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    Cats are (almost) liquid

    (www.cell.com)
    341 points lnyan | 44 comments | 17 Oct 24 11:43 UTC | HN request time: 2.344s | source | bottom
    1. wormlord ◴[17 Oct 24 14:48 UTC] No.41870187[source]▶
    Before I had cats, I used to think of them in terms of other animals. What I mean is that a dog or a horse is very defined by its skeletal structure. They are like popsicle stick armatures with some flesh thrown on.

    Now I think of cats more like amorphous blobs with some hard bits stuck on. I think anyone who owns a cat will know what I mean by this.

    replies(8): >>41870228 #>>41870245 #>>41870430 #>>41870573 #>>41873932 #>>41874658 #>>41878554 #>>41879646 #
    2. bl4ckneon ◴[17 Oct 24 14:52 UTC] No.41870228[source]▶
    My cat often lays down twisted 180 degrees or more. Just doing whatever they want, defying laws of nature.
    replies(1): >>41870326 #
    3. bayindirh ◴[17 Oct 24 14:54 UTC] No.41870245[source]▶
    I, for one, know, understand and welcome our almost liquid feline overlords.
    replies(1): >>41870273 #
    4. wiredfool ◴[17 Oct 24 14:57 UTC] No.41870273[source]▶
    Purring bags of mostly water.
    5. 9dev ◴[17 Oct 24 15:01 UTC] No.41870326[source]▶
    Well, dogs also do this—I present to you my majestically twisted creature: https://imgur.com/a/5WcYzSw

    I have no clue how that is even possible.

    replies(10): >>41870352 #>>41870393 #>>41870590 #>>41870801 #>>41871131 #>>41871176 #>>41875143 #>>41875617 #>>41876087 #>>41879280 #
    6. bayindirh ◴[17 Oct 24 15:04 UTC] No.41870352{3}[source]▶
    I almost sprayed all my tea to my monitor and keyboard.

    Wish both of you a happy and derpy life together.

    7. debo_ ◴[17 Oct 24 15:09 UTC] No.41870393{3}[source]▶
    Your dog is the inverse of the Firefox.
    8. nonameiguess ◴[17 Oct 24 15:14 UTC] No.41870430[source]▶
    For what it's worth, their hips and shoulders are actually limited in range of motion compared to humans, due to the very high muscle attachment points that are also what make them so amazingly strong and explosive for their small size. But an extremely flexible spine combined with the ability to dislocate key joints means they can still fit into very small, narrow spaces, presumably an adaptation allowing them to hunt small rodents that burrow and hide out in underground dens. Which I assume is why they have the instinct to immediately jump into and check out any box or cabinet or other enclosed space you open. You never know if there might be some voles in there.
    replies(2): >>41870472 #>>41870524 #
    9. stavros ◴[17 Oct 24 15:18 UTC] No.41870472[source]▶
    > You never know if there might be some voles in there

    I like to think I always know if there might be some voles in my boxes and cabinets.

    replies(1): >>41873167 #
    10. psunavy03 ◴[17 Oct 24 15:24 UTC] No.41870524[source]▶
    They actually prefer to jump in a box because to them, it's a safe space to hide and watch. Cats look for spaces like that because their wild ancestors (and feral cats now) are small enough that they are both predators and prey.
    replies(3): >>41870578 #>>41870584 #>>41947902 #
    11. jeffbee ◴[17 Oct 24 15:30 UTC] No.41870573[source]▶
    Horse is practically all air. That's their secret. They are blimps with legs.
    replies(2): >>41877773 #>>41881896 #
    12. fluoridation ◴[17 Oct 24 15:30 UTC] No.41870584{3}[source]▶
    Yup. Same reason why they like to climb to high places. They can feel safe and survey the surroundings. Additionally, cats will hide in confined spaces when ill or in pain; a sudden desire to hide for prolonged periods is a sign that it needs to see a vet.
    replies(1): >>41870999 #
    13. lisper ◴[17 Oct 24 15:31 UTC] No.41870590{3}[source]▶
    Clearly your dog has been possessed by a demon.
    14. squarefoot ◴[17 Oct 24 15:51 UTC] No.41870801{3}[source]▶
    Brought memories of one of my cats (now silent meow) who also added the Italian equivalent of a middle finger.

    https://imgur.com/a/GFukfFP

    15. kijin ◴[17 Oct 24 16:12 UTC] No.41870999{4}[source]▶
    I think a lot of oddities we attribute to cats can be explained by the fact that they are both predator and prey. No other animal we spend a lot of time with occupies such a schizophrenic position in the food chain.
    replies(2): >>41871034 #>>41871175 #
    16. hugocast ◴[17 Oct 24 16:27 UTC] No.41871131{3}[source]▶
    Dog Yoga
    replies(1): >>41874744 #
    17. jerf ◴[17 Oct 24 16:32 UTC] No.41871175{5}[source]▶
    I've noticed free-range chickens have some characteristics that derive from a similar position; chickens are not "predators" but they will happily predate if the opportunity arises, and they are also prey. Being birds and natural flock animals, it manifests differently, and there's some interesting behaviors I've noticed.

