mwoe
April 13, 2013 5:17 AM Subscribe
Cat meows underwater [SLYT; important]
That cat does not seem to be happy.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:33 AM on April 13, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:33 AM on April 13, 2013 [6 favorites]
I'm absolutely amazed that the cat is just sitting there unrestrained. I've never been able to bathe a cat without significant struggle. It's like trying to bathe an oscillating fan on high.
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:49 AM on April 13, 2013 [33 favorites]
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:49 AM on April 13, 2013 [33 favorites]
An unhappy cat would be a lot blurrier and the camera lens would be bloodstained.
posted by DU at 5:50 AM on April 13, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by DU at 5:50 AM on April 13, 2013 [7 favorites]
I watched this because it was marked important.
posted by kiltedtaco at 5:52 AM on April 13, 2013 [29 favorites]
posted by kiltedtaco at 5:52 AM on April 13, 2013 [29 favorites]
Oh, that poor kitty is scared. Why is he having it just sit there in fear? I understand giving it a bath, but it's not like it's going to pick up a bar of soap and scrub itself. Just get it in, get it clean, get it out and get it dry as fast as possible; don't be a jerk and prolong its misery.
posted by Flunkie at 5:53 AM on April 13, 2013 [24 favorites]
posted by Flunkie at 5:53 AM on April 13, 2013 [24 favorites]
DU, your joke is inept. The cat is scared and frightened and doesn't know how to react.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:57 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:57 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Aw, came in for cute kitty video. Left very sad for the kitty.
posted by Kitteh at 6:02 AM on April 13, 2013 [10 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 6:02 AM on April 13, 2013 [10 favorites]
I've never been able to bathe a cat without significant struggle.
i have - the trick is to have your toddler apply toothpaste liberally to the cat's back
somehow, the cat seemed to think that there were worse things than having a bath right then
posted by pyramid termite at 6:04 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
i have - the trick is to have your toddler apply toothpaste liberally to the cat's back
somehow, the cat seemed to think that there were worse things than having a bath right then
posted by pyramid termite at 6:04 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Possibly of interest: a reaction (?) video from the cat's owner about accusations of kitty abuse. Not sure why he couldn't have just posted something reassuring in the explanation area on upload, but anyway.
posted by taz at 6:09 AM on April 13, 2013
posted by taz at 6:09 AM on April 13, 2013
He's got that YouTube thing on, hasn't he? The one where it zooms in and tracks the movement in your uploaded video.
It's probably very useful in certain situations but it creates in me a feeling of unease, like I'm watching something that's wrong in a way I can't articulate.
posted by KChasm at 6:18 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's probably very useful in certain situations but it creates in me a feeling of unease, like I'm watching something that's wrong in a way I can't articulate.
posted by KChasm at 6:18 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
If you listen carefully you can hear the cats in the other cells crying and screaming out.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Then again, what do I know of cameras? I'm probably just bitterly jealous. I want...I want to pet that cat. I want to pet all the cats.
posted by KChasm at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by KChasm at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Yeah, your cat is happy when you're petting him on the couch, but putting him in a tub and letting him just sit there miserable in the water while you film him and laugh is just mean.
And McLovin' is an awful name for a cat.
posted by Huck500 at 6:23 AM on April 13, 2013 [6 favorites]
And McLovin' is an awful name for a cat.
posted by Huck500 at 6:23 AM on April 13, 2013 [6 favorites]
Aww poor kitty. Cats use meows to communicate with their humans so poor guy is basically like "please get me out. Why you laughin? Please, please."
posted by sweetkid at 6:32 AM on April 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by sweetkid at 6:32 AM on April 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
a reaction (?) video from the cat's owner about accusations of kitty abuse.
If you're trying to convince people you aren't abusing your cat, I would suggest you don't shove your thumb in its ear and scratch the inside of its ear so hard its head shakes and it has involuntary contractions of its feet, and it bats its paw at you to get you to stop. He asked, "does that look like an unhappy face to you?" Yes sir, it looks unhappy.
I know some cats like roughhousing. But you just don't stick your fingers in your cat's ears.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:39 AM on April 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
If you're trying to convince people you aren't abusing your cat, I would suggest you don't shove your thumb in its ear and scratch the inside of its ear so hard its head shakes and it has involuntary contractions of its feet, and it bats its paw at you to get you to stop. He asked, "does that look like an unhappy face to you?" Yes sir, it looks unhappy.
I know some cats like roughhousing. But you just don't stick your fingers in your cat's ears.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:39 AM on April 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
that cat seemed 2/3rd resigned to its death. and I'm not making abuse claims, but why bathe a kitty? As an ex said with disgust and I say with pride, cats are self-cleaning machines.
posted by angrycat at 6:45 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by angrycat at 6:45 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
Possibly of interest: a reaction (?) video from the cat's owner yt about accusations of kitty abuse.That is just idiotic. The "sitting in fear in the tub" video did not make me immediately assume that the cat has a 100% miserable life under its owner's nonstop abuse. And the fact that the cat does not have a 100% miserable life under its owner's nonstop abuse does not change the fact that the cat was scared and miserable in the first video, with its owner prolonging that fear and misery for no apparent reason besides the lulz.
