I’m wondering if cats think of us kind of like how a person thinks of a friendly bull: aware that they could easily kill us, but not necessarily afraid of them; or more like a large Dalmatian: they could fuck us up, but most of us don’t really think about that unless they’re being aggressive.
I grew up with dogs and feel like I understand them a lot better than I do cats as a whole. I adopted my cat almost four years ago and I feel like I get her pretty well, but I don’t really have an idea of what she thinks about me. I also don’t really know any other cats, though I’ve gotten along with strays and friends’ cats a lot better since I got mine.
Cat tax:
If animals bluff it’s because their bluffing ancestors survived to reproduce. There’s something to it.
I think the thing is a fight is costly, even if you win the fight. So sometimes it’s not a bluff so much as a demonstrating of fighting spirit, and killing even a weaker animal is more costly when it displays fighting spirit, ie the willingness to fight even if it’s a losing battle.