• mar_k [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      4 months ago

      I thought it was common knowledge that cats’ tails and ears are basically a mood meter but apparently people without cats don’t usually get it? Like when they’re walking, tail straight up = happy (excited if quivering), half way up = relaxed, wagging = frustrated, low to the ground = scared/nervous. Some things you pick up on naturally having one

        • mar_k [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          4 months ago

          Stranger who came into a cat’s space to touch them without even trying to play it slow will tell you “cats are assholes who scratch you for no reason!”, after ignoring the ears back, tail making a noise from flicking up and down, wide anxious eyes, tense posture

          Something even a lot of cat owners don’t seem to understand is when they show you their bellies, they’re (usually) not asking for belly rubs, it’s a sign of trust by showing you their most vulnerable part (ie where predators would attack them) and expecting you to not touch there. If you rub the belly and they scratch, they got too overstimulated and disembowelment defense instinct kicked in. Some cats will actually attack their own feet if it touches there

          Also, I’ve heard autistic people say cats share a lot of traits of autism (and dogs with ADHD?), like having more personal boundaries, taking more time to adjust to change or people they aren’t familiar with, and getting overstimulated by excessive touch/sound

          • huf [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            4 months ago

            yeah, there’s nothing really special about handling cats. i’m usually just polite, like i’d be to people.

            also, that belly rub thing… eh. lots of cats like belly rubs. mine does. others just like to show off their belly and dont like rubs.

            my cat starts purring if i blow a raspberry into her stomach. she’s only ever scratched me by accident in 14 years.

  • BodyBySisyphus [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    It’s so funny that smiling conveys happiness in humans because for every other primate teeth are weapons, so it’s like we’re all walking around waving loaded guns at each other to say hi.

    • CarbonScored [any]@hexbear.net
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      4 months ago

      We gave up the vast majority of our jaw muscles in exchange for brainspace. In primates, the jaw muscle extends all the way up the side of the skull, our bite force is now something like 90% weaker because ours don’t.

    • CTHlurker [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      4 months ago

      Might have something to do with the fact that humans have some of the worst teeth in the entire animal kingdom. They aren’t really useful as weapons and without the advent of cooking / fire, we would probably not have developed a lot. Every single primate other than us have better teeth which are much more suited for the diets, and don’t just kill the host when food gets stuck in them for a while.

  • Quereller@lemmy.one
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    4 months ago

    Always bothered me when someone said look this elephant is so sad it cries. Obviously the bull is in musth and just horny and aggressive.

    P.s. Even in for example Asian culture someone might smile because they are in a embarrassing situation.