The Feline Couch Potato
MSNBC.com ran an article today about the increasing amount of shows that target pets instead of kids. I thought Grace was just weird for loving to watch TV but maybe it's not so uncommon.
From the Article:
A survey conducted by the American Kennel Club and Iams Co. found that almost 50 percent of all dogs surveyed showed some interest in the small screen.
“There’s no doubt that television has an ever-increasing animal audience even if their attention span varies from a few minutes to several hours,� says animal behaviorist Dr. Nicholas Dodman of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and author of "If Only They Could Speak."
“The fact they watch proves how visual and thinking animals really are," says Dodman. "Their interest in the small screen has nothing to do with their olfactory senses.�
Gracie absolutely LOVES to watch TV and I've wirtten about it on RCS before. She really prefers programs on The Science Channel but she'll watch almost anything, including dramas that don't have many scene changes. In addition to the visuals, she often seems to respond to the audio, slightly flinching when there's a loud boom or doppler style sound effect. Sometimes she'll lay directly behind me with her front paws on my right shoulder and her face just slightly in front of mine. From this vantage point, I can see her eyes track the movement on screen and it's pretty funny to watch her reactions.
Bentley and Ellie don't seem to be that interested in the tube and I don't think Sally is intelligent enough to even know the scenes are changing.
So my question is, do any of your pets watch TV?
August 22nd, 2005 - 10:49
One of my cats occasionally will watch, but I can’t predict when. More funny to me is that any time I turn on the television if we’ve been sitting quietly reading or something, that flashing noise that precedes the actual programs coming on causes him to emit a small cry. He does the same thing whenever I sneeze.
August 22nd, 2005 - 10:53
My lab likes to watch the shows on Animal Planet. He generally just lies down about five feet from the set and will watch for an hour or so before becoming bored.
August 22nd, 2005 - 12:51
On occassion both Roxy & Morgan will briefly watch TV. Saturday night Jay had the movie Cat Woman on and Roxy was a bit perturbed at a scene or two with all the cats – I think it was more the meowing than the visual of the cats though that bothered her. They like my monitor too at times!!
Nance
August 22nd, 2005 - 14:39
lol, my cat is a junkie and I’m thinking about getting him his own 42″ plasma TV. He always gets what he wants anyway. :)