Not sure why he couldn't have just posted something reassuring in the explanation area on upload, but anyway.It seems likely to me that the reason that he didn't just post something reassuring in the explanation area on upload is that he didn't realize that the events captured in the video he was uploading were cruel.
posted by Flunkie at 6:45 AM on April 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
One of the most pernicious ideas we have is that, if you love someone very much and take excellent care of them, it is therefore impossible for you to do anything cruel to them.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:49 AM on April 13, 2013 [20 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 6:49 AM on April 13, 2013 [20 favorites]
"I want...I want to pet that cat. I want to pet all the cats."
But you can't pet every cat...
(Offered as a soothing balm following the trauma of the underwater cat video, which I will not click ever. If it's half as bad as it sounds, it's very bad indeed.)
posted by Ursula Hitler at 7:06 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
But you can't pet every cat...
(Offered as a soothing balm following the trauma of the underwater cat video, which I will not click ever. If it's half as bad as it sounds, it's very bad indeed.)
posted by Ursula Hitler at 7:06 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Dog's name is Dr. Indiana Bones. Dude does not know how to name pets.
posted by DoubleLune at 7:12 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by DoubleLune at 7:12 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's funny because the cat is miserable. Hopefully next Metafilter will show me pictures of parents laughing when their children are getting a vaccination. That'd be great entertainment.
posted by Nelson at 7:20 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 7:20 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
(Offered as a soothing balm following the trauma of the underwater cat video, which I will not click ever. If it's half as bad as it sounds, it's very bad indeed.)
For people who might fear this is a kitty water-boarding video, a description.
It is a cat, sitting in a tub, sort of hunched over in neck-deep (to a cat sitting down) water. No one is holding onto the kitty, and she or he mows without completely lifting his or her mouth free of the water, so the mow is more like blub-mow. There is off-screen giggling, because of course making your cat sit in the tub and videoing its stoic resignation is entertaining to a certain type of person.
The cat doesn't look like it just won the publisher's clearing house sweepstakes, but no one is restraining it in any way and it doesn't make violent attempts to escape the tub. So if you want to look at a glumly resigned cat sitting in a tub full of water, this is the video for you. Otherwise, it is just another cat video.
posted by winna at 7:22 AM on April 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
For people who might fear this is a kitty water-boarding video, a description.
It is a cat, sitting in a tub, sort of hunched over in neck-deep (to a cat sitting down) water. No one is holding onto the kitty, and she or he mows without completely lifting his or her mouth free of the water, so the mow is more like blub-mow. There is off-screen giggling, because of course making your cat sit in the tub and videoing its stoic resignation is entertaining to a certain type of person.
The cat doesn't look like it just won the publisher's clearing house sweepstakes, but no one is restraining it in any way and it doesn't make violent attempts to escape the tub. So if you want to look at a glumly resigned cat sitting in a tub full of water, this is the video for you. Otherwise, it is just another cat video.
posted by winna at 7:22 AM on April 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
Dog's name is Dr. Indiana Bones. Dude does not know how to name pets.
I would say dude is best at naming pets.
posted by Going To Maine at 7:25 AM on April 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
I would say dude is best at naming pets.
posted by Going To Maine at 7:25 AM on April 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
I would say dude is best at naming pets.
Maybe it's just my contempt of the kind of person who enjoys making their pet suffer, but McLovin and Bones are on a comparable level of stupid humor.
posted by DoubleLune at 7:28 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Maybe it's just my contempt of the kind of person who enjoys making their pet suffer, but McLovin and Bones are on a comparable level of stupid humor.
posted by DoubleLune at 7:28 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
that cat seemed 2/3rd resigned to its death. and I'm not making abuse claims, but why bathe a kitty? As an ex said with disgust and I say with pride, cats are self-cleaning machines.
Cat's can get things on them that it would be unhealthy for them to ingest.
Like, say, a large amount of heavy equipment grease, an example I am choosing totally and completely at random, and not at all because of any personal experience with suddenly needing to degrease my cat.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:44 AM on April 13, 2013 [8 favorites]
Cat's can get things on them that it would be unhealthy for them to ingest.
Like, say, a large amount of heavy equipment grease, an example I am choosing totally and completely at random, and not at all because of any personal experience with suddenly needing to degrease my cat.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:44 AM on April 13, 2013 [8 favorites]
but McLovin and Bones are on a comparable level of stupid humor.
This is only describing them relative to one another at an unknown ranking on your metric and not saying how stupid they actually are.
posted by jimmythefish at 7:49 AM on April 13, 2013
This is only describing them relative to one another at an unknown ranking on your metric and not saying how stupid they actually are.
posted by jimmythefish at 7:49 AM on April 13, 2013
I'm comparing them to the level of humor of someone who enjoys making their pet suffer. That's what the comma was for.
posted by DoubleLune at 7:54 AM on April 13, 2013
posted by DoubleLune at 7:54 AM on April 13, 2013
Google doesn't find any hits for the phrase "suddenly needing to degrease my cat", but ShowCatsOnline (a website that is, alas, members only) does have a FAQ on "Como Desengraso a Mi Gato?"
It's good to know that someone's on top of this.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:57 AM on April 13, 2013
It's good to know that someone's on top of this.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:57 AM on April 13, 2013
jacquilynne: "
Like, say, a large amount of heavy equipment grease, an example I am choosing totally and completely at random, and not at all because of any personal experience with suddenly needing to degrease my cat."
