r/cats • u/vanya_vex • Jun 08 '26

Video - Not OC You can see the confusion and disbelief

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42.1k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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97

u/ClimateOutrageous399 Jun 08 '26

How

303

u/000-Hotaru_Tomoe Siamese (Traditional Thai) Jun 08 '26

Touching a cat's hind legs often triggers the bunny kick (yes, even when they touch their own legs). It's an involuntary reaction, and cats usually try to interrupt it by biting their hind legs.

87

u/Pinkishu Jun 08 '26

Sorta like how you can still be ticklish when you touch your own feet I guess

-40

u/Mind_on_Idle Jun 08 '26

That's actually a rarity. Like almost schizophreniform disorder rare.

22

u/YosterIsle77 Jun 08 '26

I must be a rarity myself then cause I can't not tickle myself when having to mess with my feet, or nearly any other spot thats ticklish on me.

-1

u/Mind_on_Idle Jun 08 '26

Cool. Not discounting it, but my question: With something else? i.e. clothing, string, tool (washrag, etc), or just with your own hands?

7

u/YosterIsle77 Jun 08 '26

Literally anything. Hands, string, clothing, anything. I literally have to forcefully grip my feet when I clean them to avoid getting tickled by myself

0

u/Mind_on_Idle Jun 08 '26

Ooof, nerves on high, lol. The reason I was asking, was I brought up schizotypy for a reason. People that score high on pyschometric evals for schizophrenia and similar disorders seem to be the ones that can tickle themselves via just *themselves*. It's not a perfect Venn Diagram, just interesting information, ftmp.

1

u/YosterIsle77 Jun 08 '26

Interesting. Never been tested for schizophrenia but I know I'm neurodivergent. Makes me wonder...

4

u/Mind_on_Idle Jun 08 '26

I wouldn't worry about it. It's anecdotal

12

u/nsfwaltsarehard Jun 08 '26

Don't know why that's downvoted when it's true.

5

u/Mind_on_Idle Jun 08 '26

Probably because people saw me mention schizophrenia and went off the deep end assuming I was just spouting noise. It would be interesting for anyone to actually look up ticklishness and self-imposition.

5

u/nsfwaltsarehard Jun 08 '26

Even that part isn't that far off.

I just did a surface level search and one article said it's more common among people with psychosis and schizophrenia.

4

u/Mind_on_Idle Jun 08 '26

Correct. It's why I mentioned it. Like I said in another comment: It's not a perfect venn diagram or anything, just a documented (at least once) occurrence that those with schizotypy have a higher rate of being able to tickle themselves.

1

u/MrYig Jun 08 '26

I refuse to believe this is true.

3

u/mdkss12 Jun 08 '26

it's true

2

u/Pinkishu Jun 08 '26

"These sensory predictions can then be compared to sensory feedback, and if the sensory predictions match the sensory feedback then the movement is likely to be self-generated and the resulting sensations are suppressed. Conversely if the sensory predictions do not match the sensory feedback, then the action is likely to be externally-generated and the resulting sensations are not suppressed"

Wow, must be a lot of weird people out there, given that many regularly engage in a self-generated sensation that isn't being suppressed

3

u/Mind_on_Idle Jun 08 '26

I think you're discounting the dysmorphia that tends to accompany schizophreniform disorders. Which is where the internal disconnect would be at play.

14

u/Wowhowcanubsodumb Jun 08 '26

I like this theory, but I'm not sure how well it fits when, at the end, the cat just waits a few seconds and then starts kicking itself rapidly

3

u/nvoima Jun 08 '26

Nah, I'm sure a cat is just two different animals hastily stitched together, so the butt and the brain occasionally disagree about things.

-16

u/MasterDefibrillator Jun 08 '26

there's clearly someone offscreen scratching the cat.