Do other pets watch TV?

[MargaretD]

Silly really, but our cat was fascinated by the programme on BBC2 about reindeer yesterday, with Johnny Kingdom.  He had settled on our knees - scrawled acorss both of us - as we were watching the programme.  My husband had to get up to do some work and the cat took the opportunity to move closer to the TV to keep watching.  He only watches a few things.  Apart from Johnny he also watches Bill Oddie.  I wonder if it is the mens softer voices, the way they move thier arms as they speak or whether it's just the wildlife... But as soon as the music finished, off he went to sit in front of the fire!

M

[mint]

some years ago, i did have a cat, timmy, who watched 2 sorts of tv programmes.  he liked watching snooker and you could see his head moving back and forth as his eyes followed the balls.

the other sort of programme he liked was the ones with birds (understandably, i suppose).  he'd go up to the screen and tried to touch the birds and, when he found he couldn't, he'd often go round to the back of the tv to see if they were hiding somewhere out of his reach.

strangely though, he never seemed to take any notice of mirror images.  i'd hold him up to mirrors and there wouldn't be any response

we now have a dog who doesn't watch tv as such but reacts to the radio, particularly on the farming programme on radio 4.  if she so much as hears a dog on it, she'd start barking and going round the house to look for the supposed intruder.

she also does not react to mirror images but she will bark at reflections of herself on windows in the winter evenings if the curtains are not drawn

i have read that only primates are self-aware enough to recognise themselves in mirrors but, as i don't keep monkeys of any sort, i am unable to verify the truth or otherwise of that

[fulcrum]

I am sure that cats have some appreciation of 2D images on the screen. But one thing is for sure, cats do notice things that move horizontally across their field of vision rather than vertically or stationary. Hence the interest in snooker.

[TWINKLE]

That's so funny!

I used to have a cat who loved watching us play darts!  We had a dartboard in our other house and he would sit on the stairs by the side of the dart game and make attempts at catching the darts by throwing himself off the stairs into the path of the projectile!  He liked us to throw him things like wine corks which he would catch and then bring them back to us like a dog!

[PossumGirl]

Maggie has always loved certain things on TV.  She's a big fan of One Man and his Dog (well, she IS a Border Collie).  She also used to get very excited when we would play a video we'd made of her friend, Charlie Dog in Los Angeles.  She would go behind the TV to try to find him, and then she would go out in the backyard to see if he was there.  Because Charlie was a Collie, she also was fascinated any time there was a programme with Lassie on it, because she thought that was Charlie.

She likes other animal programmes and also some cartoons.  There was something on Animal Planet a few years back about a woman in Australia who raised joeys when they'd lost their mothers.  She not only watched that, but would put her head down and close her eyes during the commercials, then start watching again when the programme came back on.

We were curious as to whether Shmoo would like TV or not, and he mostly doesn't seem to care, but did enjoy watching BABE the other day.

PG

[Dick Smith]

Cats can perceive colour, although rather crudely, so snooker balls might attract them. They are also programmed to respond to movement, so again moving pictures might attract them as well. As their vision is adapted for low light their visual acuity in daylight is actually quite low, so broad movements would again seem up their alley.

We used to have a cat that reacted to TV sound, especially other cats. But they aren't actually very bright, and if you can't fight it, eat it (or persuade it to feed you) or mate with it they really can't be bothered.

[Coco]

Our previous cat, Claude, used to love watching the snooker and would try and paw the balls.  Our current one has only one or twice in 15 years shown any interest in the TV but he does perk up if he hears other cats or dogs on the TV. 

Another observation that I have made is that he has always been terrified of the upright vacuum cleaner - even after all this time and will skirt round the room if he gets cornered and then make his getaway.  I've noticed in the last few weeks he has stayed put in his basket in front of the woodburner even if I come right up to him and had presumed that he had finally overcome his fear in preference to moving from the heat.  However, the other day he has just sitting on the settee by the woodburner and I as soon as I turned the Hoover on he was off.  Today he has stayed put in his basket, even though the woodburner isn't yet alight but watching his head as I hoovered was like watching someone watching a tennis match.  He followed every move I made but even when I banged his stool with the Hoover he stayed put.  I've come to the conclusion that because the sides of this basket are higher than his previous one he thinks that if he lies down flat, which he does, that he can't be seen by the "monster" and is therefore safe where he is.  Anyone else experienced this sort of thing?

[Dick Smith]

I once tried to Hoover a cat (silly of me, really) and it took weeks for the gouges, cuts and general abrasions to heal...

The only thing that ever came close was trying to get a cat to take a worming tablet.

[MargaretD]

Hoovers and tablets!  Done them both today.  We're going to England on New Years Day, so hoovering the house (with our cat always running to the next room to be cleaned!) and then to the vets.

