Yes, more Simon's Cat. Yes, it's really good this time!

October 7, 2011 7:45 AM

Simon's Cat meets his match.
posted by The Devil Tesla (52 comments total)

So cats sound like galloping horses when running?
posted by Old'n'Busted at 7:51 AM on October 7, 2011

How to milk a cat.
posted by pracowity at 7:52 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

So cats sound like galloping horses when running?

Mine does, but she likes making as much noise as possible.

The litter box bit was kind of gross, but the cat mannerisms were perfect as always. I wonder whether the kitten is a permanent addition?
posted by orrnyereg at 7:52 AM on October 7, 2011

I feel like the distilled essence of a Cathy cartoon strip has just been dripped into my eyes.
posted by mhoye at 7:52 AM on October 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

Simon's cat smacking the kitten in the face is particularly accurate.
posted by jeather at 7:54 AM on October 7, 2011 [9 favorites]

Nermal did it first.
posted by phunniemee at 7:56 AM on October 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

So cats sound like galloping horses when running?

Yes. If they're like my cat (all four pounds of her!), they sound like a herd of galloping horses. And will never walk from point A to point B if a galloping dash is an option.
posted by lydhre at 7:58 AM on October 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

We just brought home a new puppy, much to our 16-year old cat's disgust. If the cartoon showed Simon's cat peeing all over his owner's bed in protest, and the puppy eating the cat poop, then this cartoon would be a perfect representation of our current situation, right down to the cat's "I WILL CUT YOU" growl.
posted by bibliowench at 7:59 AM on October 7, 2011

Was pleased to see the inclusion of some kitten Crabwalk around the 1:05 mark. My cat seems to be growing out of doing that... sigh.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 8:01 AM on October 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

Kittens absolutely sound like galloping horses. In fact, my cats were kittens while I was still living in an apartment, and the people downstairs actually complained that they were making too much noise while running around. On wall-to-wall carpet. Kittens!
posted by thomas j wise at 8:02 AM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

damn...I just came here to post this.....

This is one of the better Simon Cat videos...

And, cats do = galloping horses.. I've got wooden stairs in the house... when the 18 lb feral cats runs down them it sounds like, well, galloping horses.... When there are three of them running down it sounds like a frigging stampede!
posted by HuronBob at 8:02 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I wonder whether the kitten is a permanent addition?

Cousin Oliver.
posted by pracowity at 8:03 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

So cats sound like galloping horses when running?

I read a long time ago that cats and horses were the only domesticated animals that actually use the gait "gallop." All other domestic animals basically have a slow and a fast trot.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:03 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Except the fox.
posted by pracowity at 8:07 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Which is rarely a domestic animal. He'd drink all your cider.
posted by mrzarquon at 8:08 AM on October 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

This is really just so accurate. The galloping sound, the side hop-hop-hop, the up the couch and curtains, the mew mew but I'm lying on my back you can't hit me, tap tap smack!
posted by little cow make small moo at 8:09 AM on October 7, 2011 [6 favorites]

And maybe greyhounds:

The key to the speed of a Greyhound can be found in its light but muscular build, largest heart, and highest percentage of fast-twitch muscle of any breed,[5][6] the double suspension gallop and the extreme flexibility of the spine. "Double suspension rotary gallop" describes the fastest running gait of the Greyhound in which all four feet are free from the ground in two phases, contracted and extended, during each full stride.[7]

Of course it is from Wikipedia, and it could be completely made up.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 8:14 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

and the people downstairs actually complained that they were making too much noise while running around.

We are extremely fortunate that our downstairs neighbor thinks the sound of cats galloping (and we have one who is particularly...thumpy when he runs) is a joyful noise and she likes it.
posted by rtha at 8:20 AM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

My cats all gallop. It really is a joyful sound, except at 2am.

I was watching this video and marvelling at how good it was at representing cats. And about 2 minutes in, I looked up and 3 cats were staring at me, waiting for me to finish and pay attention to them.
posted by nevercalm at 8:26 AM on October 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

So cats sound like galloping horses when running?

