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Unlike dogs where you are part of their "pack", for cats you are their mother - seriously, your petting them is their mother licking their fur to clean it, and their purs help you realize that they are alive and well.
The odd part is that in the wild, the kitten doesn't stay with the mother all that long. So unlike dogs, we keep cats in a permanent juvenile state - that's why they don't (so much) "obey", bc they are confident in their special status of being loved by mother.
Dogs 100% were selectively bred to be permanently juvenile as well.
Dogs have extreme neonatal characteristics. They are basically forever-wolf-puppies.
Their heads are rounder, eyes bigger, proportions more exaggerated, more playful etc. etc.
And we actually know the main brain difference between wolves and dogs is that dogs don’t mature basically ever neurologically.
Wolves are in basically every way smarter than dogs.
We dumbed down wolves and made them babies forever.
Our biggest rivals for millennia.
We are… fucked up.
Anyways love puppies ❤️
And look what we did for cows, sheep, etc.
Ironically this holds a bit true for humans as well, not that we are stuck that way as you mentioned for dogs yet our gestation time most definitely is severely elongated. It takes us 9 whole months just to get out of the womb, then basically 20 years to reach adulthood. And with that increased plasticity of our brains we can learn so much more. 🐒
There's a theory that we were able to evolve our big problem-solving brains because we got access to higher-quality protein after teaming up with dogs as hunting partners. So did we breed them to be pets or did they breed us to be caretakers?
I mean there were actually two “intelligence” explosions for humans, once as Homo Erectus like 2 million years ago. Then again as Homo Heidelbergensis ~ 700,000 years ago. So way before dogs.
As in we have evidence of H. Erectus with brains as big or even bigger than ours. And by the time of H. Heidelbergensis our brains stabilised around the size they are today.
Well, ackshually...
Dogs are much more skilled at reading human body language and communication.
That reminds me Cruela.
My cat Kika once got pregnant. We were able to give all kittens new homes, except one - that stayed with us. She grew into adulthood, not only pampered by the humans but also by her mum Kika.
Cruela would find an open window, take a walk, then come back after a few hours. And then when she was back, she'd ask Kika to be licked. And every single time Kika would lick her ~~manchild~~ ~~womanchild~~ catkitten daughter for a few minutes, then meow angrily and paw her once or twice, as if saying "you're clean now you adult baby, now sod off!". Every single time.
What an unnatural, unholy, abominable ... entirely awesome and cute story! 😁
I figure that's the only thing stopping her from tearing me to shreds when I clean her eye boogers
That, and you are like 20 times her size! (I assume your daughter isn't a lion, tiger, panther, etc.:-D)
She definitely wants to tear you to shreds though, you can tell. She also wants you to do it to her in return - just don't overdo it!:-)
Don't underestimate how strong and ferocious a house cat is. They are fully capable of fucking you up beyond what you think they are able to. Anytime a house cat has attacked you they have 100% pulled their punches.
A true house cat attack is almost a guaranteed hospital visit.
Cats are pack animals too. You've never seen groups of them together if you think otherwise.
The groups of cats I know accept each other but that's it. Most cats I know, especially wild cats, are on their own.
I've heard that but I think it's not as deeply embedded in their root psyches. Like, cats can hunt in packs, whereas dogs flat are "pack animals". But I am no vet psychologist so we'll have to defer to the interwebs for that knowledge I suppose:-).
Cats are stealth hunters. They don't hunt together. When they're not out hunting they go back to the rest of their pack and do other cat things. They don't live alone if they can help it.