IF YOU THINK CATS AND CUCUMBERS ARE FUNNY…THINK AGAIN.

Cat sitting in stairs and cucumbers in a bowl

EDITORIAL PURRSPECTIVES

Family, friends and acquaintances always tell me about the funny cat videos they see on the internet. Lately, I’ve been approached by several people about the “cats and cucumbers” craze and how funny they think this is. I saw the videos, and in short, they’re not funny.

It’s not funny. It’s mean.

Think I’m being overly sensitive? Scaring your cat and causing undue stress for your own amusement is not funny. It’s mean. Cat behaviorists agree that startling your cat is wrong:

“If you cause stress to an animal that’s probably not a good thing,” says Jill Goldman, a certified animal behaviorist in southern California. “If you do it for laughs it makes me question your humanity.”

I’m not sure that the “cats and cucumbers” fascination rises to the point of animal abuse as defined by the FBI, but it certainly isn’t nice or funny. Loving pet owners do not intentionally frighten their pets. They protect them.

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