Pop goes the kitten

May 15, 2013 6:29 AM

Take a slippery, wooded floor, two stoic lizards and a somewhat too energetic for its own good kitten and you have all the makings of a successful cat video.
posted by MartinWisse (53 comments total)

I'm so glad somebody posted this.
posted by Kadin2048 at 6:45 AM on May 15, 2013

I wish instead of returning the camera to the lizard, they had instead focused on the kitten shaped hole in the nearby door or wall.
posted by Atreides at 6:45 AM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

And, from the "related videos", we have this gem.
posted by pmv at 6:45 AM on May 15, 2013 [10 favorites]

That was total "OMG IT TOUCHED MEEEEEE EWWWW IT TOUCHED MEEEEEE."
posted by Kitteh at 6:47 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

And, from the "related videos", we have this gem.

Oh my god that almost killed me stone dead.

"Mmm...blim. Moooowwwww. Mmm... blim."
posted by emmtee at 6:55 AM on May 15, 2013 [7 favorites]

LIKE
posted by rmless at 7:05 AM on May 15, 2013

I love the way the lizard at the end seems to be all "WTF? What did I do?"
posted by Decani at 7:09 AM on May 15, 2013 [5 favorites]

I had a bearded dragon, and can tell you they're not stoic -- they're just totally chill and charmingly clueless.

I'm conflicted by this video. I'm pissed that anyone would think it's a good idea to let a cat anywhere near lizards, for everyone's health (teeth and claws vs. salmonella) -- but I still had to laugh at the kitten's reaction.
posted by Foosnark at 7:15 AM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

[Scared Kitten goes crazy! in one act.]

"Stupid humans, why did they put me in this damned harness? Don't they know it makes it hard to walk? Fine. I'll just stand by this greenish thing and sulk.

Actually, this greenish thing smells kind of interesting.

Holy shit! The greenish thing moved. It crept away, but I saw it. Damn harness, I'd have been able to investigate it further had I not been hindered. Still, it's gone now, and I'm safe.

Hang on, weren't there two of those green thi WUAAGAHA!!"

fin.
posted by quin at 7:19 AM on May 15, 2013

I think the real scare was when the second lizard told the kitten how this lizards ruled things, and then the birds were in charge for 150 million years, so little mammals should watch their manners if they don't want their won extinction event.

Lizards are slow, but they have a good grasp of psychological warfare.

Also, kittens will believe anything.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:27 AM on May 15, 2013 [13 favorites]

Flippity kittens are awesome.
posted by rtha at 7:27 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

And, from the "related videos", we have this gem.

Don't tell me you missed this thread?
posted by MartinWisse at 7:28 AM on May 15, 2013

I sat behind someone on the el last night who was watching this repeatedly. And laughing each time. Sometimes I just feel like an anthropologist.
posted by readery at 7:30 AM on May 15, 2013 [8 favorites]

This is the best video I have seen all week. So good that every time someone posts the link, I can't resist having just one more look at the wee little thing and its amazing kitty somersaults.
posted by harujion at 7:44 AM on May 15, 2013

Flippity kittens are awesome

I know. I'm so jealous of how they can do that. It seems so fun. I feel like my cats do that just to make me feel jealous.

I knew this was going to get good at :27 when the kitten started doing that hunch shouldered crawl that it is supposed to mean 'LOOK OUT I AM BIG AND SCARY OK LOOK HOW BIG' but really means "can you leave me alone? I'm kinda really scared and need a hideout and/or nap."
posted by sweetkid at 7:50 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

poor scared babbie
posted by Mad_Carew at 7:54 AM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

Also may I recommend fostering kittens? We have fostered feral kittens that need to be acclimated to humans thru our local animal shelter. The requirement is to love and play with them. It is awesome.
posted by readery at 8:03 AM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

I'm not a herpetologist, but I know some, and I'm pretty sure they'd be freaking out/angry at the lizards being exposed to this. Reptiles need diligent care, not to be used as funny toys for cats. But someone with more expertise than me could comment better.
posted by Drexen at 8:05 AM on May 15, 2013

Lizard #1: Doo de doo de doo.

Kitteh: Hi mister lizard, do you want to be my fwend?

Lizard #1: Uh...no [scuttles away] [Kitteh is perplexed]

[Lizard #2 approaches Kitteh]

Lizard #2: Hi mister Kitteh, do you want to be my fwend?

