Appearance Associations & Animals

This is my first thread and I have a simple little question for all to ponder:

Would a white cat act any differently around another white cat, than it would around a black cat?

I am interested in any scientific data, should any exist.

The point of this post is to question whether or not humanity is the only race which recognizes physical appearance amongst their own kind as a sort of ranking structure. I do not mean this in the sense where certain apes attract females with their blue genitalia- I am talking about purely aesthetic physical differences.

Obviously not every human does this, just as I would expect not every animal to.... but has there ever been a study done where a family of white cats rejects an introduced black cat (colors and animals stated are hypothetical) for no conceivable reason other than it's color?

I look forward to discussing!

what a weird question.

reply to post by MR BOB


What a great weird question.

www.answerbag.com...

wiki.answers.com...

Not so much racism maybe call it speciesism. But as far as cats go i would say that because they're cats it doesn't matter what colour they are to each other.

Just like it doesn't matter what color a human is its still a human.

Its interesting to note that animals can be trained to be racist just like humans

Originally posted by Steilhe
Its interesting to note that animals can be trained to be racist just like humans

This made me think of question #2:

In these situations, does the "singled out" animal behave as if it appreciates it's apparent inferiority?

Would being one of these "hated" animals cause it to behave abnormally? Possibly harmfully/aggressively?

Originally posted by MR BOB
what a weird question.

Thank you for your thoughtful input, 'tis greatly appreciated.

reply to post by ninecrimes


The idea of animal racism makes me laugh. But why not?

We can distinguish between colours of humans, why can't cats.

But i guess, there are loads of different colours of cats. Cats in the same litter normally can vary alot in colour, so i think they might be used to it.

With humans, you have the black and whites. Okay there is yellower people, more tanned people, olive skin etc, but not as much variation as in the cat world.

They must get used to it really.

Jacob

reply to post by ninecrimes


lol, sorry but i was kind of speechless.

I have had up to 15 cats in the house before.(dam slutty girl cats)
and have not noticed the difference in behaivour towards eachother,

but I have noticed the way they are treated as they get old is much differant. and when they are pretty decrepid and basicly a zombie they are left alone completly.

[edit on 13-7-2009 by MR BOB]

reply to post by MR BOB


The cat example was just an example.. what about brown bears and black bears?

The point of my question is to ponder why our species is the only one who hate their own kind for purely aesthetic reasons. Are we born that way, or is it encouraged socially? Why can only some people "see past it"?