It took me all freaking day to realize why Asher was doing solo cat choir for almost 3 hours in the morning. I swear to Creator that Asher must be an ND cat. He was unhappy that 2 parts of his fave hallway carpet runner weren't in proper place. He was literally trying to stomp 2 corners down & when he couldn't keep them down - started aggressively huffing/snorting/caterwauling - until I picked him off the floor. Asher commenced yowling, until I fixed the carpet runner to his satisfaction. Then, laid down, stretched out & took a 2 hr nap.

I'm a domesticated human slave to a 6.5 lbs cat.

Can cats be autistic too?
@PhoenixSerenity last night i was refilling the food machine and washing the bowl that attaches to it, so i put some dry food in the dish Luce gets her wet food in in the mornings. she would not eat it because it was in the wrong bowl
@forestine This is adding to my thoughts.
@PhoenixSerenity @forestine
Boomer can't eat unless I'm sitting in the chair beside her plate. Her plate is the only round one in the house, she doesn't like a bowl but totally won't eat from a square plate. She has all sorts of weird little anxiety behaviours. Dogs can definitely be ND.

@silvermoon82 @PhoenixSerenity @forestine

I have to be next to my cat for him to eat, too. He gets fed wherever I happen to be, and his food needs to move when I do.

@PhoenixSerenity
All cats are autistic.
@pathfinder All human professionals say they cannot be. But I've met cats who show autism traits heavily & those who show zero ND brains in action.
@PhoenixSerenity I don’t see why not. We believe our Ghost (black cat) is autistic. He hyper fixates, needs to stick to a routine, among other things.

It seems that I'm far from alone in trying to figure out if #cats can be #autistic too 😺

#Caturday

@PhoenixSerenity
Dogs are a social species.

Cats are a solitary species, so how would you even know if they are autistic?

@tofugolem Cats aren't a monolith. My cat freaks out if left alone. While most cats prefer solitary time.
@tofugolem I'd say - humans as a whole are also social species. Yet, there's always gonna be humans who prefer to never deal/interact with other humans unless it is essential. Many animal species are the same - even if their species is supposed to be more social. There are introverts & neuro differences in every mammalian society.
@PhoenixSerenity
They can prefer it all they want, but our instincts are what they are, as are the instincts of every primate species I can think of.
@tofugolem I've met several extreme hermits - they don't want more social interactions. I try to listen to them to understand why they made personal choices to fully exit the worlds that you & I live in/know. I'm learning a lot from doing this kind of human to human, honest immersing communication.

@tofugolem @PhoenixSerenity

Cats is a large family and many, including house cats, have complex social relations.

@f800gecko @PhoenixSerenity
It's not at all like the social interactions of a species that relies on a social group for survival, though.
@tofugolem @f800gecko I'm interested in learning more about people & animals that buck against that & are still surviving pretty well.

@tofugolem
Have you spent much lived time with self chosen hermits, who live off grid & have done so for over a decade? I know more than one person here, who still lives in that hermit lifestyle. I had almost same perspectives as you - 20 years ago.

@f800gecko

@tofugolem @PhoenixSerenity

They aren't really solitary. Feral cats live in matriarchal colonies of relatives, raising the kittens together. Feral toms generally hunt solo after leaving the home colony, but will sometimes buddy up.

@Fishercat @PhoenixSerenity
That is strange then, given their personalities. They always struck me as utterly selfish in a way that only makes sense for a solitary species.

Dogs behave in exactly the way one would expect of a social species.

@tofugolem @PhoenixSerenity In my experience, their personalities are as distinct as humans' are. I had a cat who came to comfort me when I was sick. He had recognizable vocalizations that meant human words, including my name. And more dignity than a Zen master.

My spouse dubbed my current cat a dog in a cat suit, and it totally fits. He's incredibly social, indiscriminately affectionate with everyone he meets, and wants to please enough that he'll sit up and reach out with his front paws when urged to. He has self respect, but absolutely no dignity.

@Fishercat @PhoenixSerenity
Yeah, they are unique, which is what one would expect from a solitary species.

A species using socialization as a survival strategy is going to need more standardized behavior.

@PhoenixSerenity Cats love Things Being In The Right Place.
@static So do I & almost every single person I know on autism spectrum.
@PhoenixSerenity I used to have chairs that looked like that, but they were much darker. I kind of dig them.
@gudenau They're solid hardwood chairs that we got for quite cheap at a moving out garage sale, years ago. Nice & sturdy.
@PhoenixSerenity The ones I used to have are like 30 or 40 by now, that lines up pretty well.