The domestic cat is not enjoying modern life. They are too stressed being forced to live close together. The stress makes them ill with cystitis and dermatitis which are on the increase.
Unlike dogs, the cat is still halfway between a domestic and a wild animal, and it’s not enjoying 21st century living (Dr. Bradshaw)
There is a need for a specially bred 21st domestic cat, one that does not hunt, is docile and easy to train so he/she can fit in with the human way of living. There is scope for that because the domestic cat is not yet fully domesticated. The domestic cat is heading towards being more domesticated and why not try and make sure it is tailor made for human needs?
These are the thoughts of Dr Bradshaw, a high profile scientist, cat expert and anthrozoology (the study of human to animal relationships).
His thoughts about the domestic cat are important and influential because they get reported in the mainstream press such as the Daily Mail and he is on television. What he says gets heavy publicity. I am not sure that what he says is 100% accurate or wise. It seems to lack a knowledge of first hand cat caretaking over a long time. There is nothing more sound for learning about domestic cats than long-term first hand experience coupled with an enquiring mind.
That is not to say Dr Bradshaw is “wrong” in what he says. It is smart thinking but it is, for me, a bit off the mark.
For example the tips, as highlighted in the image above, are questionable or worse: downright incorrect.
He is suggesting that it is good cat caretaking to punish your cat by squirting water at him/her if she claws furniture provided you make sure your cat doesn’t know that it is the owner who is squirting the water. He refers to “bad” behaviour.
Dr Bradshaw is a scientist so he knows that cat’s don’t behave badly; they sometimes behave in a way that some people find unsuitable. The two are different and it is unwise to provide advise like this because poor cat owners will use it to justify punishing their cat or worse: abusing their cat. Not everyone has the sense to properly understand the remarks of scientists as disseminated by the popular press – this is dangerous for cats.
Dr Bradshaw’s thought about breeding a cuddly toy of a cat is also damaging to cat welfare as it encourages breeding of cats for commercial reasons and we know where that can take us.
The online press like to sensationalise and popularise scientific information about the cat in particular because of the internet cat phenomenon. This should be done in a responsible way because not everyone is able to respond wisely and sensibly. There are many average to poor cat owners with limited intelligence who will get the wrong end of the stick.
Thing is what makes him so sure he knows everything. Has anyone asked the CATS??? They prob Enjoy Life, I mean I know there’s prob alot in Shelters etc Who dont Enjoy being a domestic Cat. Just cause someone got a ba or Ca or whatever. Doesnt make them the expect. I give up. I prefer to just learn from what my Cat Thinks.
Sorry but Dr Bradshaw is another contender for Midden Man of the Month, so much guff it’s unreal, if the man is a cat expert then give me amateurs any day.
Midden Man of the Month – we’ll have to make that a monthly post 😉
We will have a long row of middens with a deep pit underneath and shove every vet who declaws in them, that would stop their cruelty!
We should select a declawing vet and make him Midden of the Month 😉
Great idea, lets do it!
I’ll line one up for October. Mmmmmm who shall I pick…. 😉
What a headache for you, so many to choose from, and then we can each award him a (picture) prize along with a comment if we want to 😉 I can’t wait.
M, choose Dr. Becky @All-Feline, in Lincoln, NE. She truly is my veterinarian for mine, and all of my friends, cats. Start with her. She lectures throughout the Midwest of the U.S. and is a respected veterinarian. –Caroline
Choose this neanderthal, and then, Dr. Becky, my former veterinarianan. [Best All-Feline vet in the USA, Midwest.]
Meanwhile lets get rid of a few contenders for the title 😉
I love the poster Ruth, you are a nutcase my dear
Myself, I wish that there could exist a more realistic way of driving them to it, and I know that there is. We just have to come up with it. 😉
Loved your Midden Poster. Gooey and smelly but what joy.
Me too.
PONG those bastards, R!
I hope that is grammatically correct.
But, if not, who cares.
I just love that word!
It sounds fine. Use it as you want to. I’d say:
Those bastards pong of sh*t.
lol yes they will pong for eternity for mutilating cats, adding to the mire as they s**t themselves with fear. They will feel how it is to be helpless and terrified like the cats they have abused did in their hands.
lol you are so funny Dee, you always cheer me up
Getting back to myself, R.
Incredible resting now and so worry free with my darling Sarah here another day.
Daughters are the best.
