Cats in Zero G

originally posted by: enament
a reply to: berenike

If you think that was bad come and see what it takes to give my cat a needle at the vet, its quite an ordeal.

Giving the cat a necessary injection hardly comes under the heading of mis-treatment.

Unpleasant as it may be for the cat, and as much as you can never give him / her a satisfactory explanation for it, I am sure the cat can be handled sensitively by yourself and the vet.

A far cry from traumatising an animal by subjecting it to zero gravity.

a reply to: SubTruth

Anything that would harm an animal physically or permanently or for a lengthy time I would be pissed, but I don't belive the cat was harmed

a reply to: enament
I have read through the thread, and have not seen this thought presented...
First - it was/is an entertaining OP. Thank you.
The cat was simply a participant in an experiment. Nothing good could come of it...for this cat...
But - they/we are talking about colonizing other planets, as well as, perhaps, mining the moon --- To improve the odds of survival, they'll want to know if we can take pets...and if pets can survive and thrive --- and --- which, pets.
If you gave the cat, or a dog, or other common pets...time, by themselves or with someone who cared for them ---would they pick it up (equilibrium)...and quickly?
Just a guess...or two.

a reply to: enament

This is amazing. I wonder what my dog would do lol.

originally posted by: enament

The cat doesn't seem to know what to do and seems quite concerned about how to right itself.
And now on to cats and pigeons.

That's the funniest thing ever. You see that cat's tail at the end?

originally posted by: enament
a reply to: SubTruth

Anything that would harm an animal physically or permanently or for a lengthy time I would be pissed, but I don't belive the cat was harmed

Cool I feel the same way. True worth is not judged by the empathy and compassion you show equals. These are both learned traits and thankfully parents are investing much more time teaching these needed tools.

a reply to: WanDash

Thank you for reading trough the thread. I believe the same as yourself. It sucks when people prejudge you without learning more about you, i am truly an empathetic person at heart.

a reply to: acehigh91

Check out the dog vid in my post lol, the dog didn't seem to mind at all.

a reply to: Asynchrony

Cats use their tails to gain balance, I would have been more interested to see the cats afterwards to understand how the coped with their experience.

I am a truly empathetic person when it comes to animals my favorite documentary is this:
viewer discreation is advised very graphic.

I have also begone a hobby farm for my love of animals.

originally posted by: enament
a reply to: WanDash

Thank you for reading trough the thread. I believe the same as yourself. It sucks when people prejudge you without learning more about you, i am truly an empathetic person at heart.

I for one, never judge a person by just one thing that they say or believe. In this case, I'm sure we can just agree to disagree on this particular subject.

originally posted by: enament

I doubt they would arrange a flight costing 10's of thousands of dollars and possibly over a 100 thousand just to abuse a couple of cats and laugh at it.

It doesn't matter what the intention is. If regular Joes were doing this, they'd be in jail. Having a credentialed "scientific purpose" is neither a license nor a justification for exploiting life, no matter what the benefit to humanity. We are getting something out of it (whatever that may be), but the animals most definitely aren't. That is exploitation.

Why is it so critical that we know how a cat tries to right itself in zero gravity? So important that we have to abuse the animal in order to find out?

a reply to: NthOther

I definitely believe the experiment should have had a better set up, such as a flat surface to toss the cat to instead of an irregularly shaped surface such as the side wall of the fuselage of the plane.

a reply to: enament

aggreed. we should test the effects of zero-g assault on these guys. see how they like to get smashed against a bulkhead wall a few times. you know, just to see what happens.

originally posted by: stormbringer1701
what got edited out: The cat latching onto the nearest stable object ( the experimenters) with claws locked and extended as if it was making a final stand. resulting in severe lacerations and a trip to the hospital for the experimenters.

Which is exactly what happened to the AF pilot who flew a zero-G arc in the 1950s with his pet cat in his lap to see what would happen. It dug into his thigh securely in four places. There's a video somewhere.

a reply to: JimOberg

I would love to see that video.

I think the cat was mistreated, but not by being into zero gravity field but by astrounaut throwing him like a brick against the wall. If someone threw him like that he would be frightened as well and there would be hard feelings, not to mention possible injuries by bouncing around with the force put on him in comparison to the cat. No wonder that the cat had hard time catching steady feeling under such force. It would certainly be different for the cat, if just released in the air. It might find its senses quickly enough and might even enjoy it.

So yeah it would be interesting to see a normal video how cat reacts to zero gravity...