Cats know there is about to be an earthquake
Surveillance camera in "Cat Cafe Catch", Wakayama City (bottom middle of Japan), during the M5.5 quake in Osaka on 18 June 2018.
The cafe hadn't opened because it was about 8AM. The cats were all fine.
This is 100km from the epicentre, so it looks quite mild - elsewhere 4 people were killed.
Incidentally, I don't think it's anything mystic. They detect the faster nondestructive primary waves.
(, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 8:14, Share, Reply)
Nah, they'd just heard Mary Bale was in town.
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Prufrock Lucifer, son of the morning!, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 8:32,
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Hardly surprising felines are the first to know about a catastrophe.
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Draconacticus Reject shampoo. Demand real poo!, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 9:04,
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You can't tell from the video
when a non cat human person would first feel the tremor. Also you can hear the sound that gets their attention.
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Mudface The web isn't callipygian, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 9:38,
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Pretty much
Animals do tend to notice it first though. I mean, it's like... you could maybe notice it, if you happened to be paying attention - but cats/dogs/cows always seem to notice.
[Based on personal experiences]
In this specific case, I think the P-wave causes a bit of a shake - if you watch the piece of paper, it moves a bit.
I definitely remember noticing one quake "before it happened" - just a sorta wierd feeling a few secs before it hit - but whether there was a bit of a shake that made me feel weird, or whether I heard something, IDK.
Other times, I saw animals react first, and was wondering what had spooked them when the shaking started.
(Quakes are pretty common in Japan - like, maybe once a month - and a bit common in NZ too. I lived in both those places for some years.)
(, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 9:42, Share, Reply)
In any case you couldn't rely on cats for early warning.
Too many false positives. You'll never know if you're about to be hit by a tsunami or a cucumber.
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Mudface The web isn't callipygian, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 10:03,
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Early warning systems can help
You can get automatic mobile phone text warnings in Japan. Generally you only have a few seconds to react...maybe a minute, at best. It's still reckoned to have saved many lives.
For a tsunami, it's more effective, because you might get half an hour to evacuate.
(, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 16:53, Share, Reply)
Cat cafe
It's a coffee shop where you can play with cats. For Japan, that's pretty normal.
There's usually a small cover-charge (like £5 per hour or whatever). It's supposed to be relaxing. There are a few in the UK too.
(, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 16:13, Share, Reply)
There's one in Leeds
It's my idea of hell. Just imagine, you've got a nice coffee and about to tuck into your Black Forest gateaux, when one of forty cats takes a big shit in a litter tray then drags its arse across the carpet.
www.kittycafe.co.uk/
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Varmint, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 16:20,
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That's it, exactly. The only thing missing is a decoration of tapeworm.
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Varmint, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 16:50,
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Nice looking Kitty cake
Also pretty cool that there are three little cat shits as a bonus
(, Thu 19 Jul 2018, 5:50, Share, Reply)
I work right opposite one in Manchester.
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Happosai _,,,,_(O ; o)_,,,, Wed 18 Jul 2018, 21:27,
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I left Japan for reasons
But it's spreading
(BTW, I'm kidding, I fucking love it really)
(, Fri 20 Jul 2018, 1:25, Share, Reply)
Pad sensitivity, whiskers and up to 100x more sensitive hearing than us.
Also, nice collection of fluffeh there.
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FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Wed 18 Jul 2018, 11:49,
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They spend part of their time in a fluid state.
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FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Wed 18 Jul 2018, 20:03,
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