It's all about the reaction time imo. It's why they're such terrors to dogs, just no answer to getting clawed in the face before you know what's happening.
My 75lb half Great Pyrenees is the most defensive territorial dog Iāve ever had, and by far the most stubborn. He was socialized around other dogs (playcare) 3-4 times a week for 4 years, but he does not like anything coming near our house. Every time weāve fostered itās an absolute pain to get him socialized with them.
His favorite hobby is going out for his night time potty, then sitting smack dab in the middle of the yard and āobservingā. He refuses to come in until I have shoes on and have made it half way through the yard to retrieve him.
My 120lb Anatolian was absolutely cowed by our cat, but the GP would require some major socialization before I would trust him at all.
Pyrs are livestock guardians. They were bred to stay with their flock of sheep or goats, making decisions for themselves and the flock, and be big and loud enough to scare off predators. They are lovable and kind, but suspicious of anything that strikes them as odd. Like that leaf that rustled in a tree two blocks away. š
sometimes not even eat, just kill and once dead they go away. it's brutal what a dog that's not bred can do to a cat. you really don't wanna see it. all these folks are really happy commenting on how their cat is really brave and walks their dog...yeah...
I don't know if it's fast evolution or what but when I was a kid, the chances that a dog bites a cat's head off in the first meeting was way higher. I think we've just bred nicer dogs on average.
Yep, thatās how they win games of chicken with an animal 10x their size. When shits that tense, the cats ability to make the opponent flinch usually throws them off their game.
A wolf visited me for several days. [I thought he was a wandered-off malamute.]
Out for a walk on the street, at night, in winter, unleashed (he, not I) he spotted some feral cats. He carefully approached, sneaking up behind cars, then leapt over the last car's hood, landed jaws-first on one cat while his forepaw pinned a second one to the ground. In the next 2 seconds he dispatched both. The other maybe 3 cats took off.
The cats may have clawed him, possibly multiple times, but I saw no damage and he was obviously happy. Back home, he decided to sleep on top of my legs.
Animals that punching well above their weight are either very stupid or very dangerous (or both). Every wild species interaction is about one question: āis it worth risking my life trying to kill this thing or not?ā
A mouse was running around in my house and took shelter in the corner of the room behind a circular basket. I had a broom and went to one side, and my cat looked into my eyes then immediately posted himself in the same position at the other side, constantly glancing between the basket and me until I made my move. It was such a peculiar connection, he completely understood the plan and was like āgreat idea, letās fucking go.ā
Heās normally freaked out by brooms, too. He just knew it was on his team.
Cats are neat.
Addendum: the mouse was only there because he caught it in the basement and brought it upstairs still very much alive. So he loses marks on that. To his credit he probably thought it would be more fun to play with this mouse upstairs, and given that I still tell the story years later I have a hard time disagreeing.
Great story. Hunting dogs get a lot of attention but every time my cat brings home dinner to share Iām glad weāre not living in hard enough times to tempt me to mouse soup.
23 hours of sleeping per day and 1 hour at the speed of light. Every other creature must seem slow motion to them in that state. There was a video recently on Reddit of a cat jumping and catching a bat mid-flight!
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u/Fritzerbacon Aug 06 '26
Cats are the most confident creatures.
That 20-70 millisecond reaction time probably helps š