Poisoning your cat so it’s in a coma before it dies is not where the word catatonic comes from.
Comment on Startup will brick $800 emotional support robot for kids without refunds
pennomi@lemmy.world 4 weeks agoThat’s where the term “catatonic” comes from, or so I’ve heard, and it’s a reflex because mother cats carry their babies by the scruff of their neck. From what I understand it’s totally harmless.
Someone who actually knows these things can correct me if I’m wrong of course.
TachyonTele@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
As the owner of various cats over 50 years it does nothing to adult cats. It will hurt an adult cat because their weight is too much for the skin to hold. As a kid I tried it many times because I heard the myth and it only made my cat more angry.
I don’t believe kittens are affected other than being physically unable to do anything. Sort of like if you were put in a half-Nelson hold. You wouldn’t be catatonic, just unable to fight back.
uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
You don’t pick an adult cat up by the scruff! But – at least for some videogenic cats – they will instinctively relax.
grue@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
To be fair, he wasn’t talking about picking the cat up by the scruff of the neck, only squeezing it there.
Anyway, regardless of your anecdote, it is a real thing: cambridge.org/…/CFCC52F39F2235340C1DBA4630EC07F0