Oh man, the memories. One night our cat who was mostly indoors, but we let outside now and then (we lived in the countryside ) went missing overnight and we were so worried, and then the next morning she showed up, covered in thick black oil. I don't know what it was and I felt so bad for her. I was too young to bathe it, but my mom and older sister cleaned her up.
I somehow think my neighbors had *something* to do with it, but I'm not sure what. When I told them the story while we waited for the bus, one started to speak up and the older one hushed her. I don't *think* they would have dunked her into a tank of oil or whatever, but I'm not sure why you wouldn't say "oh we found her in our oil barrel" (they were farmers)...
I did feel bad for this kitty. The guy seems like a bit of a douche. And yes, you can be abusive and take care of someone at the same time. But I couldn't help think the cat should be named "Meowglubglub".
posted by symbioid at 8:08 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Like, say, a large amount of heavy equipment grease, an example I am choosing totally and completely at random, and not at all because of any personal experience with suddenly needing to degrease my cat."
Oh man, the memories. One night our cat who was mostly indoors, but we let outside now and then (we lived in the countryside ) went missing overnight and we were so worried, and then the next morning she showed up, covered in thick black oil. I don't know what it was and I felt so bad for her. I was too young to bathe it, but my mom and older sister cleaned her up.
I somehow think my neighbors had *something* to do with it, but I'm not sure what. When I told them the story while we waited for the bus, one started to speak up and the older one hushed her. I don't *think* they would have dunked her into a tank of oil or whatever, but I'm not sure why you wouldn't say "oh we found her in our oil barrel" (they were farmers)...
I did feel bad for this kitty. The guy seems like a bit of a douche. And yes, you can be abusive and take care of someone at the same time. But I couldn't help think the cat should be named "Meowglubglub".
posted by symbioid at 8:08 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
I know some cats like roughhousing. But you just don't stick your fingers in your cat's ears.
You're right, I don't. Because ewww. But my cat's singular objective when I am scratching her head is to trick me into sticking my finger all the way into her ear to reach that spot. I won't disagree that the dude comes off as an an obnoxious and annoying jerk, but I don't think the ear thing is necessarily an example of it.
posted by Balonious Assault at 8:09 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
You're right, I don't. Because ewww. But my cat's singular objective when I am scratching her head is to trick me into sticking my finger all the way into her ear to reach that spot. I won't disagree that the dude comes off as an an obnoxious and annoying jerk, but I don't think the ear thing is necessarily an example of it.
posted by Balonious Assault at 8:09 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
but why bathe a kitty?
When a cat goes into a fireplace (without the fire, of course) and jumps on the smoke shelf (twice in a few years!), I assure you that you want to bathe your cat.
posted by ShooBoo at 8:30 AM on April 13, 2013
When a cat goes into a fireplace (without the fire, of course) and jumps on the smoke shelf (twice in a few years!), I assure you that you want to bathe your cat.
posted by ShooBoo at 8:30 AM on April 13, 2013
but why bathe a kitty?
Our one cat isn't always that great about cleaning herself up and can get kind of stinky so I have to bathe her occasionally. She doesn't not sit sadly and passively in a pool of water though, she screams and thrashes and does her best to bite my arm down to the bone while I scrub her. I'm generally happy to get the job done without losing any arterial blood in the process.
posted by octothorpe at 9:19 AM on April 13, 2013
Our one cat isn't always that great about cleaning herself up and can get kind of stinky so I have to bathe her occasionally. She doesn't not sit sadly and passively in a pool of water though, she screams and thrashes and does her best to bite my arm down to the bone while I scrub her. I'm generally happy to get the job done without losing any arterial blood in the process.
posted by octothorpe at 9:19 AM on April 13, 2013
If it's half as bad as it sounds, it's very bad indeed.
It's not good, but it's not as bad as some of the comments make it seem. It's not completely underwater; its head is out. If it stood up, more of it would be out. I do wonder why the cat didn't jump right out of the tub; It looks old enough.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:34 AM on April 13, 2013
It's not good, but it's not as bad as some of the comments make it seem. It's not completely underwater; its head is out. If it stood up, more of it would be out. I do wonder why the cat didn't jump right out of the tub; It looks old enough.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:34 AM on April 13, 2013
I love animals, and I don't tolerate their abuse.
But the finger-wagging about the first video is just, IMHO, absurd.
Dude had to give his cat a bath. Cat was not being harmed, and not in danger. Cat reacts in a way that is funny (though pathetic), in part because its such a ridiculous overreaction. Dude tapes it. Funny video. End of story.
The rending of garments over this seems nuts to me--and, again, I'm a person with no tolerance for animal abuse. "Lighten up" is a phrase that comes to mind.
This reminds me of cases in which parents laugh at their children when the kids are sad or crying. Dude in the first video has the same sort of empathetic but amused tone that such parents get, semi-sad, but necessarily amused. It expresses a kind of sympathy tempered with amusement at the fact that the reaction in question (of the child or the cat) really is, objectively, funny on account of its total unreasonableness. It's an entirely human and perfectly reasonable reaction.
