thinks, Whatever, I can come over and sit in your lap whenever I want. Remember your cat's a narcissist; it's all about them. But as soon as your attention is directed to your laptop, reading a book, or talking on the phone your cat suddenly starts to come to you. It's because you're no longer directing your attention at them, it's almost like a jealousy but it's more from a narcissistic point of view.So when I'm with someone she knows I'm not thinking about her.
It's a point of focus, and your point of focus is no longer centered on her. That's when the cat will feel like she needs to be on your lap because she feels like she's lost that sense of control. That's also why she tries to sit on you when you're on the toilet.
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Really? She actually might be that one cat that's kind of a creep. Everything cats do is for their enjoyment or their benefit.Clients will often say things like, "I can tell what my cat is saying, I can tell when they're hungry, or sad, or they want a treat." You can't, it's that the cat has trained you for their benefit. It could be that you think that she likes to spy on your neighbors, but actually she just knows that whenever she does it you get really interested in her.
Well you've kind of given her the context. You say you're not that interested in your neighbors watching TV, but you're obviously out there too when they're doing other things…Maybe I'm the creep.
Could very well be.From everything that we've chatted about—as a professional—do you think my cat's unusual?
She's a product of her environment—so maybe it's the environment that's unusual. Cats are highly intelligent, you get out what you put in with your cat. Maybe you just put weird vibes in.Follow Wendy on Twitter