Invisible Cats

[RogueFemale]

Yes, odd thread title, but bear with me.

Today I was discussing with ChatGPT the effects of a joint supplement I’ve been giving to my ageing cat - LLM because no human could possibly endure my insanely detailed chats about my cat.

I was saying I hadn’t seen any sign so far, that the supplement was working. The product says results within six weeks or money back (it’s only four weeks so far).

ChatGPT then told me that the product’s claim is based largely on research on dogs, not cats. The primary product is for dogs. They launched the dog product in 2009, then the cat version in 2012.

And I thought huh? and this is like Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. But for cats. I’ve also seen a few articles in recent years about how scientific research on cats and cat behaviour is way behind that devoted to dogs.

Yes, cats are harder to study because they are less cooperative than dogs, and don’t like to leave their home territory. But it struck me as an interesting coincidence that the animal more closely associated with women, and sometimes as a misogynistic trope - crazy cat lady - is also the one that has historically received less scientific attention and study.

Another parallel. Cats are notoriously good at disguising pain, and so feline pain has historically been under-recognised and/or dismissed. Compare the history of women’s pain being dismissed, reported symptoms ignored, etc.

Coincidence or not?

[Sorry if this is a bit weird cat lady].

Brilliant, OP. No such thing as coincidence. Of course the capitalist patriarchy also hates cats.

Not remotely "weird cat lady" (or, if it is, Go cat ladies!) Really interesting.

This may be a bit weird, too, but does anyone else feel like cats and dogs kind of reflect gendered stereotypes? Like, there's this brash, foolish, rough'n'tumble confidence to dogs that does feel a bit... well... masculine? And cats tend to be more clean 😂wary, and excel at the teen-girl psychological warfare with the hard stare and pointedly hunched back.

Cats are certainly more easily overlooked, anyway.

Sorry for brevity, en route to bed - but something to ponder!

I guess some of the above comes from size in cats and humans both. Much easier to bound through the world taking on all comers when you're bigger and stronger (although that doesn't explain the teeny yappy maniacs which sometimes seem to be the fiercest - feel they have something to prove?🤔)

This is all probably something that's occurred to everyone else, though - and far less interesting than OP, anyway, so will shut up now!

The teeny yapping maniacs are Begbie in dog form.

Is it YuMove by any chance? Also been dosing elderly cat with it, much to his displeasure, and not see any improvement despite double dosing as recommended. Not sure it's worth the 15 quid. I just hate seeing him so stiff and grumpy.

Weirdly you've just reminded me that a very long time ago, when I was quite young, like adolescent age, I persistently called all cats she and all dogs he.
So I'm totally on board with this theory of yours! 😂

Yes, YuMove. My vet recommended it. Some of the reviews on Amazon are very encouraging. I'm still hopeful since the science of double dose for six weeks is based on dogs not cats!

tbh I don’t really buy your ingenious theory op. The greater amount of medical research involving dogs rather than cats is, as you say, partly down to their greater trainability but also because apparently they’re physiologically more similar to humans. And dogs are also good at hiding pain.

The ‘gendering’ of dogs as ‘masculine’ and cats as ‘feminine’ is about as sexist and daft as all gendering!

I dunno. There's a reason it's man's best friend 😁

Although dogs were more valued than cats in one respect, you had to report to the Police within one week if your car struck a dog but a cat? Nobody gaf. I think that might have changed recently? I like dogs and cats but I'd rather be a mad cat lady.

I don’t know about medical research but I do think that the whole ‘I hate cats’ thing is inherently misogynistic, as is the crazy cat trope.

The law is still that you don't have to report a dead cat if you kill it with a car, but you do if you kill a dog. There have been petitions about this, but nothing ever changes.

The car thing may to some extent be because cats are more likely to be free roaming with no collar, dogs are generally supposed to be under control and wearing a collar. Now they all should be microchipped that difference in identifiability should have gone.

IDK about dogs being man’s best friend - well, perhaps they are but IME many dogs prefer women to men!

I think it's quite common for young children to believe cats are all female & dogs are male.

Of course cats are female. They aren't clingy and expecting you to clean up after them. And can take themselves for walks.

Dogs are prized for their loyalty. Cats are seen as "other" and self sufficient.

No wonder in the past they were the sign of an "independent" woman living outside of the male prescribed normal structure.

Attached image that shows women are seen as the weird outsiders by men. (Not really related but wanted to share on FWR after seeing it circulated on FB. Hope MNHQ doesn't think it to weird to display!)