fingers as cat food?

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2 total messages Started by peter wu Sat, 22 Mar 1986 05:32

#1586

Author: peter wu
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 1986 05:32

19 lines
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*** 
A few articles back somebody mentioned that his wife stick her
fingers with food in a cat's mouth and got chewed on. 

What I like to know is exactly how good a cat is in distinguishing
human parts from food. Is this a born instinct or does it have to
be taught to recognize fingers?

I always tried to be careful when hand feeding a cat or just playing
with it after I touched some food. So far, none of the cats I played
with had mistaken my fingers for food even though some will lick the
food off my fingers. I suppose if my whole finger is 'wrapped' in
tuna the cat will probably bite in. But I like to know how much
food on the finger is safe and how much is not. And, does the cat
not bite my fingers because my fingers don't smell like food
or is it because it knows fingers are part of the person who is
feeding it and therefore should be respected?

peter

Re: fingers as cat food?

#1585

Author: Herb Kanner
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 1986 20:49

18 lines
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In article <2052@uwmacc.UUCP> wu@uwmacc.UUCP (peter wu) writes:
>*** 
>A few articles back somebody mentioned that his wife stick her
>fingers with food in a cat's mouth and got chewed on. 
>
>What I like to know is exactly how good a cat is in distinguishing
>human parts from food. Is this a born instinct or does it have to
>be taught to recognize fingers?


It goes both ways.  My first cat bit my finger to the bone when I 
extended a finger toward it.  This conditioned me for some years,
but all my cats since then have knwon the difference between food and a
finger.
-- 
Herb Kanner
McDonnell Douglas (TYMNET)
...!hplabs!oliveb!tymix!kanner

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