Maybe--maybe--it would have been a slightly better thing to have just moved with all haste to ZOMFG get the cat out of the water!!!!!111 But for God's sake, it just seems completely nuts to me to act like this guy has done anything worthy of stern condemnation. I understand someone saying "aw, get the kitty out of the water!" But the well-I-nevering? Not reasonable, let me suggest.
posted by Fists O'Fury at 10:43 AM on April 13, 2013 [17 favorites]
But the finger-wagging about the first video is just, IMHO, absurd.
Dude had to give his cat a bath. Cat was not being harmed, and not in danger. Cat reacts in a way that is funny (though pathetic), in part because its such a ridiculous overreaction. Dude tapes it. Funny video. End of story.
The rending of garments over this seems nuts to me--and, again, I'm a person with no tolerance for animal abuse. "Lighten up" is a phrase that comes to mind.
This reminds me of cases in which parents laugh at their children when the kids are sad or crying. Dude in the first video has the same sort of empathetic but amused tone that such parents get, semi-sad, but necessarily amused. It expresses a kind of sympathy tempered with amusement at the fact that the reaction in question (of the child or the cat) really is, objectively, funny on account of its total unreasonableness. It's an entirely human and perfectly reasonable reaction.
Maybe--maybe--it would have been a slightly better thing to have just moved with all haste to ZOMFG get the cat out of the water!!!!!111 But for God's sake, it just seems completely nuts to me to act like this guy has done anything worthy of stern condemnation. I understand someone saying "aw, get the kitty out of the water!" But the well-I-nevering? Not reasonable, let me suggest.
posted by Fists O'Fury at 10:43 AM on April 13, 2013 [17 favorites]
I understand someone saying "aw, get the kitty out of the water!" But the well-I-nevering? Not reasonable, let me suggest.
What is well-I-nevering? I don't see anyone calling authorities or anything like that.
As far as "why didn't the cat jump out?" - because it was scared. My cat once got stuck on some scaffolding after getting out an open window. He could have easily climbed back in but was terrified, meowing and panting for over an hour while I tried to coax him back in and a crowd gathered. He finally ran back in the window after a six foot something man climbed up on the scaffolding and started running toward him in an attempt to rescue him. You could almost see his mind going NO NO NO GIANT MAN you will not pick me up and suddenly realized the open window was a good option.
I think there's this mythology that cats are these brilliant little temperamental tyrants who are in charge of humans, dogs, and their domain, and that's fun for jokes, but they are really just little animals who don't like change and new things and look for their humans to help them when they are scared or stuck, and it kind of seemed like instead of doing that, the person in the video is just prolonging the fear and confusion for no reason other than the video. No it's not the worst thing ever, but it's what makes the video not funny for some people.
posted by sweetkid at 11:06 AM on April 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
What is well-I-nevering? I don't see anyone calling authorities or anything like that.
As far as "why didn't the cat jump out?" - because it was scared. My cat once got stuck on some scaffolding after getting out an open window. He could have easily climbed back in but was terrified, meowing and panting for over an hour while I tried to coax him back in and a crowd gathered. He finally ran back in the window after a six foot something man climbed up on the scaffolding and started running toward him in an attempt to rescue him. You could almost see his mind going NO NO NO GIANT MAN you will not pick me up and suddenly realized the open window was a good option.
I think there's this mythology that cats are these brilliant little temperamental tyrants who are in charge of humans, dogs, and their domain, and that's fun for jokes, but they are really just little animals who don't like change and new things and look for their humans to help them when they are scared or stuck, and it kind of seemed like instead of doing that, the person in the video is just prolonging the fear and confusion for no reason other than the video. No it's not the worst thing ever, but it's what makes the video not funny for some people.
posted by sweetkid at 11:06 AM on April 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
Lets just look at this space battle cat then
posted by The Whelk at 11:15 AM on April 13, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 11:15 AM on April 13, 2013 [6 favorites]
Yeah, not my cup of tea. Reminds me of the recently posted tumblr of Why My Kid Cries. Who laughs at someone in distress, however not-distressed we think they should be?
I actually do think that some of the reasons that guys kid cries are amusing, and I've been there myself, but I do not want to see a photo of crying child for each episode. Dude, just make a list of the reasons *after* you've dealt w/ him in a loving manner.
This guy with the miserable cat just makes me think that he's a bully in thin disguise.
posted by jvilter at 11:22 AM on April 13, 2013
I actually do think that some of the reasons that guys kid cries are amusing, and I've been there myself, but I do not want to see a photo of crying child for each episode. Dude, just make a list of the reasons *after* you've dealt w/ him in a loving manner.
This guy with the miserable cat just makes me think that he's a bully in thin disguise.
posted by jvilter at 11:22 AM on April 13, 2013
Maybe it's just my contempt of the kind of person who enjoys making their pet suffer, but McLovin and Bones are on a comparable level of stupid humor.
So I will recant a bit. McLovin is no great name for a cat, but Dr. Indiana Bones is fantastic. As such, I think he should rename the cat to Meowrian Ravenswood, and damn its gender. (Or, maybe Meowrcus Brody? But that seems hard to pronounce.)
posted by Going To Maine at 11:55 AM on April 13, 2013
So I will recant a bit. McLovin is no great name for a cat, but Dr. Indiana Bones is fantastic. As such, I think he should rename the cat to Meowrian Ravenswood, and damn its gender. (Or, maybe Meowrcus Brody? But that seems hard to pronounce.)
posted by Going To Maine at 11:55 AM on April 13, 2013
I know the backstory on this. You see McLovin had just gotten a fake ID so He and McLovin had promised to buy alcohol for a party. They got separated and each ended up having uproarious yet still fairly tame adventures. McLovin smoked weed with some cops, one of them was the dude who was in Knocked Up, and the guy here got all shitfaced and made out with someone or something. I think this is the scene where they tell one another they love eachother, in a totally bro way.