    "Chicken" as a synonym for "total, utter coward" is slander. Yes, running is their first play, but they do not just roll over and die like a sheep or a rabbit; if running isn't working they can and do fight back for all they are worth. And they don't have to be "backed into a corner" and only fight if it's the absolute last option, it just has to be as I phrased it: "running isn't working".

    replies(2): >>41873448 #>>41873791 #
    18. voidmain0001 ◴[17 Oct 24 16:32 UTC] No.41871176{3}[source]▶
    I'm also stupefied by a human doing it. https://imgur.com/a/W7bcLZo

    Taken from: https://www.gq.com/story/aleksei-goloborodko-real-life-diet

    replies(1): >>41873023 #
    19. johnnyanmac ◴[17 Oct 24 19:38 UTC] No.41873023{4}[source]▶
    Yeah, nope. If I get like that, I'm never coming back. Probably have to bury me in that pose.

    Is this really just a matter of stretching? I read the article and he sums it down to he needs to stretch every day (he said himself thst his diet doesn't matter too much) He was also in the circus since 4, but this doesn't seems like something I could do in a lifetime of practice.

    replies(2): >>41873146 #>>41877737 #
    20. Volundr ◴[17 Oct 24 19:54 UTC] No.41873146{5}[source]▶
    You probably couldn't. There are lots of forms of hyper mobility, and extreme versions come with health risks. With practice and training you can probably do a lot more than you imagine, but for most of us the whole "fold yourself in half backwards" thing is beyond the limits of our spine, and it's for the best.
    21. Volundr ◴[17 Oct 24 19:57 UTC] No.41873167{3}[source]▶
    That's just what the voles want you to think.
    22. armada651 ◴[17 Oct 24 20:29 UTC] No.41873448{6}[source]▶
    We owned a small chicken that roamed in our garden, but not long after we got that chicken our neighbors got a cat.

    We were worried their cat would attack our chicken at some point, until one day we saw their cat running for its life while a small chicken chases after it trying to keep up with the agile predator using its tiny chicken legs.

    From that day forward the neighbor's cat understood its place in the pecking order.

    replies(2): >>41876648 #>>41877279 #
    23. shawn_w ◴[17 Oct 24 21:06 UTC] No.41873791{6}[source]▶
    A rooster in full on attack mode can be pretty scary.
    24. alamortsubite ◴[17 Oct 24 21:21 UTC] No.41873932[source]▶
    When I pick up my cat and he's relaxed, it feels like I'm picking up a tube sock full of pudding.
    replies(1): >>41877758 #
    25. toss1 ◴[17 Oct 24 22:58 UTC] No.41874658[source]▶
    A stray cat I adopted as we could not find his owner was named "Beanbag" (transitioning to "Mr Bean", no reference to the comedian)for exactly this quality.

    After a few days of recovery and starting to get comfortable, he started to snooze and literally poured off the couch, like a bag of beans... and he loved to stretch in my lap while I coded, putting up with all the typing & mousing... Truly liquid, indeed! Wonderful little guy, I still miss him.

    26. austinjp ◴[17 Oct 24 23:10 UTC] No.41874744{4}[source]▶
    Doga.
    27. kylecazar ◴[18 Oct 24 00:13 UTC] No.41875143{3}[source]▶
    majestic indeed!
    28. spike021 ◴[18 Oct 24 01:39 UTC] No.41875617{3}[source]▶
    My Shiba Inu does all kinds of similar things. He also doesn't hesitate at all when trying narrow spaces. He only hesitates once he's all the way in and realize he can't go any further nor turn around so he has to back up completely back out.
    29. quanthdhdh ◴[18 Oct 24 03:21 UTC] No.41876087{3}[source]▶

        $ meme init
    meme template initiated
    30. kijin ◴[18 Oct 24 05:43 UTC] No.41876648{7}[source]▶
    A cat is like a small tiger. Ferocious at times, but mostly very cautious. If something doesn't work as planned, their default reaction is to abort asap.

