This video shows a very vocal grey tabby Maine Coon in a hedge. His owner is out of frame and talking to him. There is a bit of a discussion going on on YouTube as to whether this is an example of mild cat abuse or not.
I wouldn’t categorise it as ‘cat abuse’. That’s too strong an term for me. However, I see an anxious cat who is very vocal (as is his owner – is there a link?) and whose voice indicates to me a certain nervousness with his owner. Also the cat hisses when the owner pushes his backside. The cat also makes the classic yowl sound which is made pre-fight with another cat. All of which is due to the owner’s body language, behavior and voice.
There is no doubt in my mind that cat is intimidated by his owner which is unsurprising because his owner is, in fact, intimidating based on the tone of his voice.
I see a background problem here. I see an owner who has consistently talked to his cat in strong tones which, in my view, is far from ideal. We should recognise the obvious: humans are much larger than cats and therefore can be intimidating just by our presence. A soft, quiet voice is much more preferable.
The cat is in a defensive mode in my view and not far short of lashing out at his owner. He does not but it could have happened.
I felt that the owner could have received a bite when he waved his hand around in the cat’s face. Altogether a slightly unpleasant video for me.
Most of the comments don’t see what I see and I’d be interested to hear what others think.
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Tow of my cats headed for the hinterlands of the back bedroom , one is up on the top of the kitchen cabinets and one crawled into my arms and huddled next to me while the audio of this video played.
This video should be titled how to get yourself bitten by your own cat. Usually I play cat video with the sound off or with head phones unless it’s little kits because Mercy just loves to hear baby cat noise.