- Joined
- May 15, 2020
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A long time ago me and the wife were watching The Boondocks on late night television and they described a behaviour (though they weren't talking about cats) called a "moment."
If you don't know the reference I'm going to leave it out as most of you will probably consider it offensive, mainly because it is.
However, as soon as the main character described the behaviour by narrating a short segment, I was laughing. This was not because I'm a horrible racist who thinks people do this, but because as he described the "moment" and the scene unfolded, I began to picture cats' heads on the two fellows involved.
Cats absolutely have moments. Their eyes lock, their territoriality turns on, and they often cannot disengage.
The "C-word moment" is so strong that it overrides all other behaviours. In this example, the housecat should never be aggressive toward something that can kill it in a single attack. The presumably wild mountain lion should also not be willing to approach a house with humans in it, but the moment occurred, and overrode all other drives in the individuals. It actually could have been a lot worse.
Clear barriers only intensify moments because the individuals can see each other but there can be no resolution. Cats that love and accept each other can even redirect when they have a moment with another cat through a window. My cats do this, and I've put slanted barricades on the outside of the sills because this is the only way to stop window cats from appearing and triggering a moment.
Some people clap once loudly to frighten the cats engaged in a moment. This doesn't always work.
Introducing cats in an ordered fashion and preventing them from seeing each other often precludes any moments.
What are some ways you've learned to stop the moment once it has already started?
If you don't know the reference I'm going to leave it out as most of you will probably consider it offensive, mainly because it is.
However, as soon as the main character described the behaviour by narrating a short segment, I was laughing. This was not because I'm a horrible racist who thinks people do this, but because as he described the "moment" and the scene unfolded, I began to picture cats' heads on the two fellows involved.
Cats absolutely have moments. Their eyes lock, their territoriality turns on, and they often cannot disengage.
The "C-word moment" is so strong that it overrides all other behaviours. In this example, the housecat should never be aggressive toward something that can kill it in a single attack. The presumably wild mountain lion should also not be willing to approach a house with humans in it, but the moment occurred, and overrode all other drives in the individuals. It actually could have been a lot worse.
Clear barriers only intensify moments because the individuals can see each other but there can be no resolution. Cats that love and accept each other can even redirect when they have a moment with another cat through a window. My cats do this, and I've put slanted barricades on the outside of the sills because this is the only way to stop window cats from appearing and triggering a moment.
Some people clap once loudly to frighten the cats engaged in a moment. This doesn't always work.
Introducing cats in an ordered fashion and preventing them from seeing each other often precludes any moments.
What are some ways you've learned to stop the moment once it has already started?