My cat usually ignores the television when it's on, and probably wonders what the huge fascination is all about, yet she will sit on the couch with me whenever the set is on. I guess she just likes that companionship for a couple hours a day. My parents have a cat who likes a certain television personality and he will come running whenever that particular man is on a show. He will jump up onto a chair and just sit, staring at the set until that person is gone and then he will resume doing whatever it was he was previously doing. We think it has something to do with that person's voice, because that cat will come out of the woodwork from anywhere in the house if he hears it. Another cat we used to have years ago, would watch only if he heard a cat meow on a TV show or movie. Then he would come into the room and stare at the set until he got to see the cat, then he was satisfied and would walk away again. I think he just wanted to make sure there wasn't a real kitty in the house with him. A third cat would watch only if a certain movie was on. He would stick around for most of the movie, which is, at least in my experience... unusual. I've known cats who would watch if a dog barked on TV, some watching with interest and others with hackles raised. I've had a lot of cats over the years so I've seen a lot of this. I've also seen a lot of cats who couldn't care less... my girl included.
So how about you... do you have any stories about television watching cats? Can't wait to hear about them.
06-09-2016, 02:40 AM, (This post was last modified: 06-09-2016, 02:42 AM by kfander.)
My cats are briefly caught up in television every now and then, more often with commercials, probably because of the rapid motions. They have a poor attention span as far as television goes, however. Most of the time, when there is a cat on television, they don't seem to recognize it as a real cat, even if there is a meow involved, but every now and then, a cat meowing on television with get everyone's attention. For the most part though, television is as non-starter for them.
One exception, though. There is a series of videos known as "Cat Sitters." I have three of them. They play in a loop, meaning the restart once they have played all the way through, and they consist of scenes of various critters that might get a cat's attention, including mice, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, etc.
When we lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina, I couldn't let my cats outside so I bought these, and would put one on before going to work in the morning. Despite the fact that they had, by then, played all the way through several times, I have come home to find four of my five cats sitting on the couch watching these videos with rapt attention, their heads following the movement on the screen. I refer to them as "Cat TV" but the actual name is "Cat Sitters."
Those cat sitting videos sound very interesting. Twice a month we have to leave our cat alone and go visiting parents for several hours. One parent is allergic, so we can't take our kitty with us, and the other parents love cats but our cat hates them for some reason, so it's just easier to leave her home. She does miss us when we're gone and can sometimes get a bit destructive, knocking stuff around and I usually leave the radio on for her because she's used to hearing it when I'm home. I'm thinking perhaps those videos would be perfect for her. I could turn them on in the morning and just let her watch when she pleases, all day long. You say they play in a loop... does that mean they are VHS tapes? I have a player for both VHS and DVD but I haven't seen a DVD that replayed itself automatically. My cat does sit in the window and watch critters a lot. I call that her 'kitty'vision. I suppose she spends a considerable amount of her alone time doing just that. I'll bet she would like those videos, but even then, she doesn't have the gumption to sit there all day doing one thing. Still, it might help to keep her amused for a while. If she gets bored she can go off and take a nap and come back later to resume watching.
Well I have always wondered what is going through my cat's mind when they are looking at the television. It is not made any easier to imagine given the fact that it really has varied depending on the cat, with how they reacted to seeing something on the screen. My little guy seems a little scared, and he will glance over for a little bit and then scurry away, while looking back as he leaves. It is actually pretty funny to watch, but it is not as bad as the cat I had growing up, who was really scared of it. I have also seen some cats who seem to enjoy it more, so I guess it just really depends on the personality of the cat, and maybe even what is on the TV...maybe a cat show would get their attention. Interesting stuff, and thanks for sharing.