Kitteh: JESUS TAPDANCING CHRIST BWAAAHHHHHH
[looks back at lizard]
BWAHHHHHHHHH

[Lizard #2 is perplexed]
posted by Elly Vortex at 8:12 AM on May 15, 2013 [15 favorites]

The kitten is lucky nobody said "Dracarys!"
posted by thewalrus at 8:14 AM on May 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

Drexen, most of the herpetologist (or herp owners) I know don't really think about the mental health of reptiles or amphibians. They'd be worried about disease transmission, temperature, and the possibility of injury. A kitten (this small) would probably be of minimal risk of hurting these lizards (with their thick desert-resistant skin). Salmonella, I think, is only a risk from turtles; I'm not sure what the other diseases are likely. Temperature, assuming regular room temp, would probably be fine for a pretty long time.

Not that I let my dog play with my corn snake.

I think my snake would win. My dog is a bit of a scaredy-cat.
posted by hydrobatidae at 8:37 AM on May 15, 2013 [5 favorites]

Reptiles need diligent care, not to be used as funny toys for cats.

Yeah, well they should have thought of that before they were born all green and weird and crinkly.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:39 AM on May 15, 2013 [6 favorites]

Well I still haven't become an expert in the last five minutes, but the herpetologists I know *do* think about the mental health of reptiles. Their reactions may not be as complex or deep as those of higher mammals, but they're not absent, and they can absolutely have stress and fear reactions that can be hard to read, but damaging to their physical health (and presumably something you want to avoid anyway, if you care about the wellbeing of your animals).
posted by Drexen at 8:41 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: [Lizard #2 is perplexed]
posted by quin at 8:48 AM on May 15, 2013 [8 favorites]

Given the reptiles have plenty of room to flee and things to flee under, and don't seem to feel any need, I doubt they are that stressed. Also, they seem comfortable sitting out in the open, so I would suspect that they are pets allowed roaming time in the house who are having a supervised introduction to the new kitten who will also be in the house, which is a wise course of action.
posted by tavella at 9:28 AM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

the second lizard told the kitten how this lizards ruled things, and then the birds were in charge for 150 million years, so little mammals should watch their manners if they don't want their won extinction event.

Then the kitten's mom came up and purred, "Yeah, we've still got scary dinosaurs around. We call them birds, and I leave a dead one on the front porch every morning. Are you supposed to be a scary dinosaur too?"
posted by straight at 9:44 AM on May 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

Then the kitten's mom came up and purred, "Yeah, we've still got scary dinosaurs around. We call them birds, and I leave a dead one on the front porch every morning. Are you supposed to be a scary dinosaur too?"

Then the lizard called the cockatiel, who screamed at the kitten until it ran away.... Do not mess with the birds, kittens!
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:07 AM on May 15, 2013

Some days, I'm the lizard; most days, I'm the kitten.
posted by evoque at 10:13 AM on May 15, 2013 [13 favorites]

This is why situational awareness is important.
posted by Johnny Assay at 10:55 AM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

More flippity kittens.
posted by grapesaresour at 11:04 AM on May 15, 2013

I am taking in a feral eleven-week old kitten in like a week, so I'm biased, but the thud as the cat's back hit the floor was a little scary. Cats do have freak outs over nothing, and maybe the kitten shook it off in a nanosecond, but gah, we wouldn't be laughing like that if a child took a similar fall.
posted by angrycat at 11:20 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

*flips out*
*action evaluation pose*
*flips out again*
posted by bleep at 11:24 AM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

which is not to say I am judging anybody who finds it funny. I regularly find bizarre and dark things hilarious, so who am I to judge
posted by angrycat at 11:26 AM on May 15, 2013

"Let's wax the floor, get a kitten and two lizards and scare the crap out of it, OK? We'll get tons of views!" LOLZ
posted by Tullyogallaghan at 11:33 AM on May 15, 2013

Also may I recommend fostering kittens? We have fostered feral kittens that need to be acclimated to humans thru our local animal shelter. The requirement is to love and play with them.

See, but then you have to give them back. Which we would be unable to do, and we would then be firmly in crazy catladyland. But those of you who can foster and then give them up, I give you the highest praise.
posted by rtha at 11:48 AM on May 15, 2013

Go Kitten's Mom! Team Mammals!
posted by sweetkid at 11:58 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

the thud as the cat's back hit the floor was a little scary.

I foster orphaned kittens (usually whole litters) all the way from bottle-feeding to giving them back to the shelter weaned, litterbox trained, and socialized at eight weeks (or two pounds, whichever comes first).

When they start exploring their environment and playing with each other they climb, fall, pounce, fall, bite and scratch and get bitten and scratched, run into hard things, bounce off, and generally behave like they have no bones. They always pick themselves up like nothing happened and carry on being hyperactive little maniacs. It is extremely entertaining and doesn't seem to hurt them at all, though I believe they do learn valuable lessons about gravity, how to use teeth and claws judiciously, and how to eventually avoid looking like spastic clowns (most of the time anyway).

but then you have to give them back.