Yes. Yes, they do. In one of my old apartments, I struck up a conversation with my downstairs neighbors about something, and they brought up my cat. I hadn't mentioned him in the course of the conversation, but realized -- and told them -- that "ah, I guess you figured out I had a cat becuase he runs around and makes noise."

They both cracked up, confirming that yes -- "in fact," they said, "at first we actually thought you had a monkey."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:28 AM on October 7, 2011 [5 favorites]

I sleep soundly enough that the sounds of cats galloping do not wake me, even at 2 am. However, the weight of cats galloping over my face does wake me.
posted by jeather at 8:29 AM on October 7, 2011 [6 favorites]

Even with the name of the short, I made audible gaspy noises at the kitten.

This was only the second time I've actually turned around and re-watched a Simon's Cat immediately, and the first was the very first one.
posted by gracedissolved at 8:34 AM on October 7, 2011

I think it's cute when the kitten makes the "surprised kitty!" pose (from the youtube video with millions of views) whenever it gets frightened by Simon's cat. I wonder if it was intentional.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 8:42 AM on October 7, 2011

Back when I was married and still lived in Florida, for a while we had a house with a flat graveled roof typical of that state...and many many squirrels. And two cats. We hardly needed an alarm clock, because every morning around dawn the cats would be up on the roof chasing squirrels and, I guess, each other. CLOMPITY CLOMPITY CLOMPITY this way, CLOMPITY CLOMPITY CLOMPITY that way, up and down, back and forth. It would have been more amusing if it had happened later in the day....
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:55 AM on October 7, 2011

I'm pretty sure this thing was rotoscoped.
posted by bpm140 at 9:01 AM on October 7, 2011 [7 favorites]

I have a 16+ year old cat with severe arthritis.

She doesn't make horse-like galloping noises (any more). Instead she shuffles. Loudly. If only she's hiss "brainsssss...." my downstairs neighbour would think I had a zombie!
posted by cstross at 9:02 AM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

What, has Metafilter in general become so jaded that Simon's Cat is now getting "distilled essence of Cathy" comments and a post title of "Yes, it's really good this time?"
posted by JHarris at 9:10 AM on October 7, 2011 [8 favorites]

So cats sound like galloping horses when running?

My 14lb Manx certainly does.

And his name is Simon.
posted by grubi at 9:18 AM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

5/5 WOULD WATCH AGAIN.

Seriously, though, somebody has been studying feline mannerisms verrrrry closely.
posted by LMGM at 9:20 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Heehee! I liked the part where the kitty did cute things.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 9:30 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is pretty much what it was like bringing a kitten into a house with a 2-year-old cat. Except for the time I came home to find the kitten suckling at the adult cat's nipples. The male adult cat. I don't know why he left that part out.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:37 AM on October 7, 2011

On the one hand, you know a series has jumped the shark when a baby/younger version is added.

On the other hand, this may be his best pure "cat" animation yet.

I'm torn.
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:41 AM on October 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

Cats do gallop. They also are able to defy the laws of physics and change direction midair. This latest episode is what we call "Tuesday" at our house.
posted by azpenguin at 9:43 AM on October 7, 2011 [3 favorites]

What, has Metafilter in general become so jaded

Maybe not jaded, but there are 14 episodes to date (I guess this makes 15) and we must have had a separate post for almost every one of them. Did we miss any?
posted by pracowity at 9:55 AM on October 7, 2011

Worth every pixel.
posted by darkstar at 10:07 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

> I think it's cute when the kitten makes the "surprised kitty!" pose (from the youtube video with millions of views) whenever it gets frightened by Simon's cat. I wonder if it was intentional.

Observational. All kittens do it!
posted by davelog at 10:09 AM on October 7, 2011

This was an "EXCLUSIVE" on the Mirror's website since Tuesday. The Mirror being the London fishwrap that is now featuring a Simon's Cat daily comic that is not as good as the cartoons (you can't build the humor in three panels like you can in over a minute of video). The unnamed kitten is definitely a regular there, and is featured in the latest Simon's Cat book. Yep, he's going totally Garfield...
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:18 PM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'd like to see the Cathy comic where they reference anything remotely similar to poop.