McLovin and that guy, bros 5eva.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:13 PM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
McLovin and that guy, bros 5eva.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:13 PM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
Soooo.... I actually have no dog in this fight at all, and have literally no idea if this fellow is super sweet or the worst thing since the invention of spam, but here's another bathing video with his cats and dog.
For whatever it's worth. It may just make angry people angrier, I have no idea, but he just doesn't seem so bad to me.
(I had a cat; I had to bathe her sometimes, not often. She was one of the worst-smelling articles I had ever encountered when I took her in off the street; after that, she mostly managed that stuff very well on her own, and I'm not a germaphobe, so it wasn't a regular thing, but sometimes she got into stuff. Other perfectly nice friends of mine bathe their cats once a month or so.)
For me, I have a bit of a reaction in his favor (possibly... I don't know him! I don't know!) because I do understand that a lot of people who love animals also have a sort of constant suspicion that other people are mistreating their pets. We frequently get lectured about our dog, for all sorts of reasons that aren't an issue – when, for example, we take her out walking in the summer ... some people will just assume that she isn't getting any water. People will stop and tell us to give her water, for no particular reason except they suspect that maybe we're not thinking of that. In fact, we have a water bowl and a bottle of water in the backpack, and in addition to stopping at a cafes where we fill up the bowl and make sure that she gets plenty of rest and time in the shade (for ourselves as well!), we also stop anywhere along the tramp for watering and resting. Seriously, the last time someone lectured us about this, we had just come from leisurely sitting in the shade for lunch for a couple of hours (with plenty of water for everyone) and been walking about three minutes.
Whatever sort of treat she gets, there will be someone to tell us that it isn't good for her, but they have no idea what her regular feed is like, and I doubt that many would handcook her food from fresh sources every day like we do.
Recently, we accidentally attached her leash to the ring that holds her ID tag instead of the actual collar ring, which would normally never be a problem because she's perfectly cool with the leash and doesn't lunge or otherwise stress the link. Except there's this one free-roaming dog that she HATES SO MUCH. HATE! And he happened to appear this one day and she totally broke the link and chased after him, apparently to kill him once and for all* – right down the middle of a pretty busy street. My husband did a Usain Bolt and managed to catch up and grab her. One lady stopped her car in traffic in the middle of the street, to say "Don't hurt the doggy!" and my husband was like "as if I would ever in a million million years hurt this dog!" (He wouldn't hurt anybody or anything, actually, and loves our dog like our kid.)
Anyway, I'm sort of used to a lot of people just assuming that whatever you do, it's cruel to the animal ... and we're just pleasant, boring middle-aged people who don't look at all like young people who are maybe not very careful/thoughtful about their pets, counterculture (AKA under 50) folks who might scare people with their wacky clothes, tattoos, or earrings, and not at all like satanists or evil scientists. These days we're just pretty much kindly-older-folk background B-roll or something. Yet, a lot of animal-loving people (who aren't familiar with us) are often suspecting we might be stupid, neglectful, and/or psychopaths.
It doesn't bother me much because I get that it comes from a sincere place of concern about animals, but it can be tedious, and this is why I sort of think that possibly he's not a monster, even though I wouldn't personally do the youtube thing with a pet that's not happy in the water. Our dog detests water to a pathological degree, and we have to do the in-the-tub, skin-on-skin, holding-her-close treatment just to keep her relatively calm and not breaking her own neck to escape. It's a two-person, full-bath, five-towel, locked-door endeavor. With peanut butter. Of which any snip of video might convince people that we are bad, bad dog-torturing wretches.
* She has her reasons! This was one of a pack of dogs that has tried to attack us in the past!
posted by taz at 12:39 PM on April 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
For whatever it's worth. It may just make angry people angrier, I have no idea, but he just doesn't seem so bad to me.
(I had a cat; I had to bathe her sometimes, not often. She was one of the worst-smelling articles I had ever encountered when I took her in off the street; after that, she mostly managed that stuff very well on her own, and I'm not a germaphobe, so it wasn't a regular thing, but sometimes she got into stuff. Other perfectly nice friends of mine bathe their cats once a month or so.)
For me, I have a bit of a reaction in his favor (possibly... I don't know him! I don't know!) because I do understand that a lot of people who love animals also have a sort of constant suspicion that other people are mistreating their pets. We frequently get lectured about our dog, for all sorts of reasons that aren't an issue – when, for example, we take her out walking in the summer ... some people will just assume that she isn't getting any water. People will stop and tell us to give her water, for no particular reason except they suspect that maybe we're not thinking of that. In fact, we have a water bowl and a bottle of water in the backpack, and in addition to stopping at a cafes where we fill up the bowl and make sure that she gets plenty of rest and time in the shade (for ourselves as well!), we also stop anywhere along the tramp for watering and resting. Seriously, the last time someone lectured us about this, we had just come from leisurely sitting in the shade for lunch for a couple of hours (with plenty of water for everyone) and been walking about three minutes.
