19 thoughts on “The Heartbreak of Balloons

  1. Murray C October 17, 2017 / 11:06 am

    My husband and I just watched this about 10 times. The “Crouching Tiger” technique wasn’t doing much for the one puss – I do love how the other one just saunters through as if nothing is amiss.

  2. allein ? October 17, 2017 / 11:19 am

    Anyone know what kitty is saying?

    • Tina M October 17, 2017 / 11:53 am

      According to someone on Imgur it is Korean and it basically translates to “Get it off!! Get it Off!!”

      • allein ? October 17, 2017 / 12:31 pm

        Thanks 🙂

    • julie October 17, 2017 / 5:31 pm

      The kitty is saying “Fall off! Fall off!”

  3. Tigger Jourard October 17, 2017 / 12:18 pm

    Question: Does an outbreak of balloons lead to an outbreak of sprinkles?

    • AJ October 17, 2017 / 12:33 pm

      I’m thinking due to size, an outbreak of sprinkles might be the first warning that an outbreak of balloons is imminent. Wonder if there’s any vaccine??

      • allein ? October 17, 2017 / 1:00 pm

        There is one for balloons. It’s only a small needle stick; the most common side effect is hearing a sudden, loud popping noise in your head.

        • Murray C October 17, 2017 / 3:52 pm

          I snort-laughed, Allein. Then, of course, there’s a floppy little piece of latex you have to jettison.

  4. Brouhaha October 17, 2017 / 12:24 pm

    That grey kitty would be excellent in a limbo contest.

    • Skimpy October 17, 2017 / 4:52 pm



  5. Faye October 17, 2017 / 12:56 pm

    I’ve never caught balloons from any of my cats. But I get a flu shot every October. Balloon immunization must be a beneficial side effect.
    They should advertise this more.

    Get it off! Get it off! Was probably the first words spoken by our species. All in one go too!!

  6. Ricky's Mom October 17, 2017 / 8:33 pm

    This is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and NTMTOM’s introduction takes it over the top.

    Nine downvotes? Presumably whoever is doing the filming is keeping an eye on the situation. But if people have had cats traumatized or physically harmed by balloons (or static electricity), then I can see why they’d feel obliged to vote it down. Me, if I’d thought to do this when my kitties were still with me, I’d have fallen over laughing. But then I’d also have made sure to take the balloons away before I left the room. I wouldn’t want a cat ingesting popped balloon, as that *would* be dangerous, for sure. I loved Mookie and Mazzilli dearly, I certainly would never deliberately have put them in danger.

    I can’t help it, I still think this is a riot.

    • allein ? October 17, 2017 / 8:49 pm

      I don’t know about these kinds of balloons, but Stars is terrified of mylar balloons, and her only experience of them is one floating well out of her reach (tied to a chair). We think she thinks they’re plastic bags (she had a bad experience with a bag when she was younger; you can’t even pet her if you’re holding one).

      I still found the video funny.

      • Brouhaha October 18, 2017 / 10:41 am

        My cat is terrified of floating balloons and plastic bags as well. Actually, on the plastic bag thing – she’s only scared if you snap them open, like when you’re replacing trash bags. If the bag is lying dormant on a table and she comes across it, she will knead it, since she likes soft crinkly noises.

        No idea how she’d react to a non floaty balloon.

        • allein ? October 18, 2017 / 10:58 am

          She got her head through the handle of a bag one day, got scared, took off running, and of course the bag went with her. Apparently it traumatized her for life (she’s always been the skittish one, anyway). Sometime after that, my dad’s birthday rolled around, and my mom tied a balloon to his chair in the kitchen. After a few days she realized Stars had not been seen in the kitchen since (which is concerning, since the litter box is in the basement, and you have to go through the kitchen to get there; I don’t know if she was just going through as quickly as possible, or sneaking through unnoticed, but as far as I know they didn’t find any evidence that she wasn’t using the litter box during that time, but she certainly wasn’t hanging out in the kitchen at all). As soon as the balloon came down she came back in. That was several years ago. I went over one day last year and I had a Target bag in my hand. I tried to pet her and she backed away, scared, and I didn’t realize why until my mom pointed out that I was holding a plastic bag. As soon as I put it down she let me pet her.

          She doesn’t like crinkly toys, either. My mom got them one of those tunnels with the crinkly stuff inside and she wouldn’t go near it. Stripes simply wasn’t interested. My mom ended up sending it to my aunt in Texas. Her cats loved it.

  7. Ronni October 17, 2017 / 9:54 pm

    I love this site. And I think a lot of the regulars are clever and clearly wonderful people. That said, I never have and never will understand how animal lovers find it funny to annoy, irritate, or frustrate an animal. This makes me unhappy.

    • Clairdelune October 18, 2017 / 3:59 am

      I tend to feel the same way, Ronni – can’t help feeling sorry for the cat who obviously is afraid and is trying so hard to get rid of the balloon.

      • Ronni October 18, 2017 / 10:34 pm

        Thank you, CLAIRDELUNE, for sharing that you get it. It helps to know others feel as I do.

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