Maru and Hana spend an afternoon indulging in some recreational catnip, but soon the demon weed has its hooks in Maru, turning him into a selfish beast who refuses to share, which is how he is most of the time anyway. Finally, Hana gets a turn, and then the pair settle in to watch the groovy light show.
That’s some primo Maru, Andrew Y.
Drug violence has come to Cutetropolis. I guess no place is immune. I hope this doesn’t lead to drive-by thwappings and the like.
“Drive-by thwappings”…. ?
Love how Maru rolls around in it like he’s taking a mud bath, while Hana daintily plays with a leaf.
It really shows their personalities, doesn’t it?
YES! It’s a pretty funny comparison – I did like that she gave him a “drive-by thwap”, he deserved it. His reactions are epic, all the squirming and rolling around.
Traditional end of winter?
Definitely not here… .___.
XD
Maru has such star quality!
An exceptionally funny Marumoment.
This is going to seem off the wall, but catnip confuses me. Does any other species of animal besides humans and cats use recreational, mind-altering drugs? I guess we can’t know about all wild species; does any other domesticated species? Companion animals seem to me to have, in some ways, the status of children. We care for them and make decisions for them; we don’t allow them to make their own decisions if they might harm themselves (a dog and a 3 year old have about the same relationship to being in the middle of the street when a car is coming, for instance). One reason we frown on having sex with animals is that an animal can’t give consent, any more than a 3 year old could. On the other hand, cats that no longer kittens, and dogs that are no longer puppies, are adults — merely of species whose adult mental capacity approximates that of a human child.
It’d be irresponsible to give a 3 year old alcohol or weed. They might enjoy being drunk or stoned, and it might be fun to watch them react to being drunk or stoned, but we still don’t do it.
So why is it all right to do it to a cat? I’m not saying I’m SURE it’s wrong. I’m merely confused. Yes, the cat is an adult, and in the wild I assume cats that can get to catnip indulge in it. But within a human household the cat has something like the status of a child. Seeing cats on catnip always seems, to me, at some level, like watching an amusing video of a drunk toddler, taken by its parents. But I’m not sure I’m right. It may be completely harmless fun both for cats and humans watching them.
I have read of wild animals , unintentionally eating fermented berries or other types of food that has left them a bit drugged. I recall , I think on a cutetropolis video, where a herd of elephants did that. I think they feel asleep for awhile. Other “cute” fans may be able to find it.
I’ve seen videos of squirrels and I think a bear reacting to fermented fruit – and many other animals – not so sure it was unintentional. Of course, it’s always a source of amusement for us – we love to see ourselves reflected in the wild kingdom!?
From what I’ve read, even tho’ catnip behavior looks to all intents and purposes to have a mind-altering effect on a cat, it isn’t processed the same way as a drug and doesn’t count as a drug. What it is I don’t recall anymore, I’m afraid.
My understanding is that catnip acts as a stimulant. Maybe that doesn’t qualify as a drug.
so, more like coffee than weed?
Ha! I posted that short novel on the assumption I would not actually be imposing it (or its bizarre opinions and correlations) on anyone else, because usually when I post in the middle of the night, no one replies (or posts anything after mine, indicating [I THOUGHT] that no one looks at comments later than I do). So naturally everyone including NTMTOM saw this one! Thank you for the input.
Good point about fermented berries. Of course, indulging in those can be dangerous for a prey species if it makes it vulnerable. Seems like a stimulant IS a drug. But, yeah, what is animal consciousness actually like? Can something be consciousness-altering if we aren’t sure what their consciousness is? Does it only change BEHAVIOR in ways that LOOK like being stoned?
On the other, other hand (I ran out of time on the editing window; my fault), more and more we have trouble distinguishing between human and animal consciousness or experience of the world in any sharp way; it seems more like a continuum — hence the analogy to toddlers (pets are like children that stay children forever — possibly aided by selective breeding that chooses puppy- and kitten-like traits like lack of aggression that may have resulted in pets that really DO stay children — even for their species — all their lives). That’s PETA’s vegetarian point, too — that when we slaughter animals to eat, we’re killing something that does have consciousness, even if it’s not like ours — and most pet owners would agree that there’s a personality in there somewhere, a consciousness of some kind — not just a meat puppet running genetically-determined programs as we so long thought of all non-human animals. So if they have consciousness (of some kind) and behave as we do when our consciousness has been altered — who knows if a conclusion can be drawn from that?
Can you get the high score?
I lose.