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Cat Aquariums
- postepowanieadm 1y agoWas expecting something more like kitten-bonsai.
- danhau 1y agoThis is exactly the kind of thing the internet was made to share for. Made me lol. But I can‘t help thinking that the cat will eventually get bored of the fish it can‘t eat, and the you end up with a weird looking aquarium.
- bmacho 1y agoThis is exactly the kind of content HN tries to avoid, funny cat content.
- ngruhn 1y agoTrue :P On the other hand, laser pointers seem endlessly entertaining.
- ndsipa_pomu 1y agoI've heard that excessive laser pointer chasing is cruel as the cat activates their hunting instinct, but is never able to catch it leading to a build up of frustration.
- latexr 1y agoCan confirm, both from experience and consulting with veterinaries. Don’t play with cats with laser pointers. Had one cat who became so obsessed (and we didn’t even play that long) that for years afterwards would react to any light reflection, like the sun bouncing of the phone screen and onto the wall. Thankfully it subsided significantly later in life, but it took a lot of care and vigilance.
- quesera 1y agoI suspect this is bunk -- the vast majority of feline stalking sessions in nature are unsuccessful, and these are often motivated by hunger, so failure is more meaningful than it would be for a domestic cat. Also, how does one measure feline frustration? Cortisol levels? Brain activity? Is it distinguishable from the stress/excitement of the hunt? Regardless, my approach has been to start by putting together one of those 3V lithium battery LED assemblies, wrapping it up in clear tape, and hiding it under the dog bed. This takes about 30 seconds of preparation. Then I run the cats around with the laser pointer for a few minutes, and finally let them watch the dot "hide" under the dog bed, so that they reach in and pull out their prize. Which they then attack for a few seconds, but lose interest in pretty quickly, because it doesn't run away or smell edible. But their predator success desire is met, I think. This chase-catch-abandon cycle is their MO for flying bugs and mice as well, FWIW. They seem to enjoy it, although I am not sure it's any easier to measure feline pleasure than feline frustration.
- willseth 1y agoOur vet told us it is far more important that house cats get exercise than any potential frustration caused by a laser pointer.
- latexr 1y agoI’m reporting on the behaviour, which has also been confirmed to me as something which does happen by a veterinarian specialising in feline behaviour, I’m not discussing its reasons on a biological level.
- ModernMech 1y agoI feel this is just a cat being a cat. Cats are hardwired to chase any small thing moving quickly. Their eyes are great at detecting contrast, and a bright light has a lot of contrast to interest a cat. They chase it because they don't really understand it's not prey and just a reflection. That the cat lost interest as it got older is perhaps it just being old and less exuberant.
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- noir_lord 1y agoPlace a treat out the way but where you can hit it with the laser, play with them for 10-15 and then point it at the treat and as the cat arrives kill the laser.
- tim333 1y agoCat's have remarkable persistence at watching potential prey. I don't think ours ever stopped taking an interest.
- AndrewOMartin 1y agoPlease do not tap on the glass. It distresses the fish, and gives the cat ideas.
- jakedata 1y agoMake the platform removable and it becomes a hat aquarium.
- Fraterkes 1y agoIve always been taught that fish bowls are cruel because they leave the fish feeling really exposed and stressed. Wouldn’t this create the same effect?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- petesergeant 1y agoIf that was true, I feel like it would be surprising that fish towers/elevators/view-tubes often fill with fish.
- wzdd 1y agoBowls specifically are worse than large, filtered, rectangular aquariums because they're typically too small (causing stress), unfiltered (resulting in waste buildup which causes stress), round (which can act as a lens if the bowl is small, which provides an unnatural, constantly-changing view which causes stress, and which also offers no corner to hide in or rest), and open at the top (so things can fall in, fish can leap out, and cats can attempt to catch them).
- komali2 1y agoI mean, it's a fish, how would we know?
- sleepyguy 1y agoPerhaps after they go from vibrant and living to floating upside down shortly afterward, is a good indication.
- moffkalast 1y agoHmm, aren't cat eyes largely unable to focus on objects less than 30cm/12inch away? I wonder if this is more like colourful a blur to them.
- AnotherGoodName 1y agoThat’s utter nonsense. I could post many many videos of my cats focused on objects on my latop or tablet screen or perhaps a session where they follow a bug around from a few cm away for fun. But i don’t need to since you can google many such examples. There’s even tablet games for cats since they can see things so clearly
- metabagel 1y agoCats can’t focus on objects closer than about 25 to 30 cm away. https://youtu.be/mdqBbvYX3MU?si=MWZgpLbW-9NSsIcw https://youtu.be/mdqBbvYX3MU?si=MWZgpLbW-9NSsIcw https://www.petmd.com/cat/general-health/cat-vision https://www.petmd.com/cat/general-health/cat-vision
- moffkalast 1y agoJust because they react to these objects doesn't mean they can see them clearly. It's just physics based on the eye and lens dimensions. With human eyes that threshold is about 10 cm, and if you try seeing objects closer than that you can still very much track and identify them, but they are blurry nonetheless. Maybe cat brains are also better at compensating for it, that part we can't really know, but they are most adapted to be ambush predators that don't really need to see things up close once they lock on and pounce.
- AnotherGoodName 1y agoIt doesn't even pass the smell test. A bit like "dogs can't look up" which is ridiculous to anyone with a dog. Eg. https://imgur.com/a/GwwzIEh https://imgur.com/a/GwwzIEh for my cat playing with tiny objects on the screen. Take this behaviour 100x over each day and you'll wonder how anyone can think they can't see things up close.
- yardstick 1y agoCan’t the cat just sit directly beside the fish tank and watch?
- kijin 1y agoCats seem to prefer sitting in enclosed spaces, like a cardboard box.
- trolleybus 1y agoI'm a bit perplexed: the "Bottom Entrance Cat Aquarium" looks like a fucking trap to stun and kill the cat with its own carbon dioxide...
- p1mrx 1y agoThe cat jumps up through a hole in the bottom of the table.
- Normal_gaussian 1y agocarbon dioxide is heavier than air; the holes are in the bottom. The cat will be fine.
- ilamont 1y agoReminded me of the “bonsai kitten” hoax of the 90s, maybe one of the first mass outrage events on the WWW. If I recall correctly, it was an MIT student prank. This looks to be an early copy: https://public.websites.umich.edu/~rsc/Humour/www.bonsaikitten.com/bkmethod.html https://public.websites.umich.edu/~rsc/Humour/www.bonsaikitt...
- bdcravens 1y agoThat was literally the first thing I thought of when I saw the link. We're old lol
- tempodox 1y ago> Enhances cognitive function I wonder how they arrived at that. Do I have to expect my cat to start talking, “Cut the BS and give me the fish already”? Still, I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a catquarium to be something like https://anycrap.shop/product/cat-aquarium https://anycrap.shop/product/cat-aquarium