For about a week, I’ve noticed that Tonka seems to watch the TV. Today he was intensely watching Tarantula (1955), and seemed to be afraid. After the movie, Ben Mankciewics was interviewing people, and he seemed afraid of that. Now he’s hiding from The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
Maybe he just doesn’t like 50’s horror flicks?
Our dearly departed kitty, Socks, started to watch TV fairly frequently after we got the big-screen 1080p set. He reacted most to shows that had a lot of contrast and moving graphics (the intro to the nightly news fascinated him). Nowadays, our Siamese mix, Nico, has also taken to watching, but she’s only interested in nature programs. The only time I’ve seen her look afraid, or maybe offended, was when we watched “My Cat From Hell” and there was audio of a cat spitting and growling. My daughter believes Nico just doesn’t think they should allow language like that on television. She does seem to go through cycles of being interested in the TV and ignoring it completely. Perhaps something in Tarantula grabbed Tonka’s attention and put him on watch? If so, the effect might fade with time.
When the movie ended, he got up to eat. We do have a 46" TV.
It’s okay to be afraid of spiders that are bigger than you are.
The SO mentioned that maybe he sees B&W better, so contrast with movement might be it. Five Million Years To Earth (1967) is playing now. It’s in colour, and he’s not paying much attention. Too bad. It’s a good film.
I used to have cat that watched Hockey and would try to catch the players on the ice.
He didn’t care much for referees and would claw at them the fastest.
Let him watch 8 Legged Freaks and report back on his response.