There are many cases of petting a cat which appears perfectly happy, yet the cat suddenly "turns" and bites you, going far beyond any normal "play aggression" or "warning nip"

5 Arguments

0 Citations

0 Consequences

1 Mention

Arguments

Argument #56cbbb81 0 0 1

If it is true that...

Cats cannot easily control or veto the innate reflex to hunt 0 0 1

and

Humans are often the target of a cat's hunting reflexes 0 0 1

Then it must be true that...

There are many cases of petting a cat which appears perfectly happy, yet the cat suddenly "turns" and bites you, going far beyond any normal "play aggression" or "warning nip" 0 0 1

Argument #b73c36be 0 0 0

If it is true that...

Humans often accidentally imitate prey to cats 0 0 1

and

When a human imitates prey to a cat, it triggers the cat's instinctual hunting sequence 0 0 1

Then it must be true that...

There are many cases of petting a cat which appears perfectly happy, yet the cat suddenly "turns" and bites you, going far beyond any normal "play aggression" or "warning nip" 0 0 1

Argument #bdccc63a 0 0 0

If it is true that...

Humans often accidentally imitate prey to cats 0 0 1

Then it must be true that...

There are many cases of petting a cat which appears perfectly happy, yet the cat suddenly "turns" and bites you, going far beyond any normal "play aggression" or "warning nip" 0 0 1

Argument #e2bffca4 0 0 0

If it is true that...

Humans are often the target of a cat's hunting reflexes 0 0 1

Then it must be true that...

There are many cases of petting a cat which appears perfectly happy, yet the cat suddenly "turns" and bites you, going far beyond any normal "play aggression" or "warning nip" 0 0 1

Argument #ea20e11a 0 0 0

If it is true that...

When a cat can’t control play, it tips over into aggression like biting and scratching 0 0 1

and

Humans often accidentally imitate prey to cats 0 0 1

and

When a human imitates prey to a cat, it triggers the cat's instinctual hunting sequence 0 0 1

Then it must be true that...

There are many cases of petting a cat which appears perfectly happy, yet the cat suddenly "turns" and bites you, going far beyond any normal "play aggression" or "warning nip" 0 0 1

Opposing Arguments

No opposing arguments found

Citations

No citations found

Consequences

No arguments found

Mentions

Gwern/Cat Architecture

Maintained by

alexandershortt

0•

Updated

Related Propositions

Subjects who rate black cat photos as being hard to emotionally read also rate them as being less friendly, more aggressive, and less adoptable 0 0 1 The explanation for cats suddenly "turning" to attack you that they are "overstimulated" and have "too much energy" is not really an explanation so much as a label to explain it away 0 0 1 When a cat can’t control play, it tips over into aggression like biting and scratching 0 0 1 Humans often accidentally imitate prey to cats 0 0 1 When a human imitates prey to a cat, it triggers the cat's instinctual hunting sequence 0 0 1 Humans are often the target of a cat's hunting reflexes 0 0 1 Outdoor or feral cats are much more prone to spontaneous biting 0 0 1 A cat's spontaneous biting cannot be easily trained away or avoided 0 0 1 Cats can choke on a piece of toy, or get fragments lodged in its gut 0 0 1 The timescale over which cats remain habituated to toys is very long-minutes 0 0 1