I'd also like to see the Garfield comic where Davis drew Garfield's butthole.
posted by Evilspork at 12:30 PM on October 7, 2011 [4 favorites]

Just added a younger (1yr), second cat to the household, a couple days ago we introduced her to the first cat (2.5 yr).


I haven't slept since Wednesday, please someone kill me.


please?
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:21 PM on October 7, 2011

Simon's Cat is the new Ebert.
posted by crunchland at 1:27 PM on October 7, 2011

I'd also like to see the Garfield comic where Davis drew Garfield's butthole.

I really, really do not want to see this comic. Even imagining it, I know it will haunt my nightmares.
posted by jeather at 1:37 PM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Could be worse. We could be obsessing on My Little Pony (Friendship Is Magic!!!111ONE) just as much. And Simon's Cat is not being constantly memed and re-imagined (no re-cuts of video's matched to pop songs, for example - but if you're going to do it, use "Born This Way").
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:43 PM on October 7, 2011

Sandburg's line about the fog cracks me up for this reason. " The fog creeps in on little cat feet..." *galumpa galumpa galumpa crash skid galump*
posted by Graygorey at 2:36 PM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

" The fog creeps in on little cat feet..."

Funny you should mention that phrase.
posted by grubi at 2:38 PM on October 7, 2011

My guess is that a huge factor in the difference between Simon's Cats lovers and haters is cat ownership. Not just whether someone likes or doesn't like cats, but because the brilliance in this cartoon is how rock-solid it is about cat behavior (barring the occasional comic bit). Without that, and can see these things look not much better than Garfield, but his animation, and especially the sound, is spot on.
posted by rtimmel at 2:43 PM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

We could be obsessing on My Little Pony (Friendship Is Magic!!!111ONE) just as much.

We could, we could. Yes, indeedy. Uh-huh. Yep. PINKIE PIE IS BEST PONY

It is easy to forget that Garfield was pretty good at first. It is difficult to sustain observational cat jokes over nearly three decades, though. Simon's Cat is better because it's more generalized (about all cats, not this specific cat), and it hasn't anthropomorphized the cat very much. And it's not been running since 1984. And most people still only know it from the videos.
posted by JHarris at 3:01 PM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Since I've only ever had older, used cats from the shelter, I haven't really seen the shenanigans of kittens first-hand, but I can still appreciate their manic, out-of-control joie de vivre and it looks like he did a great job capturing it here.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 4:18 PM on October 7, 2011

Hah, I've never seen opening snark so comprehensively smooshed. Good job, mefi.
posted by fightorflight at 5:11 PM on October 7, 2011

"The fog creeps in on little cat feet..."

i've always liked richard brautigan's insistence that the fog creeps in on little fog feet ...
posted by pyramid termite at 5:54 PM on October 7, 2011

you know a series has jumped the shark when a baby/younger version is added. --- Let's hope Simon doesn't name the new kitten 'Oliver.'
posted by crunchland at 7:38 PM on October 7, 2011

I really, really do not want to see this comic.

Didn't you just watch a video with two cats who were given articulated buttholes? All I want from Davis is a basic recognition of reality - cat buttholes are there, and they're not going anywhere!
posted by Evilspork at 12:17 PM on October 8, 2011

I always enjoy Simon's Cat, and the bit at the end with both of them standing in the destructionn of the living room, noisely begging for food is all the evidence that I need that living with cats is a universal experience.

Everyone with multiple felines in their house has, at some point walked in to this scene. (If you think you might be the exception, you are just experiencing the powers of memory-erasing kitty mind control. Enjoy it.)

As I type this, one of my cats is making a mess by gently pushing stuff off the back of my desk onto my computer and floor, and the other is... wait for it... begging for food.
posted by quin at 1:21 PM on October 9, 2011 [1 favorite]