Curiosity Kills

by jenny ellen, Sep 25, 2008
Curiosity, cats and catastrophes.

They say that stupidity killed the cat and curiosity was framed; yet I am inclined to disagree. Perhaps it would be more apt to say that the cat was merely accustomed to circumstances involving danger or hazardous conditions and simply followed instincts that it had always owned and did, therefore, throw itself into the boiling cauldron of broth. It is feasible to say that the people claiming that it was due to the cat’s own penchant for finding trouble and diving straight into peril that it was killed could also be those that had surrounded it and taught it- subtlety and intention not being the issue- that it was right and good to follow such intuition. Then there is the question of why, exactly, the cat was placed in such a situation in the first place. After all, it is not predominantly common for a cat to land itself in a position of risk. Maybe it saw a little mouse- the bait- and chose its prey without knowledge of what lay beyond. It is even plausible to consider the fact that the cat wished to help or save something: a kitten or its favourite toy. However, personally I would say that it is not the cat’s fault at all and that the owner- loving, caring, feeding, guiding- was the one to seal its fate. Certainly the cat is no unintelligent being; it understands the ways of the world and knows in most cases not to soil the rug or take pleasure in clawing through its master’s best clothes. Communication is seldom a problem for most cats and they have the ability to get a point across with little trouble simply by performing and action or meowing. Surely if the cat is not regarded as a creature of stupidity then it should be able to care for itself, should it not? But, of course, what if the cat’s plight was that it was so intelligent that an owner saw fit to train it to become obedient and influenced the ways in which it reacted to situations. If the cat was taught to be curious or of little credibility when it came to making decisions that might actually matter in its life (rather, of course, than not fouling the floor or chasing the birds) then it may well be because of that that the cat ended up lifeless. If a mad instinct was forced into the cat’s mind then perhaps it would be impossible for the creature to ignore it and this is what sent it spiraling onto hot bricks as it were. In the end we will never really understand what it was that killed the cat because it is too late and the cat is dead. Perhaps, then, in the future when more of these cats are to be put in such situations then their owners and care givers would do better not to misguide their pets and then contradict their teachings or feign complete and utter blissful innocence when their cat is to the pan.