That kitten is the very definition of "not having it."

December 14, 2012 6:12 AM

Monkey adopts kitten (SLGuardian)
posted by Kitteh (27 comments total)

Love of cats must be an ancestral trait for primates. Here's Koko and her kitten.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:21 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

"What do you mean you don't like bananas? Well, you're just going to sit there until you eat them!"
posted by orange swan at 6:28 AM on December 14, 2012 [4 favorites]

If you want something, set it free.  If it comes back to you, it’s yours forever.  If it doesn’t, it was never yours to begin with.
posted by Artw at 6:30 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

If you want something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it’s yours forever. If it doesn’t, it was never yours to begin with.

Oh Voyager 1, I thought we really had a future together.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:34 AM on December 14, 2012 [9 favorites]

Photo 7/7 ruined it, for me. That belt and chain.
posted by gilrain at 6:36 AM on December 14, 2012 [11 favorites]

And I will hug him, and love him, and name him George.
And that cat's expression is total Edward G. Robertson.

Yea, he's my pal, see, and he likes to pick for fleas, see.
posted by stormpooper at 6:36 AM on December 14, 2012 [6 favorites]

Episode on PBS's Nature series regarding cross-species interaction and the emotional lives of animals.
posted by cass at 6:40 AM on December 14, 2012

Monkeys Who Love Cats Who Hate Monkeys
posted by facetious at 6:50 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Photo 7/7 ruined it, for me. That belt and chain.

Yeah. Fuck.

Makes this one all the more heartbreaking.
posted by Egg Shen at 6:52 AM on December 14, 2012

I know, right? All I can hope is that monkey gets free and that kitten can go somewhere else.
posted by Kitteh at 7:04 AM on December 14, 2012

That kitten does not look particularly thrilled with its current lot in life. On the other hand, I guess if it really wanted to escape, those sharp little teeths n claws would do the job. Maybe like all surly toddlers it just doesn't like baths.
posted by elizardbits at 7:07 AM on December 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

Monkeys Who Love Cats Who Hate Monkeys

To be fair, I'm not sure that this isn't exactly how one of our cats would describe our relationship.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:09 AM on December 14, 2012 [13 favorites]

Photo 8/7 Caption: Kimon with chain leash stretched as far as it will go with Kitten sitting just out of reach, looking back with the emotions of a hostage pitying one's clearly-disadvantaged ex-captor.
posted by achrise at 7:31 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

My book, Kittens Who Are Dubious about Monkeys Who Love Kittens Too Much, will be coming to the self-help section of zoo bookstores everywhere. Sadly, since the monkeys in zoos have no money with which to buy books, the cycle of kitten-monkey inappropriate grooming will continue (yes, elsewhere there are pictures of adult cats licking baby monkeys, I am sure of it).
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:46 AM on December 14, 2012 [5 favorites]

Didn't another one of these pairings end ... badly? Like with a dead cat badly? If the monkey has a temper tantrum or if the kitten nips it and it gets upset, it seems like it could be a bad situation. Hope they are being supervised closely.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:03 AM on December 14, 2012

Where did this monkey get the idea that it's ok to hold another being against their will?
posted by orme at 8:14 AM on December 14, 2012 [6 favorites]

Didn't another one of these pairings end ... badly? Like with a dead cat badly?

I do remember reading years ago about the story of a lioness who adopted a baby gazelle. The inevitable adoption disruption happened maybe two weeks later, when one of the other lions in the pride ate the gazelle. The lioness was very upset by this turn of events, but come on, what did she expect...
posted by orange swan at 8:21 AM on December 14, 2012 [4 favorites]

"Reluctant-looking" is perhaps an understatement in photo 1.
posted by jeather at 9:12 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

Human imprisons monkey, monkey adopts kitten.
posted by jnnla at 9:12 AM on December 14, 2012

Didn't another one of these pairings end ... badly? Like with a dead cat badly?


Embarrassingly enough, I only recognize this as the "joke" behind a "humourous" cutaway "gag" on Family Guy.*

My book,Kittens Who Are Dubious about Monkeys Who Love Kittens Too Much will be coming to the self-help section of zoo bookstores everywhere. Sadly, since the monkeys in zoos have no money with which to buy books, the cycle of kitten-monkey inappropriate grooming will continue (yes, elsewhere there are pictures of adult cats licking baby monkeys, I am sure of it).


And again, though monkeys might not be able to purchase it, I would totally buy this for my cat. As a gag gift. And then she would love/hate me even more.


* Trust me on this -- I looked it up to be sure my memory wasn't playing tricks on me and decided not to link because of the graphic image. Also, a list of Family Guy cutaways, even if found my Google search and barely glanced at, is really bad for your soul. Believe it or not, cutaways don't get funnier in groups of 100.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:03 AM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Kadin2048: Didn't another one of these pairings end ... badly? Like with a dead cat badly? If the monkey has a temper tantrum or if the kitten nips it and it gets upset, it seems like it could be a bad situation. Hope they are being supervised closely.

I believe you're misremembering a story about a human and its child.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:40 AM on December 14, 2012

orme: Where did this monkey get the idea that it's ok to hold another being against their will?

Parenting skills.

Seriously.

And all the people claiming the kitten is upset: have you ever seen the way a mama kitty carries her kittens? It's a lot less gentle than this. I'd say the kitten feels perfectly loved.

In fact, judging from the kitten's body language (limp and accepting while carried, attentive and still while being groomed), she is expressing contentment.

Anthropomorphism is dumb.
posted by IAmBroom at 10:43 AM on December 14, 2012

That kitten does not look particularly thrilled with its current lot in life. On the other hand, I guess if it really wanted to escape, those sharp little teeths n claws would do the job. Maybe like all surly toddlers it just doesn't like baths.

(...and people who have made similar comments...) Have you not had a cat before? I've had many, and I've always loved picking them up, kissing them, hugging them, etc., all against their will.

And they have never scratched or clawed, but they've almost always had that same face of, "Oh, GOD, here we go with THIS SHIT AGAIN!" and they put up for it for awhile and then say, "THAT'S IT! Now I deploy my superpower of turning all my bones into jelly!" and wriggle out of my grasp, all without using claws or teeth.

It's really quite sweet. It's like they understand we won't hurt them, this is just something the food-bringers have to do sometimes. I think a similar dynamic is in play here.

(sometimes, you get lucky and get a kitty that doesn't mind being picked up at all, and other times, you get unlucky and get a kitty that won't cotton being picked up one bit).
posted by mreleganza at 11:35 AM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

Gibbon taunts tiger cubs
posted by Zed at 12:11 PM on December 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

The problem with having a kitty that likes being held is that it likes being held ALL THE TIME and even if you teach it how to signal it wants to be Up (cause all cats want to be more Up all the time) that doesn't change the fact that it's a 20 lb maine coon monster that wants to live on your shoulders and be carted around Pauline Bontaparte
posted by The Whelk at 12:59 PM on December 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

Kadin2048:
"Didn't another one of these pairings end ... badly?"

Somewhere recently I saw where a tigress had found a baby monkey still clutching the corpse of the mother it had just killed. The tigress tried to take care of the baby monkey, and it looked sweet and all, but a note in the end said it had no idea on how to properly feed or raise a monkey and the baby died of starvation.
posted by charred husk at 2:02 PM on December 14, 2012

Kadin2048:
"Didn't another one of these pairings end ... badly?"

Koko's kitten All Ball was killed when hit by a car. There are videos of Koko hearing the news and reacting with grief.
posted by QuakerMel at 2:11 PM on December 23, 2012