An "animal"?

Do cats experience headaches? A couple of weeks ago, my brother's cat had her annual shots and checkup. For two or three days afterwards, she acted a bit peculiarly, even for her. She didn't appear ill exactly, as she had all her usual energy, still able to jump on top of counters and bookcases and cause all the normal troubles that cats are wont to cause. And yet... There was something different about her behaviour. She would sit in one spot for long periods and not make any kind of movement, not even so much as to turn her head. It reminded me of the time when I myself had a headache for several days after some vaccinations. I have little doubt she was having a headache, too.

We are very unfair to animals. And that is, of course, putting it mildly, considering that things like factory farming go on in our world. Ancient religious superstitions have made us insensitive to the fact that all fauna (and even flora), from the lowliest bacteria up to the highest primates, are our long-lost cousins in this world. Conservatives love to talk about values, but I wonder what possible value there could be in holding on to millennia-old superstitions at the expense of truth and humanity.

Meanwhile... my experience with this particular cat over several years has convinced me that she experiences the entire gamut of "human" feelings and emotions in one way or another. And now I find out that she gets headaches, too!

Misha's sit-in protest against salads. A political animal, that's what she is.