The house sparkles too.
Oh, to be 35 again…
Well Dr Bradshaw is even more of an idiot than I thought because he certainly doesn’t know much about cats. That he’s one of the squirt gun brigade says it all. They advocate the use of those unkind useless things but all they do is make the cat nervous around the person squirting. It IS punishment and cats don’t understand punishment, it doesn’t work!
AS for breeding cats to fit I with our modern lifestyle, why should cats lose their wild ancestry that makes them unique! Does he want cats to be fawning yes men like dogs? He seems obsessed with thinking we want dog like cats.
If I met him I’d say ‘We do NOT want cats like dogs or any other way thank you Doctor, we LOVE cats as they are, so leave them alone and spout your ‘expert’ opinion about something you really do know about, which is certainly not cats and the people who love cats’
We (meaning you and I and other true cat lovers) don’t want a hybrid plush toy cat but a lot of people do and I think he is referring to that general trend.
Michael, you still avoid/avert this conflict… how do you justify and accept his notion of aversive conditioning?
It seems to me that, like so many before him, it is considered acceptable to use negative conditioning with those species who are ‘under our thumb?’ Is this truly who we are, as compassionate, intelligent souls? Do we not have an obligation to uphold the truth? [And what is true, Michael?] What IS true?
I don’t accept adverse conditioning if by that you mean cat punishment. You know that 😉 For me there is never any need to punish or train a cat. I like them as they are.
I know that, Michael. My way of thinking always gets me into trouble with you and Ruth, et al.
Because, I am continually thinking that it is acceptable to draw attention to those issues which require a bit of thinking, and it is requisite that those new to on your website do put their thought into it, conscientiously. [sorry, a bit verbose, yet worth a look into us and our mechanisms that drive us as human sp.]
Thank you! You explain it so succinctly. I hope that other cat-lovers understand how much truth there is in what you expose.
He did say he was going to Breed Cats wasnt he?? Like a Particuler type. Big Sigh 🙁
Yes, the idea is to breed a 21st century living plush toy.
Well that just makes my Night even Worse 🙁 I been sitting here Crying and that just makes me Upset and Angry!!
The world has gone a bit mad I am afraid.
Yea Even over this side of the World it has. Hope Charlie doing abit better. I might just go and have an early Night.
By Jove, I think I’ve got it!
(Doc Bradshaw should like this idea:
1. we don’t have to wait for a “new breed of cat”, evolution, or other;
2. it is a commercially viable concern;
3. and likely no water spray-bottles needed!)
CAT PRE-FRONTAL LOBOTOMIES!
Great idea 😉 It would create the half cat half plush toy that Dr Bradshaw alludes to. He does have a point though that for some cat owners their cat is a little bit like a plush toy or it is what the owner desires and as urban space becomes more crowded and the world more competitive a new sort of cat may be created.
LOL!
Okay, I did not read past the “squirting water” note. That is enough to set me off. [Where is Ruth(K) when I need her!]
Seems to me that he is about as intelligent as “Dr. Oz.”
I’m with you, Michael. Akin to snake oil salesman.
I was in bed lol it was our night time but I’m here now Cal, guns a blazing for that stupid man!
LOL. Cal Dr Bradshaw is not a snake oil salesman 😉 He is good scientist and a lot of what he states is great but I think he has this slightly wrong.
If he has this “slightly wrong,” then how good is he?
Not much good at all 😉 in my book
Exactly. 😉
Then as a scientist, what good is he? I’m wondering if it is time to bring Cornell professors into this conversation. 😉
Dr. Bradshaw ie now advocating that domesticated cats be entirely indoor.
Americans will like to read that and Woody and many others including cat haters and bird conservationists.
LOL!
Unfortunatly, I think it will come to pass. There will be policing and confiscating the same as here.
We are mimicked all the time.
So tragic! Dr. Bradshaw is a powerful force. He’s listened to and has public attention.
I wouldn’t wish those circumstances om anyone.
I dread to think what the future will be for cats, all their natural ways denied to them. I just hope the human race wipes itself out very soon because it is failing cats, in fact all animals, in a big way.
In the past I have referred to a plus toy/real cat hybrid pet. It seems that this is where we are headed. It is a way of shutting out nature. We are too distant from the natural world.
I agree that we are heading towards the kind of family pet Dr Bradshaw refers to. It’ll be 50-100 years or more but I can see it happening.