There was a disagreement on the internet about a cat meme recently. A graphic designer known for colorful cat-themed t-shirts made one of the million “just do it” memes that flooded the internet in the past week.
This meme pictured a black cat, with the text “Bite someone for no apparent reason. Just bite them.” The first time it showed up in my Facebook feed, I cringed at the implied message that cats were unpredictable and willfully mean. But I also saw the graphic had lots of likes and shares, and I didn’t want to joust the windmill on the internet. It has continued to bother me, though.
About Cats Who Bite
The thing about cats that bite is that unlike that meme implies, most of them do give at least a tiny bit of warning, if you know how to look. It might just be a flick of a tail or a change in the angle of the ears, but cats do tend to telegraph their intentions.
Aray cat bites a human hand. Photo credit: depositphotos/OlegTroino
Cats who don’t give the expected warning signs sometimes gave up on trying to communicate “I’m done now” when their humans consistently didn’t pick up the cues. Unfortunately, We humans aren’t so good at picking up the subtle signs, so often cats get labeled unpredictable or ill-tempered when the human just didn’t know when to say when.
My Cat Who Bites
The truth is that I have a biter who doesn’t give much warning. And it’s not funny. It worries me.
My cat who has a tendency toward biting gives very small warning signs, the kind that are easily overlooked, like dilating pupils. It’s okay with me because I know how to read those tiny signs, but I know that many people can’t.
It worries me to think what would happen if my cat ended up at a shelter and behaved that way. Do you know what happens to cats who bite? Your local animal control considers cats who bite a rabies risk even if their rabies shots are up to date. They are quarantined for ten days. That’s supposed to happen for bites that happen at home or in an animal shelter.
FIV positive cats can have longer stays in shelters because people are afraid to adopt them. Photo credit: depositphotos/Buurserstraat38
If there’s any doubt about the cat’s continued behavior or health during quarantine, they are subjected to rabies testing. Rabies testing is done by killing the cat, removing the head, and shipping it away for a laboratory for testing.
So no, I don’t really think cat biting is much of a joking matter. It could have dire consequences.
Biting can be a death sentence even if there’s no rabies testing involved. Cats who bite and end up in shelters are considered unadoptable and are put down. That happens even in many no-kill shelters.
Beyond Obvious Dire Consequences
No one wants to hear about a cat being put down for being a biter. Some people defended sharing the meme that implied cats bite for the fun of it was just stating the obvious because “cats are jerks.”
I’ve talked before about the fact that cats aren’t jerks. Cats are just cats, and they follow their instincts.
Cats are following their instincts when they bite, too. There’s a reason for their behavior, whether it’s overstimulation or feeling threatened. If you can step back from the situation and take a look at it, you can often see what caused the cat to feel they needed to bite. When you identify the cause, you can prevent it in the future.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who just want to say, “My cat is a jerk” instead of analyzing what happened. They are missing out on a deeper understanding of the cat they share their life with, and they may be setting themselves up to repeat the situation again.
That just helps perpetuate the myth that cats are unfriendly and unlikable, and it doesn’t help to get more cats into happy homes. Isn’t that what we all want most of all?
Let’s All Think Before We Share Memes
I understand that many people surf the internet to find a good laugh, not to learn a lesson, so they don’t want to think too hard about memes. They just click the heart icon or “like” and maybe share the meme if it made them laugh.
Black cat with laptop. Photo credit: depositphotos/HASLOO
If we all took an extra second to think about the message being sent by the memes we share on social media, we could prevent the entrenchment of more misconceptions about cats. Ask yourself how the same message would sound if it was about a dog. It wouldn’t be good to share “funny” messages about dogs biting unpredictably, would it? Then maybe hold off on sharing the cat biting meme, too. For cats’ sake.
I didn’t see that meme, but I agree with your concerns. Biting is not a way cats should communicate with us. As clawing is not either.
A well-treated cat does not bite or claw other cats, other pets, and humans. It mean they are uopset and something is wrong in their lives.
It might be a physical pain they are reacting to, it may be a psychological problem, or it might be general medical problem.
Or maybe nobody took the time to show them love and how to be gentle with their humans., if you are just gentle and understanding with your cats they will learn it’s better to purr or knead you than bite because they will get a more rewarding relationship out of it.
I agree. We adopted a 3 year old from the shelter some years ago and she was a biter. I believe she was abused for her first 3 years of life. She had lost all trust of humans. We worked with her. Had a behaviorist come over (that really didn’t help much). But we both knew if we took her back to the shelter it was her death sentence. It took around 5 years for her to trust us. It wasn’t easy. I had to go to the emergency room twice as the bits became infected. But we persisted. We learned to watch for the small signs that she did not want to be touched and we gave her space when she wanted it. The result? After 5 years she became the most loving, intelligent and happy cat we have ever had. It just takes time and love.