Whatever sort of treat she gets, there will be someone to tell us that it isn't good for her, but they have no idea what her regular feed is like, and I doubt that many would handcook her food from fresh sources every day like we do.
Recently, we accidentally attached her leash to the ring that holds her ID tag instead of the actual collar ring, which would normally never be a problem because she's perfectly cool with the leash and doesn't lunge or otherwise stress the link. Except there's this one free-roaming dog that she HATES SO MUCH. HATE! And he happened to appear this one day and she totally broke the link and chased after him, apparently to kill him once and for all* – right down the middle of a pretty busy street. My husband did a Usain Bolt and managed to catch up and grab her. One lady stopped her car in traffic in the middle of the street, to say "Don't hurt the doggy!" and my husband was like "as if I would ever in a million million years hurt this dog!" (He wouldn't hurt anybody or anything, actually, and loves our dog like our kid.)
Anyway, I'm sort of used to a lot of people just assuming that whatever you do, it's cruel to the animal ... and we're just pleasant, boring middle-aged people who don't look at all like young people who are maybe not very careful/thoughtful about their pets, counterculture (AKA under 50) folks who might scare people with their wacky clothes, tattoos, or earrings, and not at all like satanists or evil scientists. These days we're just pretty much kindly-older-folk background B-roll or something. Yet, a lot of animal-loving people (who aren't familiar with us) are often suspecting we might be stupid, neglectful, and/or psychopaths.
It doesn't bother me much because I get that it comes from a sincere place of concern about animals, but it can be tedious, and this is why I sort of think that possibly he's not a monster, even though I wouldn't personally do the youtube thing with a pet that's not happy in the water. Our dog detests water to a pathological degree, and we have to do the in-the-tub, skin-on-skin, holding-her-close treatment just to keep her relatively calm and not breaking her own neck to escape. It's a two-person, full-bath, five-towel, locked-door endeavor. With peanut butter. Of which any snip of video might convince people that we are bad, bad dog-torturing wretches.
* She has her reasons! This was one of a pack of dogs that has tried to attack us in the past!
posted by taz at 12:39 PM on April 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
but here's another bathing video with his cats and dog.
Nice, Fidel Catstro likes the Garnier Fructis.
Whoa whoa, is that Axe body wash back there? That's gotta be McLovin.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:45 PM on April 13, 2013
Nice, Fidel Catstro likes the Garnier Fructis.
Whoa whoa, is that Axe body wash back there? That's gotta be McLovin.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:45 PM on April 13, 2013
This guy with the miserable cat just makes me think that he's a bully in thin disguise.
This make me think that you haven't known any actual bullies.
posted by Fists O'Fury at 12:45 PM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
It really depends on whether the cat is one of those extremely docile pet-show-type cats I've never had that will sit there no matter how you manipulate him/her, or a normal cat that, when dumped in the water, turns into a Tasmanian Devil of getting the fuck out of there and then hides from you for a week, except this one doesn't actually mind that much. (Any cat looks pathetic when it's soaking wet.)
posted by furiousthought at 12:45 PM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by furiousthought at 12:45 PM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
We frequently get lectured about our dog, for all sorts of reasons that aren't an issue – when, for example, we take her out walking in the summer ... some people will just assume that she isn't getting any water
Oh lord the water police! I didn't know it was a thing everywhere!
When I went on walks with my greyhound, especially when she got older and even feeding her the most fattening food possible for dogs couldn't keep weight on her, people would lecture me everywhere we went together. And it never failed that on bright sunny days some lady with a heavily-sprayed brown football helmet hairdo would arrive out of thin air to scold me about giving the dog water if even the tip of my dog's puppy tongue stuck out of her mouth.
It always made me wonder why I with my obviously pampered four-footed friend got the lectures while across the street there would be a surly person dragging an overweight ill-groomed dog on a chain and choke collar with not a word said. Possibly because lecturing blank-faced old women in yoga pants like myself who are accompanying a dog wearing an embroidered collar with matching leash is safer.
posted by winna at 12:53 PM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh lord the water police! I didn't know it was a thing everywhere!
When I went on walks with my greyhound, especially when she got older and even feeding her the most fattening food possible for dogs couldn't keep weight on her, people would lecture me everywhere we went together. And it never failed that on bright sunny days some lady with a heavily-sprayed brown football helmet hairdo would arrive out of thin air to scold me about giving the dog water if even the tip of my dog's puppy tongue stuck out of her mouth.
It always made me wonder why I with my obviously pampered four-footed friend got the lectures while across the street there would be a surly person dragging an overweight ill-groomed dog on a chain and choke collar with not a word said. Possibly because lecturing blank-faced old women in yoga pants like myself who are accompanying a dog wearing an embroidered collar with matching leash is safer.
posted by winna at 12:53 PM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
I've never been able to bathe a cat without significant struggle.
Ditto. And I have the scars to prove it.
posted by ericb at 1:13 PM on April 13, 2013
Ditto. And I have the scars to prove it.
posted by ericb at 1:13 PM on April 13, 2013
This reminds me of cases in which parents laugh at their children when the kids are sad or crying.
Yeah, except kids understand when their parents are mocking them, and cats don't.