The vets comment to us was "I know they don't have rabies in the UK, but surely they have worms and flees.  He doesn't seem to have either.  The English go a little over the top, don't they?"  To that we all agreed, including cat.

BUT we used to have a cat who loved being hoovered and also ate tablets off your hand - he also had six toes on every paw.. (honest) M

[Chrissie]

One of our dogs loves watching TV - any programmes involving animals, although dogs which misbehave or play with toys get a good woofing.  She also likes watching golf, having been out with me on the golf course.  I think she is looking for herself - she was once shown a home video of HER raiding the kitchen bin and not only recognised herself but slunk away, lay down and covered her eyes (well, almost).

The other dog cannot see TV at all and is very confused by the first dog's reactions.

My uncle's cats were always hoovered and used to come up and beg for it - must have saved lots of fur-clearing-up.  I wouldn't dare try on ours - we'd end up with feline psychiatric bills!

Chrissie (81)

[Bernice]

Our siamese cat loves watching programmes on TV about birds and bird watching . He often goes up the the TV and taps the screen.    He will sit and watch the whole programme then get up and walk away at the end! 

Bernice

[Pip]

My old Border Collie, Jess (sadly no longer with us) loved the telly.  She particularly liked any programme with animals.  Trouble was, if we weren't looking, she would press her cold wet nose against the screen to get a closer look.  Not good from a safety point of view and I was forever cleaning the smudges off !!  We also looked after another dog for a couple of months that would howl the minute the theme tune from Eastenders came on - she was never interested enough to watch it though  [:D]

[fulcrum]

[quote user="Pip"]We also looked after another dog for a couple of months that would howl the minute the theme tune from Eastenders came on - she was never interested enough to watch it though  [:D][/quote]

Humans can have that reaction as well.

[Deauville]

We tok our dogs to kennels outside Wolverhampton a couple of times and they used to play Radio 2 for the dogs and BBC2 on TV for the cats, they reckoned that the dogs needed music to calm them and the cats needed the stimulation!

[londoneye]

not quite the same, but my dog appears to recognise different languages very well - if i speak frrench to her she runs outside and looks over neighbours, even if i deliberately use words that i dont think my neighbours use to her (they all have a chat with her on the way past !).    other day we had some il divo on stereo and she went ballistic, barking at it and cocking her head from side to side, something she has never done before with stereo.   i can only assume that it was because it was italian rather than english or french ?    anyone else have pets who react to different languages as well as tv pictures.    

[mint]

yes, our dog does not like italian.  when my husband tries it on her, she looks at him as though he has gone mad and immediately leaves the room

if he speaks to her in welsh and claims that she understands, i have my doubts because she seems to me like she is just indulging him!

i have only tried french on her once or twice (she hasn't been to france yet but will be going later this year), she looks hard at me as though she is trying to understand

she also reacts to music.  when the radio put on some breton music once (i think it was a programme about folk music), she went over to the radio and turned it off by knocking it on to the floor!

when we go to france (and so far we have only ever been a few days at a time) and our dear cleaning lady looks after her, she tells me that roxie does NOT like the music her husband puts on in the car (mainly country & western, that kind of thing).  she thinks it is because the dog prefers classical music because that is mainly what we have on ourselves

i find all of this quite amusing but i haven't really thought anything about it until your post

[Renaud]

Rocco has only ever been interested in Sooty.

[Megan le Fey]

[quote user="Pip"]  We also looked after another dog for a couple of months that would howl the minute the theme tune from Eastenders came on - she was never interested enough to watch it though  [:D][/quote]

My husband howls the minute the theme tune from Eastenders comes on as well, then dives for the remote to change it[:D][:D]

Edit:

Oooooooos Fulcrum,  you got there first and I missed it.[:-))]

[Llantony]

My little Cavalier King Charles spaniel does - she barks at animals, including cartoon ones.  What really amazed me recently was that on Flog it there was a ceramic pot lid with a picture of a cat's face and Molly barked at that too!  She lives peacefully if not amicably with 2 cats.

[Meg]

Mog loved watching TV when he was a kitten, and the washing machine (although i sometimes find it interesting to watch.)

He's not interested now, but occasionally goes a bit mad with the cursor on the computer screen!! (Must know it's something to do with the mouse!!) Our other cats haven't shown any interest.

[ali-cat]

Our Penny loves all sport!!  Expecially, football, snooker & cycling!!  She chases the bikes or balls around the back of the TV - I have photos to prove it - but unfortunately they are in storage in Belfast!!

Accent wise - she gets really upset if Mark puts on a Scottish accent & runs away - no idea why, but it always works if we want her out of the room!! [:D]

[verviale]

My cat likes watching  football,and also runs to the phone when it rings.