My cat has suddenly discovered, after 10+ years of being on Earth–his own reflection. At this very moment, he is hissing at himself in the full length mirror and he has been doing so for the last ten minutes.
Before that, he was sitting on the bed next to me when the laptop screen went black. He hissed at his reflection on the monitor. When I tried to provide comfort, he hissed at me–like he does when he’s really jeeped up.
This is very puzzling behavior. For years, I’ve been trying to teach him to recognize himself in the mirror–holding him up in front of it and saying, “See how handsome you are!” And he would never do anything. I like to dance in front of the mirror (shuddup) and sometimes I pick him up and dance with him. All those times he never acknowledged himself. I just figured he was smart enough to know what he was looking at, big whup, or that cats are just blind to that kind of thing.
Now he’s terrified that there is another cat in the house. It’s funny, but I’m also kind of concerned.
I don’t dance with mine (nobody can prove it anyway) but I do try to show them their reflection sometimes. They never seem to care, they just look at the mirror the same way they’d look at a wall. Maybe I should stop trying to show them.
What’s weird is he’ll do the hissy-hiss thing in my mirror for a few minutes and then go to sleep on my bed. When he wakes, he goes back to the mirror–as if to say, “That motherfucker better not still be there!”–and what do you know? He starts hissing again!
I hope this isn’t a sign of feline dementia. It is very much out of character.
I hate to bring the thread down, but yeah, that was my first thought. He may very well have been uninterested in his reflection before precisely because he did know it was just his reflection. Now it looks like a stranger danger cat.
Would it be possible to take him to the vet? I’m not sure what they’d do, but there must be something to test. If he was a person, I’d want to evaluate him for a mini-stroke or oxygen deficiency. Do they have pulse oximeters for kitties?
There is no evidence that cats have the capability to recognize an image of themselves as themselves.
Only one non-primate land animal has been proven to interact with a mirror image is in such a way as to demonstrate that it understands it to be a self-image, and that’s an elephant. Mirror test.
BTW My cat Ashes tries to play with the cat in the mirror, sometimes.
I know, but we have a dramatic change in behavior in an elderly animal. That worries me. Could be a recognition issue, could be an eyesight issue, could be dementia, could be…I dunno. IANAVeterinarian, but any sudden dramatic change warrants a little looking into, IMHO.
That was my first thought as well - not that 10 years old is very senior for cats, but it’s always a good idea to rule out medical reasons for new, wonky behaviour in any animal.
This is something that’s always interested me and I’ve come to disagree with it. When you show a young puppy or kitten its reflection in a mirror, it clearly recognizes that it’s another puppy/kitten; barking, lunging, and posturing.
Eventually though they stop really paying attention to “the other” dog/cat. I have to assume that as puppies/kittens, they think they see another puppy/kitten and as adults, while they can still see the dog or cat, they know it’s just them and so they don’t react.
You’re assuming the puppy/kitten thinks it’s seeing another puppy/kitten - I’ve had the same experience. But I think you are wrong and anthropomorphising. The pup/kit sees something strange, doesn’t know WHAT the heck it is, so reacts as it would react to anything strange that it doesn’t understand.
Puppies and kittens and other baby animals react strongly to things that move, especially to things that move “in response.” That doesn’t mean they recognise what it is.
My Siberian Husky used to jump into play stance when she saw her reflection as a puppy. Then she’d try to dive behind the mirror and “catch” the other puppy. As an adult she once had a pair of Christmas antlers placed on her head. hangs head in shame and she couldn’t figure out how to get them off. She went to the mirror and looked sideways a few times, then hooked her paw under the elastic and pulled it up over her ear - thus freeing herself.
Just sayin’.
However, I do agree that a vet trip is in order. It may be that your cat had just “accepted” this mysterious other cat that lived in the mirror, but is now showing signs of feeling especially grumpy - which could mean she’s in pain or otherwise ill.
It’s possible that you are right. But I don’t think you are. I don’t think they’re just reacting to something strange or different. I really believe that they think they are seeing another puppy or kitten. They act a certain way when they see another puppy/kitten and that’s how they react to their reflection.
Interpreting their reflection as another cat or dog wouldn’t be remarkable, after all it looks just like one, and what happens for most is likely that when they first see their reflection they think it’s another animal, but eventually learn that the “reflection animal”, for whatever reason, just isn’t anything to be concerned with, so they permamently lose interest. Just like when they see dogs or cats on tv.
What they AREN’T doing is interpreting the reflection as their own.
I’m not in a good mood, dammit! And that crazy cat I always see is working on my LAST nerves today! Why is he always looking at me like that?! Hssssssssssssss!"
I just danced with Monstro (my furry little namesake) in the mirror, and he was his normal self. But that was in my dresser mirror, not the full-length one. Maybe he’s not alarmed because when I’m holding him, he sees my reflection? I need a cat psychologist.
My cat never reacts to seeing himself in the mirror when close up (such as when I hold him up to it), but sometimes he catches sight of himself in the full-length mirror from across the room and runs and pounces on his reflection. He also goes, “Brp!” which I interpret as, “Charge!” I think it’s seeing his whole body from a distance that causes him to think there is another animal in the room.
If you think it’s seriously stressing little Monstro out maybe put a blanket or towel over the parts he can see for now? I know it’s not the most aesthetic look for your house but you can always pull it down for company and if he goes to the mirror a few times and just sees fabric maybe he’ll forget about it.