Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Inside the Mind of a Cat – Netflix Documentary
Breeze rating from 1 to 4 palm trees, 4 being best.
“Inside the Mind of a Cat” solves some mysteries about cats, decodes their crazy antics and deciphers their hidden language. Experts from various fields related to cats share some interesting and incredible facts about cats including that they can over 30mph and jump up to 5-6 times their height, which would be like a human jumping over a giraffe. They also have more vertebrae than most mammals with special elastic cushions between them, making their spines incredibly flexible and helping them to be the fastest animal on land.
As one expert, Dr. Bruce Kornriech, Director Cornell Feline Health Center and “Cat Physiologist shared if one were asked to engineer the perfect land predator in terms of physical traits, behavior, and perception, it’s hard to imagine one better that the cat. The scientific name for the domestic cat is Felis catus derived from the African wildcat. Today they number approximately 400 millions Felis catus worldwide, making them one fo the ten most successful mammals to ever walk the earth. In 10,000 their genetics have changed very little, so your basically living with a wild animal in your home.
Dr. Kristyn Vitale is an Associate Professor at Unity College and a “Cat Psychologist” who has done a tremendous amount of study around cat behaviors and the mysteries of the feline mind. She’s proven cat’s do know their names, their owners and understand the issue of non-permanence. Her research took her to Japan where in 2017 cats outnumbered dogs as pets and now 9 million cats live in Japan where top cat scientist Dr. Saho Takagi does cat research at Azabu University. Though some behavioral traits were identical, a few things were different between the cats in the US and those that lived in Japan due to the fact that the cats in Japan are primarily indoors and have limited exposure to the world outside.
A stand out group was the Savitsky Cats from Ukraine that did an amazing cat stunt show on America’s Got Talent and even made it to the finals. Jumping through hoops, scaling tightropes, rolling barrels, balancing on balls. Owners Maryna and her mother Svitlana shared that though cats have their attitudes, you can teach a cat to do anything. The main thing in their training is that they have to do what works for the cat, not what works for people, and to be very patient. The Savitsky’s don’t force their cats to do their amazing stunts, they let each cat’s potential reveal itself.
They have recently discovered archaeological remains of a cat with a human dating back to 8,000 B.C. which would indicate that humans and cats have been together for over 10,000 years. The streets of the city of Istanbul are home to more than 100,000 community cats that are perfectly suited to an urban lifestyle. The cats that live there belong to their neighborhoods, not owned by a specific person, and people provide for the infrastructure and their basic needs, though they do not belong to anyone specifically. In 2021 Istanbul introduced new laws protecting their cats with some of the most progressive legislation in the world.
Whether you are a cat lover with a cat, considering getting a cat as a pet or just curious to learn more about cats, this well-produced documentary can share all you would like to know and more about these furry feline friends.
Rated: TV-PG
Runtime: 1h 7m
