If you have ever put a cone on a cat (which lasts about five minutes), you see they get crazy. They hug the walls.
Their whiskers are a major factor in their perception.
I think they can also dislocate their spine.
My cat likes to sit in what we call his "Buddha" position, with his back bent about 90 degrees, and his paws in front. This seems to be a common position. He'll sit like that for an hour.
I think all cats are weird in their own way. Our cat often sunbathed in the middle of parking space across the road. We occasionally had to go out to fetch him because he would refuse to move when someone started to drive into the space.
I hear this sentiment often, but it doesn't match my own experience with orange cats... the one I had back in high school (orange male) was at least as intelligent as any other cat I've had. The orange female I have now is very clingy / anxious and far more territorial than any of my other cats, but otherwise demonstrates at least average cat intelligence. I'd had a variety of different types of cats - a japanese bobtail, a balinese, a siamese, various calicos and domestic types - and the orange ones have been on the upper end of intelligence by comparison.
My orange boy is not smart. He lets me know when he's hungry by walking over to a house plant and pats at the leaves. Other than that, he's a dumb and lovable guy.
The smartest one that we've had is a Cyprus (looking) cat. She's incredibly athletic, has fantastic spatial awareness, and is a murder-machine if given the opportunity.
I think the cones must also screw up their aural spatial sensation (changing their perception of sound from fairly omni-directional, to seeming like all the sounds are coming from in front of the cone).
Have you ever tried putting a leash harness on a cat? We did that a few times and every time the cat would just constantly walk backwards until we took it off. It was like being stuck in reverse gear.
Cats also tend to be extremely picky about the feel of the litter in their litter boxes because their paws are extremely sensitive (like walking on your finger tips). Not to mention their sensitivity for smell (flehmen response and affection for well-worn clothes or backpacks).
I think cats just generally tend towards some form of hypersensitivity and the distress of anything you put on them can come from any number of places. No wonder so many seem to suffer from some kinds of neuroses.
>Have you ever tried putting a leash harness on a cat? We did that a few times and every time the cat would just constantly walk backwards until we took it off. It was like being stuck in reverse gear.
They are just trying to back out of it. This is also their reaction when you first put a collar on them too, until they get used to it.
>If you have ever put a cone on a cat (which lasts about five minutes), you see they get crazy.
You got me thinking about this, as I've dealt with a number of sick kitties / foster kitties, etc but we've always used a paper plate with a hole in the middle in lieu of a purpose-made plastic cone. So thinking out loud here, our solution might not have been more generally affordable but also had the benefit of not interfering with whiskers.
Due to an incident with a door, my cat had to have a caudectomy and subsequently had to wear a cone for almost a month while she healed. It was awful! We kept her in a spare room to keep the other cats away from her, so she had a private litter box, etc.
The cone is pretty much a giant scoop, and cats sniff the litter to find the right spot before doing their business. You can see where this is going. She would take some of the litter with her each time.
On top of missing her tail, she is also missing a few teeth (I'd like to point out that she came like that) so she drools when she sleeps. The litter + drool makes a hardened mess on the cone, which required constant cleaning.
Yeah there's donuts, there's also stiff flat collars. Both seem better tolerated than cones except only cones can protect some injuries (like to the face for example).
I've seen a few people use a soft inflatable or plush collar that's more flat, and doesn't go up around the face, instead of an actual cone. That way the cat's the whiskers aren't disturbed while still preventing the cat from worsening wounds by licking. At least some cats seem to be a lot more tolerant of that style.
Their whiskers are a major factor in their perception.
I think they can also dislocate their spine.
My cat likes to sit in what we call his "Buddha" position, with his back bent about 90 degrees, and his paws in front. This seems to be a common position. He'll sit like that for an hour.