2 replies to this topic

[truepurple]

As someone who's had plenty of cat experience, I can say with relative certainty, not all cats would be like this.

 

Some might. But I have seen cats who get along with small animals, birds even.

 

One day my sister snuck home a random male cat she got on a farm figuring we'd get attached and she'd be allowed to keep it(didn't work out that way, apartment didn't allow cats at the time), it was a young but adult sized cat and pretty decent size for a cat. We had a small love bird with a mean temperament that was constantly escaping its cage. Cat tried checking out the bird, tentatively putting its paw out to touch the bird, trying to figure out what it was. This tiny bird so much smaller, bit the paw of the cat and chased it on foot!(wings were trimmed) This large size cat running away from a tiny bird, scared of this tiny bird, was a scene seen many a time before we could return the cat.

 

Had small toys designed for cats to chase, basically a fake mouse that goes around with wheels, a rather aggressive predatory wise cat got bored with it quickly. And never tried to eat it or throw it against the wall.

 

Cats have a excellent sense of smell, that is why with cats as well as dogs you offer your hand(with cats,you curl your fingers in so they don't think claws, is what one cat book said, but I've had it work with fingers extended), that way they can smell you and get to know you a little bit by knowing what you smell like. And I was visiting someone who had a cat who never let anyone else pet them except the owner, but because they were rolling around in the owners clothes and immersed in the owners scent, I was able to pet the cat. Shrunk people would still smell like themselves and cats do not simply immediately forget those who they bond with, and yes, they bond with people and other animals.

 

Cat mother adopts squirrel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHT1nAX46dM

 

Cat adopts rabbit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04RZrf3-Mgo

 

Rat and cat getting along

http://www.littlethings.com/this-dog-cat-and-rat-are-unlikely-best-friends-why-cant-humans-get-along-like-this/

 

http://www.howcast.com/videos/509423-Do-Rats-Get-Along-with-Other-Pets-Pet-Rats/

 

Cat and mouse getting along

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3255251/This-game-cat-mouse-one-winner.html

 

So yes, some cats might be aggressive and hurt their owners if they shrunk, we can't know for sure. But the author of this story clearly hasn't had alot of experience with different cats and their interactions with smaller creatures (that or just doesn't care, needs threats for the people to overcome or get horribly killed by) Walls of cats, some of which presumably recently fed, all trying desperately to get at the small humans, as shown in some pages like at the mall, completely unrealistic. Some cats are of a temperament that they simply don't go after small things much. Or only if the small things move in a certain way that triggers their predatory instinct. And cats again have good sense of smell, if it smells like a bird, they are more likely to go after it. If it smells like humans, even strangers to them, even though they be tiny, I think many cats would not necessarily attack, at least not immediately.  Maybe eventually when they get desperately hungry that could be a different story. Though thirst would be the bigger issue.

Edited by truepurple, 21 October 2016 - 02:43 PM.

[Benkai_Debussy]

Cats don't form emotional attachments to humans in quite the same way dogs do (which makes sense, since they didn't evolve as pack animals like dogs, not to mention dogs' long history working with humans). In the videos you linked, chances are the cat in question mistook the animals for a kitten or otherwise had their parenting/child-rearing instinct kick in (a number of animals will take care of other baby animals due to this instinct). Cats generally form attachments to their environments, while dogs form attachments to their owners (or other individuals close to them). So a cat will generally find moving to a new house more stressful than having his/her owner leave or die. This doesn't mean they don't care at all, though; they just view humans as being a part of their environment. So they still might feel comfort from the presence of a human and enjoy being around them, but the bond is of a different nature and they won't really be sad if you disappear in the same way a dog would.

Here is a good article about this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/14/cats-do-not-need-their-owners-scientists-conclude/

 

So I guess the take-away is that while humans can definitely form some sort of meaningful bond with a cat, it will never be quite the same as the sort of bond people form with dogs. Dogs are one of very few animals (maybe the only non-primate) that can understand human facial expressions, voice tones, and emotions.

Who knows if a cat would kill people in a situation like the one in this comic, though it's definitely possible (and wouldn't be so much because of malice as it is just a prey instinct, as you mentioned). A dog might also have its prey instinct activated if a small human ran away from it, though dogs don't tend to play with their prey in the same way cats do (and there's a good chance they'd still recognize a mini-human by its smell, assuming it still smelled the same).

[truepurple]

     I'm telling you, while not as strong a bond as dogs can develop, cats develop bonds with other cats, dogs, humans.  A little while ago one of my two cats died. The other one now is much clingier than she use to be, I'd lie down and she'd zoom into bed with me, curling up in my arm against my side (lying on my back) and she will groom my arm, It hurts like a dickens since cats tongues have hooks on them that make it feel like my arms getting sandpapered. But she really wants to do it, if I pull my arm away, she doesn't switch to grooming herself, I think she grooms me more than she grooms herself. She's done this many a time now.

 

    And even before the other cat died, both of them would always be a bit desperate for my affection if I'd been out for a bit.

 

    I've had lots of experience with cats. They vary greatly on a individual level how strong their predator instincts are and their relationship with other animals, including humans, but they are all able to develop real bonds unless they've suffered abuse or lived their early years as a stray.

 

    There was a old stray cat that was reaching the end of it's life span, his fur was ragged and body full of scars and signs of old age. He would come onto my lap and insist on being petted, he would not eat the food I left out for the stray cats until he got petted, like life wasn't worth living without that affection.

 

    And the thing about mother cats adopting squirrels or rabbits,  they can smell the difference between a fellow cat and say a squirrel or rabbit with their excellent nose. Sure, it's the cats mothering instinct kicking in. But I at least know with the squirrel, both mother and kittens maintained a good relationship with the squirrel after everyone reached adulthood and the difference between them became even more obvious. And you can't say that cat and mouse story was because of mothering instinct or confusing mouse with a cat.

 

   I believe if this story happened for real, many cats would sniff the small creatures, recognize their scent and realize somehow its the same creature they care about. Cats depend on their nose alot, not just dogs. And again, even with those that might just see them as small moving creatures, only a fraction of those would attack humans like prey, at least not at first with their bellies full of food and cat food sitting on the floor. Cats can be cruel and play lethal games with small creatures even without hunger, but that doesn't mean they are all, always like that. And certainly wouldn't be roaming in packs trying to hunt down humans. Author is clearly very ignorant of cats and/or just needs them as a threat so takes many liberties with their nature.

Edited by truepurple, 20 July 2017 - 10:37 PM.