• 6stringringer@lemmy.zip
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    20 hours ago

    My friend had a a cat that as a human would have been a balding, neurotic man with a mustache and glasses. A very high strung cat tbh. His name was Mr. Pappy.

  • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    my cat always acts like she’s a year old and is pretty small for a cat (we assume she’s the runt)
    when we got her the pound said 2 years old (info from previous owner) but when we took her to the vet we got told that she’s actually about 5

    She’s about 7-8 now and still looks just as adorable as when I got her!!

    edit: this image also shows her bent whisker that got messed up when she tried to stick her head in the food container as I was shutting it a couple weeks ago lol

  • aaaa@piefed.world
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    3 days ago

    My cat was an “old man cat” for a while before he passed.

    Anyhow, a “man cat” just sounds like a cat who dresses up like a man and fights crime

  • scarabic@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I think for most people the answer is that pets are not considered peers. They have gender but we will never consider them on a level with human adults - maybe on a level with human babies or young children. We love and prize them, but we don’t give them equal rights and respect. Just like with children.

    It probably doesn’t help that we also spay/neuter them at birth, which not only prevents them from ever becoming reproductively viable adults, but also affects their hormonal development permanently. I’m no biologist but it may be accurate to say they never fully mature, even if they do eventually age.

    FWIW I personally have two human kids and I refer to our German shepherd as the 3rd grownup in the house. I do say “good boy” but I also say “hey man” and call him “old man.”

  • Cousin Mose@lemmy.hogru.ch
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    3 days ago

    I’ve read a lot about how dogs have evolved to hit some of the same triggers that human infants do. I’ve also read about how we tend to view pets as children in our minds. I imagine that that all plays a role in it.

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      We totally do.

      You can address a pet like you would politely address an adult, but only in a jokey way. Like “oh, and who’s this handsome gentleman/lady?”, same as with kids.

    • saltesc@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I dunno. I view my dogs as companions. Yeah, they need me to look after.them like they’re children, but I need them to take care of me in the wilderness, protect the house, cheer me up, entertain guests, tow me on the longboard.

      There’s no association with them and a human child for me. If anything dog ownership has shifted my mentality into the symbiotic relationship of a pack. I think being stuck thinking of them as children would make for some very miserable times and bad behaviour from both the owner and the dog.

      • Cousin Mose@lemmy.hogru.ch
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        3 days ago

        I agree, but I also think the studies are speaking more broadly and possibly on a subconscious level. I feel the same as you but at the same time I can acknowledge evolutionary traits they might have.