That Thing About How Cats Think Humans Are Big Kittens Is A Myth, Yknow.

That thing about how cats think humans are big kittens is a myth, y’know.

It’s basically born of false assumptions; folks were trying to explain how a naturally solitary animal could form such complex social bonds with humans, and the explanation they settled on is “it’s a displaced parent/child bond”.

The trouble is, cats aren’t naturally solitary. We just assumed they were based on observations of European wildcats - but housecats aren’t descended from European wildcats. They’re descended from African wildcats, which are known to hunt in bonded pairs and family groupings, and that social tendency is even stronger in their domesticated relatives. The natural social unit of the housecat is a colony: a loose affiliation of cats centred around a shared territory held by alliance of dominant females, who raise all of the colony’s kittens communally.

It’s often remarked that dogs understand that humans are different, while cats just think humans are big, clumsy cats, and that’s totally true - but they regard us as adult colonymates, not as kittens, and all of their social behaviour toward us makes a lot more sense through that lens.

The like to cuddle because communal grooming is how cats bond with colonymates - it establishes a shared scent-identity for the colony and helps clean spots that they can’t easily reach on their own.

They bring us dead animals because cats transport surplus kills back to the colony’s shared territory for consumption by pregnant, nursing, or sick colonymates who can’t easily hunt on their own. Indeed, that’s why they kill so much more than they individually need - it’s not for fun, but to generate enough surplus kills to sustain the colony’s non-hunting members.

They’re okay with us messing with their kittens because communal parenting is the norm in a colony setting, and us being colonymates in their minds automatically makes us co-parents.

It’s even why many cats are so much more tolerant toward very small children, as long as those children are related to one of their regular humans: they can tell the difference between human adults and human “kittens”, and your kittens are their kittens.

Basically, you’re going to have a much easier time getting a handle on why your cat does why your cat does if you remember that the natural mode of social organisation for cats is not as isolated solitary hunters, but as a big communal catpile - and for that purpose, you count as a cat.

Drawing/animation idea

get a swivel chair and roll it down a hill with as many characters as you can fit on it

Who's trying to steer, who's freaking out, who's calm, ECT.

Any ocs or fandoms are fine

Anyone can do this I would like to be tagged.

Im late but whatever

BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUPS ITS INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY

I even pulled up searches to verify

We’re here to MLP style magic of friendship up this bitch up (tumblr) and y’all know it

@bixell-pixell @moshieee @bunnybunnsowo @vexation-816 @lilithloves-you @cherriisodapop @chaos-ace @voidmin @godofbeinghenry @dia-smthidk @darken-hollow @unfunnyaceartist @yunfox00 @anxiouschoco @gennefarious @creativehomicide @flowery-anon @gooblenoodle @gl1tched-r4bb1t @i-ate-your-children @nightmaretherabbit @neptunestoast @ner5y @onimusha095 @picturejasper20 @randompony03 @rayofmisfortune @writing-forever @roxasbooth @rabid-mercenary16 @izzy-the-chaotic-gremlin @iguessimfished @bolt-finnikin-official @butlerbugbunny @ark-fork @schnee-gheist @thisiswasabis @arrtsy-ash @solhunder @pink-pkmn-trainer @gummy-axolotl @tailsbot98761 @mr-mangrove @sturdyyyyy

Even if some of you aren’t necessarily my friends I have interacted with you directly at least a couple times and so yes you came to mind on this day :>

I’m still like half asleep so I probably forgot some people but just know I appreciate ALL OF YOU 🫵 you’re all so amazing, even just the people I interact with like once in every five years, yes, you are amazing. Some of you I’ve only talked to like once in dms or in reblogs/comments but I still enjoy our interactions so I’m putting them up here

"If you touch me I will involuntarily kick you in the face, at minimum"

"Are you ticklish?"

This? @hotelcaliforniaenbydancer

So today I ordered some refreshing liquid.

Fully expecting it to be an orange soda.

It was not, in fact, orange soda.

Nor was it orange juice.

No.

It was an orange.... drink.

You can just imagine.

Drink. Orange drink.

It was orange.

And it was a drink.

....

THAT WAS NOT ORANGE JUICE!!!! THAT WAS NOT ORANGE SODA!!!! THAT WAS AN EVIL SLUDGE!!!!

It gave me the hiccups and fucking scared my cat >:(

It tasted like if someone made cardboard water, then added food coloring and cheap fruity syrup.

Someone should make a horror movie about this abomination to humanity.

....

THE ORALUDGE

when ur mutuals are mutual with each other 

pro: squad con: i saw this post like 18 times today