Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
My wife found a tiny kitten all alone in our backyard and after some investigation discovered it had fallen out of this cat nest… (Source: http://ift.tt/2s8KLXD)
Let’s talk about the astounding similarities between cats and autistic people, and how we should make them the official autism mascot instead of that godawful puzzle piece
Oh man, now you’ve got me going!
Firstly, cats stim. They purr, swish their tails and knead their paws against pillows, blankets, and other soft things. Many cats actively seek out sensory experiences, like listening to birds singing, lying in a sunbeam, rolling against the grass, etc.
Cats have sensory sensitivities— many of them dislike walking on certain flooring, touching certain textures, and certain smells or sounds may make them anxious. Their fur is very sensitive, they can sense the lightest touch, or speck of lint, or dust and their skin will quiver until they can lick or rub it off. When they become overstimulated cats retreat into a small, dark place to recover.
Cats love routine. Many cats know the exact time that their owners wake up in the morning and will wake them. A cat with a routine is a happy cat— they love to have their meals or soft food on a schedule and will learn their owner’s schedule. Cats will become anxious when the schedule is disrupted or if their owner doesn’t follow their usual routine.
In the same vein cats are very wary and/or anxious when it comes to the introduction of new things or people into their environment. Cats require time and patience to get used to anything or anyone newly introduced. Cats also feel anxious when existing furniture is rearranged or when a new smell (like an air freshener) is introduced into the home.
Cats often have “special interests”, a particular activity or thing that they love and can spend hours enjoying. It could be playing with a particular toy, chewing on something, listening to the radio, or watching the clothes in the washing machine. My cat Kitty has a certain ball that she fixates on and will happily enjoy and obsess over for hours.
Finally, cats have a very distinct and subtle body language. The difference is particularly evident when compared with the exuberant, unsubtle dog. The slightest twitch of a tail or turn of the ears, the frequency and timing of blinks, and the positioning of the tail in relation to the body are all little movements that can express much. To the untrained eye it may appear as if a cat is bored, aloof, or unaware of its surroundings. But once you learn to recognize cat body language and understand cat communication, you’ll be amazed at the depth of emotion and how expressive your cat really is.
Yes, I think that cats have a lot in common with autistic people. And that’s wonderful!
also can I add to this:
cats like to show their affection just by sharing the same space. a cat will generally want to be in the same space as you, even if you’re not really interacting and are half way across the room. still hanging out!
they don’t always want to be touched, and can be easily overstimulated by physical affection.
they don’t like to make eye contact.
their body language is often misinterpreted- and then they are blamed for it, or have negative motivations ascribed to it. a cat following you around is stalking you instead of wanting to hang out. a cat that doesn’t want to make eye contact with you is ignoring you instead of being polite. a cat that lashes out because it’s over stimulated, or you ignored their body language telling you to leave them alone is suddenly an asshole who hurt you for no reason.
Those people obviously don’t realize the extremely high kill rate for cats at shelters, not to mention that people literally dump indoor cats outside when they don’t want them anymore, and indoor cats often die due to starvation/predators (duh they have no survival skills).
Also - I might also be crying.
Jackson Galaxy is awesome. His story is is that he used to be a drug addict, and that while he was in the beginning of his recovery he saved a stray cat and nursed it back to life, and in return the cat essentially did the same for him, and ever since then, he’s taught himself everything there is to know about cats and their behavior. Cats saved his life, so he’s saving cats lives. He’s awesome.
All of the above. How often do you see people freak out over a lost dog, or a strange dog in their yard and desperately try to find their owner? You see a cat wondering around your yard, or hiding somewhere on your property and ‘it’s just a dirty stray’. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Cats are seen as ‘disposable’ pets. It’s disgusting.
Also, Jackson Galaxy worked at a shelter for a long time, and eventually it was his job to euthanize the cats that they couldn’t home.
Marie, a member of the German cat message board Katzen-Forum.de where she is known as Anjuli, has been active in animal welfare in and around Berlin for many years. When she went on holiday to one of the many beautiful Greek islands, she encountered something she could not look past.
Near a small Greek village on the island Andros, there were countless of strays, some of them in pitiful health conditions. She found an older male with ears blackened from skin cancer; three little kittens, abandoned and motherless; a young female, near-death sick and in dire need of medical care.
The source for these abysmal conditions isn’t so much the fact that nobody wants to care for them or feed them - cats are skillful hunters, and the climate on the Greek islands is favourable - it is the fact that none of them have been neutered and that their numbers are rising drastically with each new female that can become pregnant several times in one season.
Marie therefore decided that she needed to do something to help these cats and to - probably not end but - drastically reduce their misery by neutering the females. Some cats also received medical treatment with the help of a vet close-by, but naturally, funds are limited and Marie cannot save them all.
In order to help them - not just immediately but long term - Marie requires financial aid. She is currently not working for a welfare organisation but has taken on this project privately, with her own funds, time an energy when she spends all the vacation days she can take to travel back to Greece and care for these cats.
Marie couldn’t leave the dangerously ill female whom she had named Liza (picture 2 above) in her life-threatening condition. With some medication and care by an acquaintance in Greece, her health was improving quickly. On Marie’s last visit, she took Liza back to Germany. Liza has been negatively tested for FIV, vaccinated and, just yesterday, neutered. As soon as Marie has found someone for her, she’ll be given away to a forever home where she can spend many years happy and healthy.
One of the cats of the pack has already been neutered on Andros and returned to her pack. It is difficult to catch the females at the opportune moment since many of them are already pregnant or in heat, but Marie’s objective is to have as many of them neutered as she can.
Marie knows that she cannot end the desolate conditions many of those cats live under, and she knows that there are many more places just like the island where she encountered these cats, but she had to start somewhere and do something to at least improve life for these beautiful creatures.
If you want to help Marie and help those cats, you can donate to her PayPal account: catsatandros@gmail.com
If you have any questions, you can contact me any time. Same if you’d like to adopt a cat from Greece, though that would only work if you are a German resident since Marie is taking the cats to Germany first.
If you cannot donate, please signal boost this post. I, Marie and the many cats on that island will be very grateful.
Some more images and info after the break (some of them are a bit shocking, but I wanted to add it so you can see the condition some of those cats are in)
This worth spreading around. @petermorwood and I have met cousins of these cats (on the island of Hydra) and they live lives of (mostly benign but not always) neglect. Anyone who’s helping them is doing a terrific thing.