When I adopted George, he came from a shelter and reeked, so I had to wash him several times so I wouldn't gag when he came near me. He was totally resigned as long as I was holding him, but the second my hand loosened, he was ready to escape. He hasn't killed me in my sleep, so I assume he's forgiven me.
posted by jeather at 1:23 PM on April 13, 2013
Yeah, except kids understand when their parents are mocking them, and cats don't.
When I adopted George, he came from a shelter and reeked, so I had to wash him several times so I wouldn't gag when he came near me. He was totally resigned as long as I was holding him, but the second my hand loosened, he was ready to escape. He hasn't killed me in my sleep, so I assume he's forgiven me.
posted by jeather at 1:23 PM on April 13, 2013
Scars, yes. Some of them matching the holes in one of my favorite t-shirts. I have heard that you can bathe some cats. Not mine.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:23 PM on April 13, 2013
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:23 PM on April 13, 2013
Yeah, I was responding to the idea of the cat meowing underwater. I had visions of the poor thing in over its head, and it did sound like some sort of clear animal mistreatment going on. Glad to hear it's nothing as extreme as that, but I still ain't clicking. I am basically the weird girl in the I Love Every Kind of Cat music video I linked earlier, and I don't need a clip of some sad, soggy kitty ruining my Saturday.
We've never had to bathe our cat, but my girlfriend's family used to bathe their cat semi-regularly because he'd get fleas and he had bad reactions to flea drops.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:25 PM on April 13, 2013
We've never had to bathe our cat, but my girlfriend's family used to bathe their cat semi-regularly because he'd get fleas and he had bad reactions to flea drops.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:25 PM on April 13, 2013
I appreciate you care for cats, Ursula, but it's a bit weird to keep commenting here about how you're not going to watch the video.
posted by sweetkid at 1:27 PM on April 13, 2013
posted by sweetkid at 1:27 PM on April 13, 2013
The original video is actually quite funny in showing this poor, resigned, frustrated but ever so patient kitty pathetically meowing. It reminds me of my own kittens when their dignity is affronted. Sometimes there's nothing so funny as a cat in that state.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:40 PM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by MartinWisse at 1:40 PM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
In all honestly, yeah McLocin ain't really loving the bath but he isn't cackling maliciously like he enjoys seeing cats being uncomfortable. From the way he talks to the cat I think it is more like "oh McLoving, you are so silly".
posted by Ad hominem at 1:46 PM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Ad hominem at 1:46 PM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
If you want to be angry, be angry with this guy.
or this guy, who is probably too young to know better.
The editing on the second cat-bathing video above, however, seems sped up from time to time for comic effect, since the owner isn't bleeding from allover claw scratches.
posted by bad grammar at 2:11 PM on April 13, 2013
or this guy, who is probably too young to know better.
The editing on the second cat-bathing video above, however, seems sped up from time to time for comic effect, since the owner isn't bleeding from allover claw scratches.
posted by bad grammar at 2:11 PM on April 13, 2013
Como Desengraso a Mi Gato
I need to learn Spanish so I can write a cat-degreasing song to the tune of Mr Roboto
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:55 PM on April 13, 2013 [7 favorites]
I need to learn Spanish so I can write a cat-degreasing song to the tune of Mr Roboto
posted by Jon Mitchell at 2:55 PM on April 13, 2013 [7 favorites]
I'm sorry, but I think some people here are looking for a reason to dislike this video by anthropomorphizing the cat. The cat is fine. Cats will get unhappy when you make them do anything, especially the necessary things up to and including: put a flea collar on them, taking them to the vet, cleaning their teeth, removing them from the fireplace, removing them from a tree, being a stranger, not feeding them fast enough, etc. Also, cats tend to get over shit pretty quickly.
Seriously, nitpicking how the guy is scratching the cat's ear, and suggesting that cats never need to be bathed on account of their tongues is grasping at straws. Come on son.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 2:55 PM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Seriously, nitpicking how the guy is scratching the cat's ear, and suggesting that cats never need to be bathed on account of their tongues is grasping at straws. Come on son.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 2:55 PM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
I thought maybe the cat was sitting low because his ears were wet and so his internal sense of balance was off. Otherwise I think he would be leaping out of there.
posted by onlyconnect at 6:47 PM on April 13, 2013
posted by onlyconnect at 6:47 PM on April 13, 2013
If the cat was really upset you'd think its ears would be flattened down or back or something, but they're not. I'm kind of getting the impression that it's actually kind of liking being bathed and it's ducking its head into the water to hear its meow go all funny, like, 'mlem'.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 9:32 PM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 9:32 PM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
I agree that that cat looks distressed. Ears laid back is the first clue. But how much distress is difficult to quantify, because if it was really serious, that cat would exit. Like yesterday. At least that's my experience with every. Single. Cat. I've ever owned. They don't hang around in any situation that bothers them in the least.
As far as bathing cats goes, I've only had one cat that took to water without any sort of distress. Why was I bathing any of my cats? Various reasons. Have you ever smelled a cat's breath? Then they cover themselves in that foul smelling saliva. After a while, they develop quite the funk. Other reasons? Cold ashes in the fireplace. Roomie's Great Dane decided to pursue water sports with my cat. One cat decided to eat a soup can full of bacon grease and could not stop befouling itself with bacon-odored shit. And this is with my almost 100% indoors-only cats. I can't begin to imagine what outdoors cats can get themselves into.