THANK YOU! I loathe this meme for obvious reasons, as a therapy cat who decidedly does NOT bite, ever! And any human who says cats are jerks is wrong… in fact, they are probably pretty jerky. I don’t understand why humans find humor in ignorance that ultimately hurts a living creature.
I agree with what you wrote 100%. I haven’t seen the meme, but cat bites are certainly nothing to joke about. I’m a nurse and I also volunteer at an animal shelter so I’ve seen first hand what can happen to someone who gets bitten as well as what happens to cats that bite.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on that meme. There’s nothing funny about cat biting.
as you know, I totally agree with this. People often think their words don’t matter (sticks and stones and all that jazz) but they do… often far longer and far deeper than a stick or a stone.
Thank you for this
Yes yes yes. We have a “biter” here and we keep a close eye on her. But memes like this do such a HUGE disservice to cats. I’ve seen this defended with “it’s just a joke” but with thousands of cats dying in shelters every day, it’s not funny.
I saw that meme and once again wondered why it was okay to talk bad about cats! Well said!
I’ve had to retrain a biter that I adopted, he was a big 3 year old Norwegian so it was no small thing – he was just playing but ouch. He was never socialized to stop it when he was a kitten. He’s still a bit quick but I know why and I see him coming and he doesn’t bite bite if you know what I mean – it’s a you know I hate that comb and if you do it again I might really mean it warning bite. I have a litter of adorably obnoxious bitey kittens I’m training right now. I did get a laugh out of the meme – I thought it was cute. But I didn’t really see it as the same thing that I wrote up when I wrote about communication. It’s what happens when people don’t understand communication with cats. Well jousted.
We saw that Meme and thought about how black cats are the last to be adopted anyway without making them sound mean.
The Florida Furkids
The only good thing about that parody image that you’ve mentioned, is that it’s a gorgeous photo of a gorgeous black kitty! I didn’t like it at all, and you aren’t the only one who objected to it!
That’s true. Not all memes are funny! And encouraging one to bite (even though cats don’t read) is in bad taste.
We agree with you! Humans can sure be not bright at times.
Great post. Thank you.
Four paws up to you for taking a stand about this!
I loved that meme. I just took umbrage that it was a black cat which struck me as racist. I bite and I give no warning. I wake Pop up with my teeth in his arm or let. The only warning might have been issued years ago when they should have found out that any part of them not covered up was fair game.
I love every word. And you’re right. If someone started that same type of meme about “jerk dogs” and those dogs who bite and those who hurt and maim cats…how VERY unpopular that would be! Spreading that sort of meme about cats is a terrible disservice to the animal we love. I never have and never will.
We didn’t see that meme, and we wouldn’t have shared it. Lexy may nip someone from time to time. She’s never aggressive, just a little nip. Mommy wonders if that’s why she looked for her forever home as long as she did.
My mommy has a Co-worker who asked, incredulously, if you could stop a cat from grabbing your hands, scratching and biting if you touched their bellies. Isn’t the bellies and feet of our cats the most lovable and smoochable and what we want to touch the most?
Mommy told her that of course she could stop the bites and scratches as long as you stayed calm, soothed them and letting yourself go loose until it isn’t fun to kitty to bite and scratch anymore.
When you want to rub their belly, start with the face, cheeks, neck and then the chest while praising them all the time. This could take days or weeks depending on how much the cat trusts you from each proceeding interaction! Take it slow if you don’t have an immediate bond with the cat. If you love them, they will love you back.
If it’s toes you want to be able to touch for grooming, just take it slow and hold hands while he/she is sleeping next to you and occasionally caressing the toes. They will get used to it and learn to enjoy it. Then clipping their claws is no problem plus they are less likely to scratch you.
If they do scratch, do not pull away. Just freeze your hand and gently tell them no, that hurts. If you don’t pull back, they will withdraw their claws and won’t keep pulling at you with their claws.
The main thing is to communicate what you want and don’t want with gentle action and smooth loving words.
P.s. this should work somewhat on dogs too. You just have to have a strong relationship between yoU.
Especially because they used a black cat!!!! Black cats already have a hard enough time being adopted not to have this meme hurt them too. I foster cats and I cant tell you the times I got them because they were “unloving jerks who bit me”. Its the other reason I hate declawing. You say you did because they were scratching you but what do you think they’re going to do without their claws for defense, bite. I know if I get bitten more then likely it was my fault for overlooking the fact the cat had had enough. My one boy that I have now won’t bite me at all. He just gums me. I remember when he ended up in my neighbor’s back yard and couldn’t get back because he only has three legs. I had to enlarge the hole and drag him underneath, as soon as he realized it was me he stopped resisting or trying to bite.
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