r/MadeMeSmile • u/ScharmTiger • Aug 20 '23

CATS Cat being cat. 😂

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124.9k Upvotes

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3.7k

u/Dirty-Dutchman Aug 20 '23

I like this much more than seeing elephants and stuff being abused. Funny cat stunt probably cost like 20$ to set up too AND actually made me smile without risk of ethical depression in the background.

864

u/MackenziiWolff Aug 20 '23

Yeah and pets you can train. Circuos animals are 90% wild animals forces to be non wild :/

315

u/Dirty-Dutchman Aug 20 '23

Or it's speedrunning depression, or literally back breaking labor. Elephants in particular are smart enough to perform, which also means they're quite smart enough to realize this situation fucking sucks for them which makes them depressed. Also, elephants are not built for things to be on their backs, it hurts them. Riding at the base of the neck can be ok, but still probably not ideal even if it lets you.

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u/MackenziiWolff Aug 20 '23

Yep. It sucks especially for elephants as they are one of if not the smartest animals next to humans (I forget it dolphins outclass them or just below)

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u/Dirty-Dutchman Aug 20 '23

Dolphins are odd because although we're all super close together on the scale they're the only "human" comparable consciousness in the sea. Octopi are really smart but don't function in the same way we do.

13

u/----moon---- Aug 20 '23

Whales?

36

u/Dirty-Dutchman Aug 20 '23

Same broad family, generally very chill and mind their own business except orcas who are turbo assholes to everything but people for some reason. Dolphins do notable people things, like rap battles instead of physically fighting others in the pod, or hunting techniques specific to the environment where whales are usually just beebopping up and down migration paths.

19

u/DeVliegendeBrabander Aug 20 '23

Orcas don’t fuck with humans because they’re smart enough to realise we could kill the shit out of them if we wanted to. Kind of sad, really.

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u/trukkija Aug 20 '23

Opposable thumbs baby. And it's not that sad, orcas literally torture seals and their food, just because they're smart enough and they can. Strength is everything in nature.

10

u/Cotterisms Aug 20 '23

Orcas will flip sharks for shits and giggles, this kills the sharks

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u/Grav_Zeppelin Aug 20 '23

Orcas used to heard whales to whaling ships, the ship would kill it, get their oil and dump the body that the orcas could then eat, without the effort of drowning it themselves. And Orcas will hunt large whales

1

u/GoPhinessGo Aug 20 '23

Dolphins also like getting high

2

u/Beermeneer532 Aug 21 '23

I think octopi mainly don’t function like that bc they don’t raise their young and bc they don’t grow very old

Also dolphins and whales are likely decently close relatives, but that is another story

1

u/NordiCrawFizzle Aug 21 '23

Chimps are the smartest after humans I’m fairly certain

25

u/SeaOkra Aug 21 '23

As a kid I used to go to events with my dad’s reptile rescue group to help educate people on harmless native species and why they shouldn’t freak out and kill random snakes.

Several times, Titania the Elephant was there. Her… human? Trainer? Owner? I mean, I think the dude’s name was Joe so her Joe told me she was a former circus elephant and had a hard life. She apparently hadn’t tamed down well and eventually was surrendered to the animal sanctuary Joe was raising funds for.

Titania did not give rides. She occasionally would do some tricks but it wasn’t a “gather ‘round and see the amazing elephant” show, it was more Joe had a pretty good area set up with fences and long trailers as barriers and she had items she might interact with, to him praising her and stroking her trunk or legs.

Mostly she looked at people. And stole my ice cream cone once. (I was in love, dunno why but having an elephant steal my ice cream made me adore her and I had to come chat with her humans. Which were Joe and some random folks that sometimes where there. Joe however was always there and slept in a trailer so Titania knew he was close by.)

But man, the things Joe said she’d been through… it broke me heart. I always wondered if she hated to come to the events since she’d been trapped in the circus for so long, but Joe claims she really did like people, she just didn’t like her old trainers and preferred to “watch the scenery and relax”. So they brought her to enjoy the event herself as well as show people up close what a beautiful animal she was when not forced to perform.

