why do you approach me? i have nothing to offer you. oh, friendly are you—purring amd rubbing against me? what tricks do you play?
you’ll not fool me, feline. 🧐
It’s actually really fascinating - cats seem to rapidly learn culture while they’re weaning
Cats in Japan are very friendly and trusting of humans, cats in America are more cautious and wary
Japan has folklore about multiple variations of cat yokai that range from fickle trickers to malevolent supernatural ones. Cats are considered good luck, killing them invites bad luck. They have euphemisms like being in no position to refuse even a cats help, and their presence being a good omen
America has folklore about cats being bad luck, and tied to witchery. We still use euphemisms about skinning cats, letting them out of bags, swinging them, etc. Killing cats wasn’t abnormal behavior even a century ago
And apparently, if you bring a female Japanese cat to America, it’ll take several generations for the descendents to localize to the culture. They even meow differently
If the cat thought you had nothing to offer, they wouldn’t be coming to you. I’m pretty sure most house cats have been trained to think humans are magic food dispensers.
this is why cats are untrustworthy.
why do you approach me? i have nothing to offer you. oh, friendly are you—purring amd rubbing against me? what tricks do you play?
you’ll not fool me, feline. 🧐
It’s actually really fascinating - cats seem to rapidly learn culture while they’re weaning
Cats in Japan are very friendly and trusting of humans, cats in America are more cautious and wary
Japan has folklore about multiple variations of cat yokai that range from fickle trickers to malevolent supernatural ones. Cats are considered good luck, killing them invites bad luck. They have euphemisms like being in no position to refuse even a cats help, and their presence being a good omen
America has folklore about cats being bad luck, and tied to witchery. We still use euphemisms about skinning cats, letting them out of bags, swinging them, etc. Killing cats wasn’t abnormal behavior even a century ago
And apparently, if you bring a female Japanese cat to America, it’ll take several generations for the descendents to localize to the culture. They even meow differently
If the cat thought you had nothing to offer, they wouldn’t be coming to you. I’m pretty sure most house cats have been trained to think humans are magic food dispensers.
They love the pets and scritches too.