Caturday Cats VS Cucumbers Infographic
Last summer a Japanese video about a cat leaping in fear from seeing a cucumber went viral and last week a second wave of Cat Vs Cucumber videos went viral again. There was speculation about cats being startled by cucumbers because they resemble snakes but it doesn’t explain the behavior. In all the videos the cats are eating and the cucumber is placed behind their backs. When they turn around they are startled to see the cucumber but there are videos of cats being scared of bananas, stray socks and any number of random objects. There are also plenty of boring non-viral videos of cats not reacting to cucumbers or behaving in a playful manner. So, if you have hopes of your cat becoming the next Internet sensation, don’t bother.
Why?
If your cat is relaxed and well adjusted, chances are they will react like these cats. They didn’t even sniff at the cucumber, let alone jump 6 feet in the air.
A more skittish cat may react with a strong fear response which can spiral into other fears and phobias. Not worth the cheap trick or laugh or their expense. While browsing on YouTube, in bed, I found videos of cats being deliberately scared with foreign objects, spooky masks responding with a defensive yowl while their human howled with laughter. One cat yowled so loudly, Domino who was peacefully lying at my feet, jumped up looked in the direction of the sound and growled. I clicked the video off and reassured Domino who remained alert and refused to go back into slumber mode. Sadly, as long as humans think it’s fair game to exploit animals for laughs, this mania for viral cat videos will continue.
I made this shareable infographic to weed out facts from fallacy. Hopefully if it makes even a few people change their minds about scaring cats, it’s worth it.
13 Comments
Angel Ms. Phoebe's Family
I agree with you 100% on this one and was disgusted to see the glee in the eyes of people who showed me this, many saying they wanted to try it on their cats. I didn’t understand at first why some cats were scared until watching a second one and realized it was because they were not expecting anything to be there, especially in the comfort zone of eating.
I do believe Deb is right in that not everyone who finds these funny is mean, but just uneducated about the bad effects that could result. That’s why your post is so important and infographic perfect to share- which I will be doing! Thank You.
Layla Morgan Wilde
There is a lot of work ahead.
Austin Towers
Me and The Staff saw that video and really hated it!! 🙁
meowmeowmans
Those videos are so disturbing. Why do people even think that scaring an animal is funny?
Mr Puddy
That human must have too much time in their hand…MOL
Flynn
My mum tries to make sure that nothing frightens me because I do get nervous quite easily. If she thinks I am getting uneasy about something, she picks me up and reassures me.
You asked how Flynn got on at the vet. I put an update on last Wednesday’s post but will repeat it on tomorrow’s as well. Over all the vet is pleased with how well he is looking. Heart and BP good, but he has another UTI. I know that being more susceptible to infection is the downside of being on pred., but it is the only thing that he has been able to tolerate that is keeping his T4 from going through the roof. The dose is low (1mg twice daily) and while I would prefer he didn’t have to take them, it is weighing the pros against the cons. I have tried natural products but even they reacted badly with him.
Layla Morgan Wilde
Thanks so much I checked it out. Sending purrs your way.
Deb Barnes - Zee and Zoey
This is one of the lessons I took away from the #BetterwithPets Summit – sometimes people don’t necessarily know what they are doing is harmful and it is up to those of us that do know, to politely educate. Thank you for this great infograph – hopefully it will help the situation.
Susan C. Willett
Thank you! I’ve been saying this, but you put it in a wonderful infographic! I’ll share.
Susan and the gang from Life with Dogs and Cats
Skeeter and Izzy
Why do we as humans insist on being so utterly stupid? There are certainly enough things for animals to be frightened of without people adding to the list. Perhaps the biggest thing that they need to fear is us. This is sadly one way that the internet can be so bad.
Luvs to all,
Skeeter and Izzy and the Feral Gang + Twig & Peanut & Romeo and the Angels >^..^^..^<~
Brian Frum
Who ya gonna call? Cuke Busters!
Hannah and Lucy
Mum can’t understand why would a cat be afraid of a cucumber after all they don’t bite!
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
Summer
My human would NEVER do something like that to me – she works hard to make sure I am brave, and something like this would risk undoing all our hard work!