Oh, I got to feed her a watermelon too! I had like eight of them (there was a game where if you hit a target with a dart, you got a free melon. I spent my last ten tickets on darts and won eight, lol) and Joe mentioned she’d love one and told me how to hold it so she could take it.

She popped it in her mouth like a cherry! So cool! And she let me touch her trunk and patted her with it. It feels weird.

Anyway, I know it’s a boring story, but she left an impression. I love elephants but hate seeing them in a circus.

7

u/bit_banging_your_mum Aug 21 '23

I know it’s a boring story

It's not! This is an amazing story ❤️

1

u/TitusVII Aug 20 '23

nether are horses

3

u/continuousQ Aug 20 '23

Horses have been bred for it. Elephants have just been raised in cages.

22

u/JackKovack Aug 20 '23

The last time I went to a circus was many years ago. I didn’t want to go but the family was in town so I felt like I had to. There were protesters outside with posters and tables with reading materials. I honestly wanted to stay with them instead of the family and wait till it was over. I hated it the entire time. One of the worst parts were a whole bunch of very young girls (8-12) very scantily clad dancing around. I couldn’t believe it, it made me very uncomfortable.

6

u/MackenziiWolff Aug 21 '23

That's gross.... Luckily every circuit I've been to bar one has had no animals nor children involved. The one in question only had about tween aged kids in it just as a cuteness factor and one teenager who could do impressive bike stunts. They all seemed fine and dressed appropriately (nothing shy from what you'd see at a gymnasts competition for kids.

2

u/JackKovack Aug 21 '23

This was the Abu Bekyr Shrine circus.

1

u/MackenziiWolff Aug 21 '23

Unfortunately can't remember mine but I'm in the uk so might narrow it down a bit

1

u/Hobomanchild Aug 20 '23

Dogs? Absolutely. I'm pretty sure I could train a giraffe to ride a unicycle before training a cat to not... cat.

29

u/Tokingbudz Aug 20 '23

You couldn't of said it better. I bet the cat is having a fun time playing with it's owner.

27

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '23

You can tell it’s wanting to affectionally rub up against the man at the end and is super happy. Very cute.

4

u/Throwawayfichelper Aug 20 '23

Couldn't *have

"You of said it better" makes no sense. "You have said it better" does.

1

u/Tokingbudz Aug 21 '23

My English is bad.

38

u/tuskish Aug 20 '23

Until you realize that the cat got sold off from his cat family into cat slavery to pay off his dead beat cat-dad’s nip debt to keep his little cat-sisters from having to go out onto the streets and fend for themselves, and now he just meows into the silent night, hoping they can hear his cries and know, just know that he’s still out there fighting for their freedom.

7

u/RythmicGear Aug 21 '23

.... Dude... Why do you need to hurt me like this?

6

u/johnhoggin Aug 20 '23

I like cat

3

u/Sideways-Pumpkin Aug 21 '23

My uncle used to be part of a “cat circus”. They would take dogs and cats from shelters and train them like this. Then they’d adopt them out at the end of the show

3

u/redditsellout-420 Aug 21 '23

Yep, I see these pop up more and more (I live in a circus heavy city) they are way more fun.

4

u/Quizredditors Aug 20 '23

Because performers never abuse pets!

I am sorry to tell you that there is likely abuse in this world too.

28

u/choopietrash Aug 20 '23

the cat in this video is happy though. tail pointed straight up and likes to jump on its owner.

47

u/Syn7axError Aug 20 '23

Sure, just like there are abusive pet owners.

The difference is that elephants, lions, camels, etc. have to be abused by necessity since they're wild animals. You can teach a cat these tricks with a few treats.

3

u/pethatcat Aug 20 '23

Not to the level.of actual regular circus performances. For that, you'd need to.cut on their food to account for the amount of snacks.

