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Why is it that when cats do it...

post #1 of 21
1/30/11 at 9:20am
Thread Starter 
...it doesn't bother me, but when people do, it nearly drives me out of my mind?

Yes, I'm talking about a couple of pet peeves. Billy bites his nails - he crunches on his back toes. He also smacks his lips while doing this. But someone biting their nails - or smacking their lips - drives me nuts! (Maybe because I used to bite my nails and it was a hard habit to break? ).

And Chumley smacks his lips when eating. It MAKES ME SMILE all the time, and giggle sometimes, and I think it's the cutest thing! But if Gary were to do something like that while eating, I'd probably consider smacking him! And if kids do it when we're out, I wonder what's wrong with their parents, and why aren't they teaching them to eat with their mouths closed? So why do I think it's so cute when Chumley does it?
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post #2 of 21
1/30/11 at 9:26am
LOL! Cuz cats are much cuter than humans to begin with maybe.

Or maybe because these are things that humans can actually control, having that part of a brain that understands the concept of manners, where as cats do not have that concept.
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post #3 of 21
1/30/11 at 9:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG View Post
...it doesn't bother me, but when people do, it nearly drives me out of my mind?

Yes, I'm talking about a couple of pet peeves. Billy bites his nails - he crunches on his back toes. He also smacks his lips while doing this. But someone biting their nails - or smacking their lips - drives me nuts! (Maybe because I used to bite my nails and it was a hard habit to break? ).

And Chumley smacks his lips when eating. It MAKES ME SMILE all the time, and giggle sometimes, and I think it's the cutest thing! But if Gary were to do something like that while eating, I'd probably consider smacking him! And if kids do it when we're out, I wonder what's wrong with their parents, and why aren't they teaching them to eat with their mouths closed? So why do I think it's so cute when Chumley does it?
It's definitely the packaging of the behavior! Cute and furry package!

I had a similar conversation with my friend who was wondering why she thinks fat baby animals are soooo adorable but is repulsed by human childhood obesity.
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post #4 of 21
1/30/11 at 9:33am
Laurie, I thought you were talking about cats vs people up-chucking
I can deal with cleaning up after a cat, but humans are something else entirely.
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post #5 of 21
1/30/11 at 9:37am
Maybe because cats are cute, and humans are annoying
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post #6 of 21
1/30/11 at 9:39am
It is like having human kids though really, when they are your own you think they are wonderful and when you see other kids doing it it so annoys you grrrrr but then again my kitties probably have worse habits than my kids and I still tell the kids off for it but it doesn't bother me when the kitties do it.x
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post #7 of 21
1/30/11 at 10:30am
I'm not terribly keen on kitty lip smacking. Siri will sit by my head and do this (in bed and on the couch) and she's incredibly loud. I usually have to stop her. She and Tanna will snort when they try to bite their back claws and never make much headway shortening them so I usually take that as a sign their back claws need a trim and take care of it for them.
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post #8 of 21
1/30/11 at 10:39am
I don't expect animals to behave the same way as people. Totally different expectations, because their realities and consciousness are totally different.

Cats, to me, are much more lovable than the vast majority of people. And better mannered.



Robin
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post #9 of 21
1/30/11 at 10:51am
I'm with you on this one. I absolutely hate when people chomp their food, yet when my Scarlett, the petite princess who gets mortified when she finds puke on the floor or a dropped (poop) dangler laying around, chomps her food loud enough to hear in the next county. DH and I both have a long running joke about her volume when she eats, and have called our friends in Denver to place the phone next to her so they can hear her eat. They LOL with us (they've always wanted to adopt Scarlett from us). So I guess you can say you can hear her in the next state over.
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post #10 of 21
1/30/11 at 11:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trouts mom View Post
Maybe because cats are cute, and humans are annoying
Sums it right up! Like April said - it's the package it comes in.

Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
I'm not terribly keen on kitty lip smacking. Siri will sit by my head and do this (in bed and on the couch) and she's incredibly loud. I usually have to stop her. She and Tanna will snort when they try to bite their back claws and never make much headway shortening them so I usually take that as a sign their back claws need a trim and take care of it for them.
Nope, Billy's is just... a habit. We don't normally clip their back claws. We thought maybe they were bothering him, so we clipped his. He still chomps away (he chews his toes too). (And yes, at night curled up into my face or on the pillow over my head, it is kind of annoying - but not because it's bothering me that it's happening, like with a person, but because it's affecting my ability to get to sleep or back to sleep. ).
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post #11 of 21
1/30/11 at 11:03am
It's the same reason you run to get the camera to document a cat's bad-ness, when a human child would have gotten a spanking or at least yelled at.
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post #12 of 21
1/30/11 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG View Post
Nope, Billy's is just... a habit. We don't normally clip their back claws. We thought maybe they were bothering him, so we clipped his. He still chomps away (he chews his toes too). (And yes, at night curled up into my face or on the pillow over my head, it is kind of annoying - but not because it's bothering me that it's happening, like with a person, but because it's affecting my ability to get to sleep or back to sleep. ).
I have to clip back claws around here. We have kitty races through the house (they've scratched the wood floors in some areas...) and a few that like to launch off of our laps - usually when a kitty race starts up and they have to hurry and join in. Other circumstances, like one of them falling off the back of the couch and onto my head, makes trimming all claws vital. (doesn't save you from getting a hard headbutt from a falling cat, though).
Siri will get carried away with her grooming. I just stick a hand out on her and she stops grooming for a bit. Sometimes telling her to settle down works.

For the most part, none of my family members are noisy eaters, thankfully. So I don't have to worry about it. I don't think anyone bites their nails, either. hmm
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post #13 of 21
1/30/11 at 1:12pm
Maybe it's because Kitties are the little fluffy rulers of our affections. Anything they do is so sweet, but as another person posted. It's the packaging! Humans are not fluffy and cute... So they have to be taught grace because they do not naturally have the class and sweet lovability awarded to a kitty at birth.
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post #14 of 21
1/30/11 at 2:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Noisette View Post
Maybe it's because Kitties are the little fluffy rulers of our affections. Anything they do is so sweet, but as another person posted. It's the packaging! Humans are not fluffy and cute... So they have to be taught grace because they do not naturally have the class and sweet lovability awarded to a kitty at birth.
SO well said!
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post #15 of 21
1/30/11 at 8:24pm
Because when cats do annoying things, it's cute. When people do them it's annoying, especially when their "grown ups".
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post #16 of 21
1/30/11 at 9:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bastetservant View Post
I don't expect animals to behave the same way as people. Totally different expectations, because their realities and consciousness are totally different.

Cats, to me, are much more lovable than the vast majority of people. And better mannered.



Robin
I feel exactly the same way. People are jerks, and they should know better. But kitties will love you and cuddle you when you treat them right.
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post #17 of 21
1/31/11 at 5:16am
Imhotep crunches on his back claws and it drives me NUTS!

I always know when Zi is getting a drink because he is so loud and literally slurps his water.
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post #18 of 21
1/31/11 at 10:54am
LOL we also don't mind cleaning up cat poop from the litter box, imagine doing the same for a human???
I would not be able to keep any food down if I had to do that...
I have no idea why, cats are just so cute that any transgression is forgiven immediately!
Like, when Jake comes into my bedroom in the middle of the night and starts throwing everything off of my desk and vanity and dressers, even heavy things like a stapler, a mug full of pencils etc- I just get up and cuddle him and tell him how pleasantly awakened I've been by him
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post #19 of 21
1/31/11 at 11:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ut0pia View Post
LOL we also don't mind cleaning up cat poop from the litter box, imagine doing the same for a human???
There are plenty of parents and care givers on here that do - without holding it against the human they have to clean up after.
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post #20 of 21
1/31/11 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
There are plenty of parents and care givers on here that do - without holding it against the human they have to clean up after.
Oh I'm sure there are, but I don't know about anyone else but I would FAR prefer to clean up cat poop, even to a human baby's..

I also love it when Jake leaves paw prints on my car, it makes me think of him as I'm driving. If a human left a handprint I'd probably be upset that my windshield got dirty
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post #21 of 21
1/31/11 at 11:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ut0pia View Post
Oh I'm sure there are, but I don't know about anyone else but I would FAR prefer to clean up cat poop, even to a human baby's..
I'm with ya!
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