And over these many years and many cats, I've developed a technique that makes bath time (usually 2x/year, unless covered in some other filth) a lot less stressful for my kittehs. I read a tip somewhere that cats hate being in tubs because the smooth porcelain affords their little claws zero traction. So I took some window screen and made a two foot by one foot metal frame and attached the screen to it. Place that in the bottom of the tub, with just a a couple of inches of water to let the cat get accustomed to it. My cats will pretty much velcro themselves to the screen from that point on, while I commence to bathing them.
I use a shower on a hose attachment, very low water pressure so that it doesn't make loud noises and some of this shampoo. I make sure to lather them head to tail, then rinse them as quickly as possible, all the time talking to them to reassure them. Then I shut off the water and while they're still attached to the screen, I drain the tub and begin toweling them off gently with a fluffy towel. They universally love that stage, and usually start purring.
When they're mostly dry, I'll take another towel, remove them from the tub gently so I don't rip their claws out and take them in another room to finish drying them. I try to keep them warm and out of drafts because while their fur's wet they have zero insulation. Then I give them whatever food treat is their individual favorite and praise them for their derring-do. That shampoo kinda makes them smell like almond cookies, so this is the best time for cat-haters to stop by and get over their bad selves.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 9:48 PM on April 13, 2013 [7 favorites]
As far as bathing cats goes, I've only had one cat that took to water without any sort of distress. Why was I bathing any of my cats? Various reasons. Have you ever smelled a cat's breath? Then they cover themselves in that foul smelling saliva. After a while, they develop quite the funk. Other reasons? Cold ashes in the fireplace. Roomie's Great Dane decided to pursue water sports with my cat. One cat decided to eat a soup can full of bacon grease and could not stop befouling itself with bacon-odored shit. And this is with my almost 100% indoors-only cats. I can't begin to imagine what outdoors cats can get themselves into.
And over these many years and many cats, I've developed a technique that makes bath time (usually 2x/year, unless covered in some other filth) a lot less stressful for my kittehs. I read a tip somewhere that cats hate being in tubs because the smooth porcelain affords their little claws zero traction. So I took some window screen and made a two foot by one foot metal frame and attached the screen to it. Place that in the bottom of the tub, with just a a couple of inches of water to let the cat get accustomed to it. My cats will pretty much velcro themselves to the screen from that point on, while I commence to bathing them.
I use a shower on a hose attachment, very low water pressure so that it doesn't make loud noises and some of this shampoo. I make sure to lather them head to tail, then rinse them as quickly as possible, all the time talking to them to reassure them. Then I shut off the water and while they're still attached to the screen, I drain the tub and begin toweling them off gently with a fluffy towel. They universally love that stage, and usually start purring.
When they're mostly dry, I'll take another towel, remove them from the tub gently so I don't rip their claws out and take them in another room to finish drying them. I try to keep them warm and out of drafts because while their fur's wet they have zero insulation. Then I give them whatever food treat is their individual favorite and praise them for their derring-do. That shampoo kinda makes them smell like almond cookies, so this is the best time for cat-haters to stop by and get over their bad selves.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 9:48 PM on April 13, 2013 [7 favorites]
This is one of my favorite YouTube videos. mblub indeed.
(That said, I seem to have a weird sense of humor about cat violence. I love cats and my own cat Millie is clearly going to live forever and never ever ever leave me, but the cat in Boondock Saints? Fucking hilarious.)
posted by maryr at 9:49 PM on April 13, 2013
(That said, I seem to have a weird sense of humor about cat violence. I love cats and my own cat Millie is clearly going to live forever and never ever ever leave me, but the cat in Boondock Saints? Fucking hilarious.)
posted by maryr at 9:49 PM on April 13, 2013
If the cat was really upset you'd think its ears would be flattened down or back or something, but they're not. I'm kind of getting the impression that it's actually kind of liking being bathed and it's ducking its head into the water to hear its meow go all funny, like, 'mlem'.The ears are down, and I'd genuinely be surprised if any long-term cat owner did not audibly recognize that meow as an unhappy one. And more specifically scared/suffering unhappy rather than angry unhappy.
posted by Flunkie at 12:13 AM on April 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
sweetkid, I said it two times, once because I thought the video sounded horrible, and the second time because I was copping to being a bleeding heart wimp about cat stuff. It's not like I'm popping in every 10 minutes to remind everybody that I'm still not watching the clip.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:25 AM on April 14, 2013
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:25 AM on April 14, 2013
I honestly wonder if my fifteen-year habit of smoking has ruined my sense of smell, because my indoor cats kinda smell like clean laundry to me.
Although once my friend's cat became terrified because my friend was using a broom to clean a closet and said cat ran up the chimney, or at least did his damn best to try. We have many pictures of the white and black cat going to dark grey cat going to bedraggled bathed hateful miserable cat.
posted by angrycat at 7:39 AM on April 14, 2013
Although once my friend's cat became terrified because my friend was using a broom to clean a closet and said cat ran up the chimney, or at least did his damn best to try. We have many pictures of the white and black cat going to dark grey cat going to bedraggled bathed hateful miserable cat.
posted by angrycat at 7:39 AM on April 14, 2013
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posted by Faint of Butt at 5:26 AM on April 13, 2013 [3 favorites]