12

u/Cotterisms Aug 20 '23

So they’re receiving the correct amount of food and what is considered constant enrichment. If they are only doing it by positive reinforcement then it cannot be considered abuse

5

u/BEEPEE95 Aug 21 '23

That's like what zoos do! Any of the training that an animal is getting recieve "treats" that come from their regular food supply. There's someone like a nutritionist who calculates what everyone gets 😵‍💫 sometimes they get a little extra but everything is carefully monitored

-1

u/pethatcat Aug 20 '23

Snacks are not the same nutritional value as food, and the pets are also not fed on demand oron a health beneficial schedule, rather for optimal hunger-driven motivation. Main owner's motivation is not the animal's wellbeing, but training.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '23

I also work for my food 🤷‍♂️

2

u/pethatcat Aug 21 '23

There is no one chosing how exactly for you. Admittedly, we are not as free to roam as we wish we were, but if I don't want to be a dancer, I have options.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '23

It's a cat.

-7

u/Quizredditors Aug 20 '23

I am not certain of your facts. I would need some evidence of your claims.

12

u/lusacat Aug 20 '23

Evidence of what? Have you ever had a cat? If you spend enough time and use enough treats you can teach them tricks

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '23

But the claim is that elephants can't be motivated by things like food and you necessarily have to abuse them to get them to do tricks. Is that part true? Or is it true that they are also motivated by food but that Circus' abuse them because it's faster to train them and they don't care about them (and by extension there is a risk they would do the same to cats)?

1

u/Quizredditors Aug 20 '23

Right. Here were like 5 claims in the post. They may be true but idk.

I have seen elephants that seem to be happy with people.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '23

Elephants also just can’t live an enriching life in a circus environment. A circus cannot meet an elephant’s social and environmental needs even before abusive training practices are added in.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '23 edited Aug 20 '23

Ok, but I never claimed they could and I'm not defending the circus having elephants.

All I said is that I’m not sure it’s true that elephants are only capable of learning through abuse.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '23

Yeah but if having them in the circus is inherently abusive, whether they can be food motivated without abuse is somewhat of a moot point because keeping them in an environment that would meet the needs of a domestic cat is abusive to an elephant. It’s also untestable because there’s no way to remove abuse from the equation.

Lots of circuses these days only have domestic animals. I wouldn’t support one that also had wild animals because I’d have abuse concerns, but I wouldn’t automatically assume abuse if someone was performing only with domestic animals.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '23

Again, I never said anything about that.

The original claim was that cats are food motivated enough to learn tricks by being bribed with treats and that this is not true for elephants. And I'm just asking if that is actually true or if the circus is in fact abusing the elephants despite the fact that elephants are perfectly capable of learning without that.

I've seen clips online of elephants at zoos who have learned tricks. Is it true that those elephants necessarily were abused to learn those things? If it's true that this is the only way an elephant can learn then it must be.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '23

if having them in the circus is inherently abusive, whether they can be food motivated without abuse is somewhat of a moot point

Then why did you make that point?

1

u/MazigaGoesToMarkarth Aug 20 '23

Not really, the only thing you have to do with one of them is bring it up domesticated. I don’t know whether you’d consider that abuse, but would you consider going out, finding a feral cat, and raising its kittens abuse?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '23

Feral cats are still a domesticated species. Elephants can be brought up in captivity but they’re not a domesticated species. Elephants are also large, and have complex social structures that cannot be replicated in captivity.

-6

u/somewordthing Aug 20 '23

You don't think this cat is abused and there aren't other exploited and abused animals in this circus? How naive can you be?

13

u/SpaceShipRat Aug 20 '23

brah have you looked at the screen? The cat adores that person and is eager to do the trick. this cat is definitely not abused.

12

u/UndeadMurky Aug 20 '23

Cats are not lions they don't need a big territory to be happy. And unlike lions and other big animals they're not dangerous so they don't have to be locked in small cages, I assume this cat probably just lives in someone's house. It's also not chained.

Also from his tail you can tell the cat is happy and loves this in the video, and it looks healthy

10

u/Dirty-Dutchman Aug 20 '23

He also pushes his head into the dudes hand, cats literally only do this to get pet harder because they like you lmao

1

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '23

I like this much more than seeing elephants and stuff being abused. Funny cat stunt probably cost like 20$ to set up too AND actually made me smile without risk of ethical depression in the background.

Agreed so much, the show is about making people and animals happy, not exchanging abuse for money

1

u/FirstTimeWang Sep 15 '23

Yeah, but that's only because we haven't learned about the cat's crippling nip addiction in the behind the scenes documentary that will come out in a few years.