    A chicken is literally a dinosaur.

    replies(1): >>41879762 #
    31. hnlmorg ◴[18 Oct 24 08:02 UTC] No.41877279{7}[source]▶
    > From that day forward the neighbor's cat understood its place in the pecking order

    Genius phrasing!

    replies(1): >>41877539 #
    32. razakel ◴[18 Oct 24 08:55 UTC] No.41877539{8}[source]▶
    That is the literal meaning of the term - the hierarchical behaviour of a flock.
    replies(1): >>41884563 #
    33. hnbad ◴[18 Oct 24 09:39 UTC] No.41877737{5}[source]▶
    No, it's not just down to stretching although I remember being told that as a kid when asking about "snake ladies" in circuses. Yes, the stretching and training is necessary but all the stretching and training in the world won't help you bend like this. Some people simply have hypermobilities (often from connective tissue disorders) and these can allow them to bend themselves into a pretzel. The stretching and training is as much for learning how to take it to such extremes as it is for learning how to do it (relatively) safely. Of course these conditions can still often lead to complications and often have other negative impacts like chronic pain, frequent bruising, slower healing and a tendency to dislocate various joints.
    34. hnbad ◴[18 Oct 24 09:42 UTC] No.41877758[source]▶
    We joke that our small cat (she's old but small framed and lightweight) can put her entire body weight into every individual paw at the same time when she wants. You can pick her up and she'll weigh next to nothing and she can run over you like a feather but she can also simultaneously have four lead columns for legs if she wants to. I'm convinced cats are four dimensional or something.
    replies(2): >>41878672 #>>41882346 #
    35. js8 ◴[18 Oct 24 09:44 UTC] No.41877773[source]▶
    Are you sure you're not talking about birds?
    36. dominicrose ◴[18 Oct 24 11:57 UTC] No.41878554[source]▶
    My cat can sleep with its head upside-down event if there's no apparent reason for it to do that. I have another cat tough, which is tough, heavy but small, and resisting any external force, also keeping his claws open.
    37. mesaverde ◴[18 Oct 24 12:15 UTC] No.41878672{3}[source]▶
    My 3 cats are all completely different in this regard.

    Cat 1: Fairly timid, very cautious cat, is remarkably light-footed. If she jumps on my bed and starts wandering along my back while I'm trying to sleep you barely notice she's there... that is until she has started hitting me in the face with her paw.

    Cat 2: Smaller more hardy cat is a bit more heavy footed, slightly less cautious, but she seems to make some attempt to be light footed.

    Cat 3: By far our biggest cat - and also the offspring of Cat #2. Does not try to be light footed at all. He just stomps around. If he climbs on to me, will put all his weight on his front 2 paws, and causes immense discomfort, as he stands there figuring out what he wants to do.

    I love them all the same

    38. fullstop ◴[18 Oct 24 13:29 UTC] No.41879280{3}[source]▶
    Mine managed to fit into this tiny basket, all by himself: https://i.imgur.com/htIw6ZV.jpeg
    39. keeganpoppen ◴[18 Oct 24 14:11 UTC] No.41879646[source]▶
    yes i think this model of cats is exactly right. kind of like how our fingertips would just be lumpy sacs without fingernails, cats seem to have structure and flexibility in the way that like a tent does.
    40. fluoridation ◴[18 Oct 24 14:25 UTC] No.41879762{8}[source]▶
    Also the cat was probably well fed. A hungry cat may not retreat so readily.
    41. hackeraccount ◴[18 Oct 24 18:02 UTC] No.41881896[source]▶
    I only went ridding a couple of times when I was a kind but the thing I remember is you'd start off on a ride ... then stop, tighten the saddle, start again and continue on the ride. Though I think maybe we'd do that twice.

    The other thing I remember is that brushing down horses was kind of fun - though I'll be honest at the end of the day I never really trusted those animals; they were just too damn big for my tastes.

    42. habinero ◴[18 Oct 24 18:52 UTC] No.41882346{3}[source]▶
    I'm convinced cats violate energy conservation, because they can shed an infinite amount of fur.
    43. hnlmorg ◴[19 Oct 24 00:04 UTC] No.41884563{9}[source]▶
    I know. That’s why it’s a great choice of phrase.
    44. kulahan ◴[25 Oct 24 18:08 UTC] No.41947902{3}[source]▶
    You say this with a high degree of confidence, including shooting down the other commenters’s idea, but as I understand it, the science on why they like boxes is still out.