Is your pet autistic too?

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Whats typical for cats resembles autism in humans.

So an NT cat would be ...autistic. Kinda like how "winter" is summer in the southern hemisphere, and summer is winter.

Dog behavior is more like neurotypical human behavior. So a neurodiverse dog would behave like an autistic human.

Dragonsanddemons,
Very interesting about your cats. Thank you for sharing that.

Joe90 and naturalplastic
Thank you for the explanations. They made tons of sense!

IsabellaLinton
I so loved reading about your pets and daughter.
Your mention of the cat who liked to follow on dog walks reminds me of a stray cat I was buddies with a few years ago. She would chase me on my runs and weave in and out of bushes trying to "beat" me home. Or I'd swing in my hammock and she'd bat at my feet. Cats are such fun animals!!

Double Retired
Hahaha, touche'

Cats are all autistic.

I think my fish were autistic. They seemed to love the sensation of water, and they had a particular stim -- they would always wiggle and blow bubbles with their mouths. They weren't very social, and their eye contact was somewhat weak.

I'm not sure about their nonverbal IQ, though.

Compared to humans yes, but for a cat it's normal, so technically an 'autistic' cat is a neurotypical cat. Neurotypical only means "what's neurologically normal for that species", not how social it is.



This did make me laugh.

More on cats...

Apparently many cats, like many of us, are introverts.

Daily Paws ^{reported in Yahoo!}: "So Maybe Not All Our Pets Were Thrilled About Us Being Home So Much During the Pandemic"

When I married my bride she had two cats. One of them followed me around. She wasn't acting like a dog, she was acting like a clingy girlfriend. The feelings were mutual! 

Thank you Axeman!

Isabella Linton
Hahaha!

Joe90 and DR,
Cool stuff about cats. And the pandemic affecting our animals in that way. From what I have heard colleagues at work say, their dogs were delighted to have more company. My friend with 4 cats also mentioned they were more content when she was home with them. Maybe a personality thing?

My rabbit acts a little autistic and/or ADHD. He likes everything in his cage to stay the same, and if I move something he'll nibble me. He also likes to repetitively run around and needs to chew on things all the time, and if he doesn't have chewable toys he'll chew other things (that particularly sounds like me ). He also doesn't like being held, but tolerates it. He'll throw a little fit if you hold him too long though. He also has a very short attention span which keeps me on my toes when he's running around, because he will get into anything and everything in a couple seconds.

Yes, it's true. Mollie the Cat was a brazen hussy! And I was dropped like a dirty sock by her, only considered good enough to dish out kibble and clean out the cat box. And during her final days (she lived to be 20 and a half years old) I was a convenient person to barf on.

Even considering all of that, I do miss her. But I miss her sister even more!

I knew that when I brought this thread to my bride's attention she could not resist getting involved! And I knew "hussy" and "dirty sock" would be part of her response!!

What she does not mention is that Mollie was wonderful, saintly, and my girlfriend, and could not keep her paws off me. While her sister, Missy, thought outside the box too much (the kitty litter box!). Though I admit that other than that, Missy was a wonderful little old lady. But Mollie and I were in love!

P.S. My name is not "Bill" or "William". My bride just likes the example set by the bride in Kill Bill...a bride being a force to be reckoned with...and my bride is. She is my adult supervision!

Hero of Hyrule,
Your rabbit sounds like such a good match pet-wise for you. He is lucky you understand him. Haha about the chewing thing. Totally relate. I used to love to munch on straws. With sea turtles and plastics being a big no no, I gave that up though. The little guys are worth it, but do miss the straws!

DR and The Bride

Hahahaha, this is quite the saga. Love triangles, litter boxes and loss. It has it all.