A Bad Bitch, But A Good Girl.

I am a bit tired of seeing posts on Tumblr making fun of cats who act hungry even when their bowl is almost full. Those are funny and good-natured posts, but every cat guardian should realize that cats, just like people, don’t generally do anything unless they have to (or have a good reason to).

One of the reasons might be that it’s just…..hard to get all the food out? Especially if the sides of the bowl are near vertical. Like, think about how would you get food from the “corners” of a bowl with steep sides if you had to do it with your mouth? Like, your chin is….in the way… And the smaller the bowl is, the more food ends up in those “corners”. Yesterday I watched a cat trying to eat food beyond the center of the bowl for like 5 minutes, and failing miserably (albeit hilariously).

But there’s something else I want to talk about.

Another reason your cat might not be getting all the food from the bowl is something that’s usually called “whisker fatigue” or “whisker stress”. Here’s a quote from PetMD:

You can think of whisker fatigue as an information overload that stresses out your cat. Because whisker hairs are so sensitive, every time your cat comes into contact with an object or detects movement, even a small change in air current or a slight brush against her face, messages are transmitted from those sensory organs at the base of her whiskers to her brain[..]. That barrage of “messages” could stress out your cat, eventually causing what some people call whisker fatigue.

So basically if your cat’s whiskers have to be constantly touching the bowl for her to get all the food out, it might be a little like looking at your uncle’s internet explorer: pop-ups everywhere!

This also might be a reason why your cat takes food out of the bowl and drops it on the floor to eat.

Not all cats experience this, but some cats are definitely helped by giving them a flat dish. 

There’s a cat, Julie, at the shelter where I work, who would literally show signs of pain when getting her kibble from a regular bowl. If she ate at all, she would eat very slowly, sometimes taking every kibble out of the bowl with her paw, and then eating it from the floor. It stopped completely when I switched her to a flat bowl. My own cat used to take her wet food out of the bowl, throw on the floor, and then eat from the floor, which of course resulted in huge mess (wet food…on the floor…). Again, she stopped when I got her a flat dish.

There are special dishes sold on amazon (search for “flat cat bowl” or “whisker stress bowl”), but it can also be, like, a plate. 

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Hey so uhhh this is extremely important. Please be careful when going around. I think I ran across the video myself, but I didn’t really stick around it to find out what it was for sure.

It is suggested to turn off video autoplay, especially if you use Twitter a lot.

the use of gendered language, whether in law or in company guidelines, has been used as an excuse to exclude trans people from various kinds of reproductive healthcare. there have been stories of abortion providers pointing to the use of “pregnant women” in all clinic literature to justify not giving trans men assistance. there are issues where “women’s health clinics” will refuse to accept referrals for anyone who doesn’t have “F” on their records, which of course includes many trans women. there are in turn stories of trans women being unable to access “male” prostrate cancer screening.

language in this sort of capacity needs to be as factual and neutral and carefully constructed to avoid loopholes as possible. at this stage in my life, as a non-woman capable of pregnancy, i don’t really CARE anymore if you talk casually about pregnancy as something that happens to women. but i DO care if the medical system writes out some guidelines that, in only acknowledging pregnant women as a possibility, open me up to the possibility of being denied care by transphobes who can claim they’re just following the rules.

it’s for reasons like this that some people don’t get their gender markers changed, but that in itself creates dangerous situations when their marker doesn’t match their presented gender - I’ve heard horror stories of people getting arrested after being pulled over by a cop who thought they were lying about their identity.

Taken from Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson, Psy.D. A summary of the tips the book hands you on how to recognize emotionally healthy people.

They’re realistic and reliable

They work with reality rather than fighting it. They see problems and try to fix them, instead of overreacting with a fixation on how things should be.

They can feel and think at the same time. The ability to think even when upset makes an emotionally mature person someone you can reason with. They don’t lose their ability to see another perspective just because they aren’t getting what they want.

Their consistency makes them reliable. Because they have an integrated sense of self, they usually won’t surprise you with unexpected inconsistencies.

They don’t take everything personally. They can laugh at themselves and their foibles. They’re realistic enough to not feel unloved just because you made a mistake.

They’re respectful and reciprocal

They respect your boundaries. They’re looking for connection and closeness, not intrusion, control or enmeshment. They respect your individuality and that others have the final say on what their motivations are. They may tell you how they feel about what you did, but they don’t pretend to know you better than you know yourself.

They give back. They don’t like taking advantage of people, nor do they like the feeling of being used.

They are flexible and compromise well. Because collaborative, mature people don’t have an agenda to win at all costs, you won’t feel like you’re being taken advantage of. Compromise doesn’t mean mutual sacrifice; it means a mutual balancing of desires. They care about how you feel and don’t want to leave you feeling unsatisfied.

They’re even-tempered. They don’t sulk or pout for long periods of time or make you walk on eggshells. When angered, they will usually tell you what’s wrong and ask you to do things differently. They’re willing to take the initiative to bring conflict to a close.

They are willing to be influenced. They don’t feel threatened when other people see things differently, nor are they afraid of seeming weak if they don’t know something. They may not agree, but they’ll try to understand your point of view.

They’re truthful. They understand why you’re upset if they lie or give you a false impression.

They apologize and make amends. They want to be responsible for their own behavior and are willing to apologize when needed.

They’re responsive

Their empathy makes you feel safe. Along with self-awareness, empathy is the soul of emotional intelligence.

They make you feel seen and understood. Their behavior reflects their desire to really get to know you, rather than looking for you to mirror them. They aren’t afraid of your emotions and don’t tell you that you should be feeling some other way.

They like to comfort and be comforted. They are sympathetic and know how crucial friendly support can be.

They reflect on their actions and try to change. They clearly understand how people affect each other emotionally. They take you seriously if you tell them about a behavior of theirs that makes you uncomfortable. They’ll remain aware of the issue and demonstrate follow-through in their attempts to change.

They can laugh and be playful. Laughter is a form of egalitarian play between people and reflects an ability to relinquish control and follow someone else’s lead.

They’re enjoyable to be around. They aren’t always happy, but for the most part they seem able to generate their own good feelings and enjoy life.

is just making me think about shit like this:

You think homeless people/people in extreme poverty stealing to survive is wrong

You think drug addicts are bad people/should be in prison

You think homelessness is easily avoided and that people on the streets are just lazy

You think Salvation Army is a good organisation (hint: they let a trans woman die rather than help her, and kicked a family to the streets because the kid was gay)

You think distrusting the Police/Government is wrong

You think marriage equality shouldn’t be legal

You think that universal healthcare shouldn’t be provided by the government

You think that the government shouldn’t pay for transgender people to transition

You think that it is okay to be bigoted, even quietly

You think it is okay to afraid/wary of Jewish people or Muslims because of their heritage/religion

You think trans men aren’t men or trans women aren’t women

You don’t believe in non-binary genders

You think black people wearing their natural hair is unprofessional

You think AAVE is a lesser dialect

You think that the rich shouldn’t be taxed any more than they currently are

You think disabled people are lying and/or lazy

You think vaccines cause autism

You think bad parenting causes autism

You think autism is overdiagnosed

You don’t think it is the duty of every country to accept immigrants and asylum seekers

You don’t believe in the patriarchy, white privilege, and/or cis/heteronormativity

You don’t believe in climate change

You don’t believe the holocaust happened

You agree with any kind of nationalism

You believe socialism is inherently evil

You believe certain groups of victims were “asking for it”