My cat once fell off the bird table,
he sometimes sits up there in an attempt to hunt incognito, despite it scaring away all the birds he's trying to catch. He swipes for a bird which was stupid enough to fly too close. He falls out the bird table. So when he hits the floor, he does a quite spectacular faceplant and rolls over. I'm sitting indoors looking at him through the window while having a cup of tea. He looks around quickly, as if making sure nobody saw his epic failure. Our eyes meet. His face slowly turns to an "oh crap" look. He slowly saunters towards the house, head down, disgraced.

Funny how primal the feeling of embarrassment is :-D
(The Oscillating Gibbon is eating curried squid, Thu 27 Jan 2011, 18:41, 8 replies)

Ours only ever manages a...
...'What you think you just saw didn't happen, right?' face.
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Thu 27 Jan 2011, 19:01, closed)

it's the sauntering through the cat flap that mine hates
to the point she won't come in till she thinks you've forgotten. Thin ice in the pond following bird footprints and then having a bath was the last one.
(Kip, Thu 27 Jan 2011, 19:28, closed)

He did a faceplant?
I thought cats were supposed to land on their feet?
(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Fri 28 Jan 2011, 13:16, closed)

They are
but not every cat is as agile as ten ninja; I have seen ours fall off the fence.
( uncle bastard is twanging a dan moi, Mon 31 Jan 2011, 7:36, closed)

I really hope that cats do feel embarrassment
But I suspect it's just anthropomorphic projection. Annoyingly, the more you want it to be true, the more likely it is to be wrong.

My cat is fat and clumsy, but still tries to dart about like a wee kitten. It really does look like she's embarrassed when she tumbles off the couch. And I hope she is.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Mon 31 Jan 2011, 15:58, closed)

Maybe so
But of all the animals anthropomorphic projection can be applied to cats are the most receptive to suitable interpretation n'est ce pas? That's my cat's story and he is sticking to it if his current stare is anything to go by!
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Mon 31 Jan 2011, 17:37, closed)

I was reading about mirror neurons last night
and now I reckon (he says, as if his opinion is worth anything) that:
a) Cats and humans can accurately read each other's body language, and therefore
b) Cats feel embarassment
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Tue 1 Feb 2011, 14:17, closed)

I suspect my cat feels embarassment at me being seen in public!!

( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Tue 1 Feb 2011, 18:28, closed)