# Bonsai Kittens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420 "2003-05-06T15:45:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/1 "2003-05-06T15:45:32Z")
I recently saw a website called [bonsaikitten.com](http://bonsaikitten.com) which was a spoof site discussing techniques for keeping kittens in various shaped containers so that they eventually stayed that shape - stars, rhombuses etc…I thought this was very funny and well pulled off spoof but, judging by the responses from some people, others were not quite so amused…any thoughts on this? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/2 "2003-05-06T16:05:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WILLASS \* > I thought this was very funny and well pulled off spoof but, judging by the responses from some people, others were not quite so amused…any thoughts on this? Well, some people are credulous humourless boobs. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/3 "2003-05-06T16:10:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*Well, some people are credulous humourless boobs. \*\* …who believe _anything_ they see on the 'Net is on the up & up. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/4 "2003-05-06T16:12:50Z")
I was absolutley astonished at the level of vitriol that some people could muster at what in my opinion was very obviousley a spoof. Are some people not aware of spoof comedy or are they just as thick as two short planks? ---
**Author:** ![Nangleator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19adc/32.png) [@Nangleator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nangleator)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/5 "2003-05-06T17:01:43Z")
For some reason, cat cruelty and jokes about cat cruelty are remarkably funny for most people. Cat lovers are quite disgusted by this, and can react strongly and without thought to any instance of such. They’re only humorless with regard to cat jokes. I am a cat lover who likes the jokes about cat cruelty, as well as harmless pranks played on cats. (I particularly like the scotch tape trick, where you apply a single length of tape from head to tail, along the spine. This short circuits the cat’s nervous system and convinces them they’re under a low ceiling. Kitty squirms away as if carrying a heavy, invisible weight.) ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/6 "2003-05-06T17:04:34Z")
Oh geez, the bonsai Kittens… I received an email from a co-worker, actually sent to my whole group, asking to sign a petition to stop this from happening… I had to let her know it was a joke, and she wasn’t amused… I can’t believe people are fooled so easily. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/7 "2003-05-06T17:30:50Z")
I suppose its re-assuring that there are people out there that put that much effort into trying to raise awareness and to stop ‘bad’ things from happening…its just a shame they are too stupid to realise whats real and whats not! Aaah bless em! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/8 "2003-05-06T17:54:43Z")
It’s not at all obvious that it’s a spoof. You can also find webpages of people who deliberately inbreed cats to produce malformed crippled kittens, and think they’re “cute”. Given that people will do that, it’s a short step to believing that folks would grow “bonsai” kittens and think they’re cute, too. Mind you, I have no problem with spoofs and satire, and for all the longer those kittens on the page were posed, they probably enjoyed it (cats seem to enjoy being in tight spaces, so long as they can leave when they want to). But the joke needs to be a little more obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/9 "2003-05-06T18:05:11Z")
That’s what it made me think of, those “munchkin” cats that are bred to have extra-short legs, the poor things. I figured “Bonsai Kittens” was a joke, but I think it is in bad taste, and not even particularly funny. ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/10 "2003-05-06T18:14:58Z")
I admit I was tricked once by that, actually posting about it here, and then a few minutes later started thinking about it and went back and realized it was a joke. But got a lot of well deserved razzing. But I don’t think it is clever or funny either. And guess what. People actually do torture animals like that. And I’ll even bet some twisted kid saw that website and tried it himself. For real. And had a big laugh about it. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/11 "2003-05-06T19:30:03Z")
There are a lot worse things than Munchkins cats, which can still function to some degree (though I agree breeding Munchkin cats is wrong). Do a google search on “twisty cats” and you’ll pull up a lot - that’s probably close to what **Chronos** was talking about. They really are malformed. I thought the Bonsai Cats were pretty damn funny. I have seen kittens crawl into some pretty strange, really tight places, including jars. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/12 "2003-05-06T19:40:19Z")
Here’s a link to an intelligent, informative article on the ethics of breeding cats with (or for) deformities. [http://www.messybeast.com/twisty.htm](http://www.messybeast.com/twisty.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Faerie\_Nuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/76d3ee/32.png) [@Faerie\_Nuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faerie_Nuff)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/13 "2003-05-06T20:14:49Z")
The joke needs to be more obvious? Have you been to the site? have you actually read it? The things proposed there are physically impossible. Sure, maybe it’s in sort of poor taste. But as a person who usually likes cats more than people, I almost fell over laughing at the site. It’s funny and anyone stupid enough to try it at home is already in need of some serious therapy and probably imprisonment. The people offended by the site should lighten up and learn how to take a joke. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/14 "2003-05-07T06:22:12Z")
I get fed up with the argument that ‘some twisted kid’ might see it and try it himself. That applies to almost anything in the entertainment world, if someone would try to grow a cat into a star shape they would have to be mental anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/15 "2003-05-07T06:35:29Z")
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… bonsai kittens… mmmmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/16 "2003-05-07T06:50:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Big Bad Voodoo Lou \* > \*\*That’s what it made me think of, those “munchkin” cats that are bred to have extra-short legs, the poor things. > \*\* How’s that different from a basset hound? As for the bonsai kittens, I don’t think it would be as funny if so many people didn’t think it was serious. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/17 "2003-05-07T07:02:47Z")
You are right Miller, I actually got more amusment from the responses by outraged cat lovers than from the site itself. Some of them are screaming racist abuse and voicing there extreme disgust, expertley demonstrating their obvious stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/18 "2003-05-07T11:10:33Z")
And I’m going to have to demand a cite for any instance of someone inspired by the site to make ‘real’ bonsai kittens. ---
**Author:** ![pcarney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@pcarney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pcarney)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/19 "2003-05-07T12:17:30Z")
A friend told me about this a while ago, aghast at the cruelty. After looking carefully at the website (ie clicking through it quickly) it seems like a hoax to me. As FisherQueen asked, I would need some reference to a person really trying these things to get outraged (and you won’t like me when I’m outraged). ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420/20 "2003-05-07T16:19:34Z")
I first heard of that site six or eight years ago. Never thought it was anything more than a joke. I stopped by again recently and it’s just not as well done as it was before. I don’t think I ever found it “funny”, but thought it was a fairly well-crafted spoof. Although they have a “picture frame” made from a “cat pelt” (a fake fur and Photoshop creation) that I do find rather funny on their Bonsai Kitten Kids page. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bonsai-kittens/173420.md?page=2)