Cats Love TV

There are days when we feel bad for the city kitties we know, stuck in the apartment, without a window to a yard with squirrels and birds to peer out of - all they get are the noises from construction sites. But then a friend sent us a photograph of his cats, Oliver and Dodger, enraptured with the "Kitty Goes Hunting" DVD. Apparently Oliver and Dodger will sit on the couch for an hour and just follow Kitty's adventures with various animals. An hour! And we thought cats would only sit still if they were on top of the bills we were trying to pay! Sure, sometimes cats will bat at the TV when we're watching National Geographic, but now Gothamist wants to know about the world of cat video products. If not "Kitty Goes Hunting," then should we be showing the cats Winged Migration or Microcosmos? Born Free, maybe?

Do you have any suggestions for what cats should watch on TV - you know, instead of them sitting on your keyboard and watching the rips of whatever was on last night?

Photograph of Oliver and Dodger in their DUMBO loft by Russell Granger

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts and Events on October 12, 2005 1:14 PM

Comments [rss]

Catalin L

My cat loves potato salad but hates play doh shrimp.

Ray Rajan

My cat ate a hamburger for lunch on Friday.

Kent B.

My perambulating cat has too much dopamine and too many mirror neurons.

Lucien Crowder

I will leave the Olympics on during the day to entertain my cat. She likes figure skating.

Tommy Murphy

My cat thinks social norms are inherently arbitrary as well as stifling to individuality.

Secant

Cats are cats, facts are facts.

Adam

This is bizarre, but I found this site while searching for the phrase "Do cats watch winged migration" on Google.

I was recently given a "Winged Migration" DVD as a gift, and I watched it tonight for the first time.

My cat has never shown the slightest interest in television beforehand. In fact before tonight the only things she has ever been interested in consisted of food, little balls to chase, strings and sock toys. However, my cat sat in front of the tv screen staring at "Winged Migration" for 15 minutes. She then approached the tv and got on her hind legs for a few seconds in an apparent attempt to get a closer eye level view (my tv is on a stand).

I then on a lark put my ottoman in front of the tv as it would allow my cat to be at eye level with the tv. After a couple minutes my cat got on the ottoman on her own volition and continued to watch the movie with her eyes glued to the tv for 25 more minutes.

I live in a Baltimore high rise, and my cat is not allowed outside. To my knowledge, she has never even seen a bird. Hence, I do not know what she thought she was viewing, but she clearly was watching the DVD "Winged Migration" with extreme interest.

I did the same search on AskJeeves and other people had reported similar experiences with their cat(s) and this movie.

r.j.

my gigantic mustache is stalinesque. i look like some extra who inevitably dies in a movie explosion.

Catalina L

Yay FX

Kent B.

My cat thinks Bernanke is a dove.

F

I snuck my cat into the theater to see the newest Harry Potter movie. He liked it.

stinkysona

My min pin loves tom and jerry cartoons

Catalina L

New York Times writes about a new internet radio station for cats-- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/arts/02pet.html ... This station is perfect as it is customized for cats. My cat (Toshi) will never again have to endure regular radio and its nonsensical monologues about whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates for the 12th time and retain the "measured pace" phraseology.

Kent B.

i went with my cat to see 'capote' on wednesday. not exactly mesmerized, my cat fell asleep for about 40 minutes. the cat was also confused that the protagonist had negative traits, implicitly assuming that a movie protagonist has to be a heroic figure. after the movie the cat said the eponymous capote was depicted as a philistine. because of the non-tansparency of the characters, cats probably won't like this movie. but readers of 'in cold blood' might like it.

Ray Rajan

my cat is aptronymic. i named him "cat."

Kent B.

my cat is supercilious. u give hiim some freedom and he gets so cocky. just useless.

J. Hyena

My mouth waters when I think of cats. My howl is impeccable.

Diego Cisneros

my cat is ventripotent

Clint Portis

my cat, a walking advertisement for veblen's conspicuous consumption, bought a $200 top-brand leash

Catalina L.

my cat has a fake designer collar

vincent bunds

my cat is a faux-cynic/closet optimist

Kent B.

my cat thinks she's a bird

Ray Rajan

my cat eats spaghetti

Jim Oreo

my cat dances

Delores Enzo

i'm almost as condescending (for no reason) as my cat

Jim Snack

my cat wears sneakers

Jim Oreo

i like cats.

DeLores Enzo

my cat ruined my life

Clint Portis

cats love jim cramer's show on cnbc-- http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/001876.html

Ray Rajan

my cat went to see 'proof' this weeekend and walked out after 45 minutes ... said it was a barely masked recycling of 'beautiful mind'

Kent B.

Plavique, my cat, intransigently refuses to watch almost all sit-coms, often complaining about how formulaic those shows are. His favorite shows are "Curb your Enthusiasm" and "Seinfeld." He laughs like a hyena when those shows are on. Plavique occasionally will watch sporting events but only on mute because he doesn't enjoy the trite commentary of the announcers.

t.o.m fishpaw

my cat likes to watch "finding nemo" & any kind of football matches..i'll probably end up buying "march of the penguins" for him as well...

Catalina L.

Toshi (my cat) really likes lasgana and barbeque.

Diego Cisneros

My cat loves CNBC and promulgates "Meow!" each time Ron Insana appears.

MooseAndSquirrel

Another vote for Video Catnip. I also had a cat who loved to watch basketball games with me.

autrement qu'etre

Mine went apeshit during "The Birdman of Alcatraz," with requisite batting of screen and running behind the television.

Brightliner

My cat doesn't watch TV. She's usually either on the 'net or playing Grand Theft Auto.

Paige Turner

Yes Dear is the only show my cats will watch.

Kat

I used to leave Comedy Central on for my cat when I knew I'd be out for a while. That way I could be sure nothing too scary would come on.

J

No "Cats Gone Wild" videos?

Those cats in the picture are soooo cute. I've got to get my cats one of those videos! They say if you have 2 cats, they're supposed to keep each other out of trouble, but one of mine has a serious belly-licking problem...maybe the video will help.

Gary

My cat likes to watch bukkake.

bcat

All my friends are really into Kitty Corner, on Brooklyn Cable Access and the interweb!

http://www.misterchen.net/tv.html

Ms. Meowski

Video Catnip (www.cattv.com/VideoCatnipDVD.h...

and Animal Planet...especially dog shows and The Planet's Funniest Animals.

anon

My old cat Sebastian always loved figure skating. He was a very swishy siamese.

jenna

I had a cat who really liked watching the Spanish channel. Never quite figured that one out.

Dirk

That DVD is so stupid.... yet, I'll probably end up buying it... sigh....

marisa

My cat LOVES watching baseball on tv! she follows the ball around when it gets it and sometimes tries to catch it.

Kath

My cats have loved the Feathers for Felines video for years--I've given it many times as a gift to other cat people. Basically, it's just birds flying around, but cats go mental for it. The best is when the cats try to go behind the TV set, looking for the birds. Where did they go? Here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000646UL/002-6183777-6289661?v=glance