By the time they're ready to go back to the shelter to find their forever homes, I'm (almost) ready to let them go, because eight-week-old kittens are exhausting, and the skin on my legs needs time to heal from the ankle-to-hip scratches. My time with fostered kittens has helped me decide that the next permanent cat I adopt will be an adult.

Also, giving them up usually means I get another batch of adorableness.
posted by caryatid at 12:08 PM on May 15, 2013 [5 favorites]

My cats run around like crazy everytime they poop, especially the little one. I have definitely seen him do crazy flips like that. He seems ok.

Seriously it's like a Zumba party. "I pooped, I pooped! Yeeaaaah!"
posted by sweetkid at 12:14 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

That said (too late to edit), it bothers me that the kitten in the video appears to have its right front leg caught inside its collar. The collar is too loose, and I don't approve of collars on cats anyway. I know of kittens (not mine, thank Maude) who have accidentally hanged themselves with their collars or harnesses. Microchips are a better idea.
posted by caryatid at 12:17 PM on May 15, 2013

Breakaway collars have pretty much eliminated the accidental hanging thing. These days, it's just that the collars are constantly breaking away and disappearing.
posted by hydropsyche at 12:27 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

My cat is 11 and he still runs like a freak whenever he is done with his #2. My dearest BF seems not to understand why, and I can't bring myself to tell him that pooping is a wonderful feeling.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 12:33 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

Salmonella, I think, is only a risk from turtles

Pretty much any reptiles. Don't put them in your mouth, people. And wash your hands after you touch one. Salmonella is absolutely no fun whatsoever. Learn from my mistakes. (I still have a couple of lizards, but I wash my hands a lot more religiously these days.)
posted by infinitywaltz at 12:42 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

These days, it's just that the collars are constantly breaking away and disappearing.

We have a new cat in the household, and to ease some of the stress, my girlfriend has been putting calming collars on the cats (sort of the bastard love child of a flea collar and a feliway diffuser).

One day, she was in the other room and I heard her say "Oh, Percy's calming collar snapped."

In my best Don LaFontaine Movie Trailer DeepVoice I replied, "First his calming collar snapped. THEN HE DID. Coming this summer, RAGECAT!"
posted by radwolf76 at 12:43 PM on May 15, 2013 [8 favorites]

the collars are constantly breaking away and disappearing.

The neighbor's cat, who likes to hang out in my yard, deposited three of them over here before his staff gave up on the idea. He is now happily collar-free. As he should be.
posted by caryatid at 12:46 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

That poor kitten would be no match for a stoat.
posted by homunculus at 12:52 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

That poor kitten would be no match for a stoat

Stoatally outclassed.

Reminded me of that time a few years ago when I'd gotten up at 6 AM to go to work one spring morning, was idly puttering around in the kitchen and the next door neighbour called me that there was a ferret in my garden. And sure enough, a ferret was coming from the other neighbour's garden, bimbling along the border.

So while we were chatting and looking at it, her cat was sitting in my garden, as per usual, not really aware of the ferret, until it came close, the cat turned around, finally noticed was wrong and literally jumped two metres backwards. The ferret remained cool and eventually moved back to where it came from.

To this day I have no idea how this ferret got into the gardens, which are closed off from the outside world, but it must've been someone's pet.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:05 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

I miss my beardies. They're the best reptile pets - exactly the right size, social and entertaining, active during the day, omnivorous and not choosy about food. They co-exist with cats fine once the cat gets used to them, which you've probably just noticed doesn't happen right away.
posted by Blue Meanie at 1:36 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

RAGECAT!

Hello new business card title.
posted by quin at 1:42 PM on May 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

MetaFilter
AskMeFi
MetaTalk...

Why is there no MetaKitteh?
posted by BlueHorse at 3:55 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

It's all MetaKitteh, BlueHorse.
posted by radwolf76 at 6:51 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

Somebody clearly missed this year's April Fool's joke. There WAS a MetaKitteh.
posted by IndigoRain at 1:54 AM on May 16, 2013

I think it's likely that the kitten is having a reaction amplified by what has become the scourge of animals throughout the modern world, which is to (a) attempt to do something quickly and (b) find that laminate plank floors and doing anything quickly leads to much hilarity on the part of the semi-evolved brain-eating apes that also live in their house.
posted by sonascope at 4:37 AM on May 16, 2013 [2 favorites]

How To Wake Up Your Dog
posted by homunculus at 12:16 PM on May 16, 2013