Cat rescues baby dumped in street


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A long-haired tabby cat has been hailed a hero after finding an abandoned baby in a street and climbing in the box he had been left in to protect him from the cold.

As well as making sure the three-month-old didn't freeze to death, the moggy raised the alarm by crying out to make people aware of the boy's presence.

Irina Lavrova, 68, who lives near to where the tot was dumped in Obinsk, Russia, was throwing out rubbish when she heard Masha the cat meowing near the bins.

She went over to check Masha - a communal cat - was all right, and could not believe her eyes when she saw the baby boy lying among next to the moggy.

"Masha is a communal cat who everyone takes turns in looking after," she said.

"She is very placid and friendly so when I heard her mewing I thought that perhaps she had injured herself because normally she would have come and said hello to me.

"You can imagine my shock when I saw her lying in a box next to a baby.

"Clearly her mothering instincts had taken over and she wanted to protect the child.

"He was well-dressed with a little hat and whoever left him here had even left a few nappies and some baby food."

The baby boy was taken by ambulance to hospital where he was given a check up and declared fit and healthy.

A hospital spokesman said: "The baby had only been outside for a few hours and thanks to Masha and the child

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The cat was just trying to stay warm.... it wasn't a hero. It happened to save a life by being selfish. (i am not complaining, just pointing out)

Sounds like you know your facts. So If you haven't already voted in the Official Dogs vs Cats poll, you should do so because I think I know what you might pick:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1225743-official-dogs-vs-cats/page-130

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The cat was just trying to stay warm.... it wasn't a hero. It happened to save a life by being selfish. (i am not complaining, just pointing out)

 

Then why did she call out? She could have kept quiet and enjoyed the heat source a little longer if that were the case. Would you say the same if it had been a small dog rather than a cat?

 

The cat was clearly trying to attract attention to the baby.

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Then why did she call out? She could have kept quiet and enjoyed the heat source a little longer if that were the case. Would you say the same if it had been a small dog rather than a cat?

 

The cat was clearly trying to attract attention to the baby.

 

Agreed, though no one really knows what our four legged friends are thinking...this cat was obviously calling out for attention.  It wasn't just cuddling with the baby seeking warmth as rippleman suggests.  Its intentions also really do not matter...what does matter its that (possibly) because of its calls...the baby is alive.

 

Good on the cat!

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Then why did she call out? She could have kept quiet and enjoyed the heat source a little longer if that were the case. Would you say the same if it had been a small dog rather than a cat?

 

The cat was clearly trying to attract attention to the baby.

 

you are putting human emotions into an animal that doesn't have any. Calling out does not mean calling out for help.

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you are putting human emotions into an animal that doesn't have any. Calling out does not mean calling out for help.

 

The cat might have just been saying "I found this! Mine now!" but the end result is the same.

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the result was never in question

 

I've seen my cats clearly show all sorts of emotions. Contentment, happiness, annoyance, anger. Why is it so hard to imagine that they're capable of compassion as well?

 

Just snuggling up to the baby could have been to keep herself warm, and therefore selfish. But that's not all the cat did.

 

What explanation would you offer for the cat apparently calling out? The simplest explanation is that she was calling attention to the baby.

 

And I ask again, would you be just as dismissive of the behavior if it had been a dog?

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To say that other life form does not possess such awareness is full of ignorance.

 

Well, I'm not stating conclusively that the cat was acting out of kindness, just that its the simplest explanation. Which is borne out by my experience with cats.

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And I ask again, would you be just as dismissive of the behavior if it had been a dog?

dogs carry a different kind of animal instinct in a servitude kind of way. Even though a dog doing this would be more likely, it still would be extremely rare.

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I've seen my cats clearly show all sorts of emotions. Contentment, happiness, annoyance, anger. Why is it so hard to imagine that they're capable of compassion as well?

 

You have seen this and you feel its the same as a human. When you see a cat kill another cat due to territory issue, do you put human twist on that too? Animals act for different reasons then a human would. You have have some things that look the same, but for drastic different reasons. Can a cat be compassionate? yes but not from a human direction. Example: When a cat loses its litter, it will instinctively "adopt" a kitten that wasn't its own. Is it doing this out of compassion? No, animal instinct.

To say that other life form does not possess such awareness is full of ignorance.

 

to say that ALL other life forms DO possess such awareness is full of ignorance. No where did i claim what you just said.

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I think people try wayyyy too hard to personify animals, especially when it comes to domesticated ones.

 

I think people try wayyy to hard to believe only they are capable of empathy.

 

 

you are putting human emotions into an animal that doesn't have any. Calling out does not mean calling out for help.

 

It may not have Human emotions but it has Cat emotions.

 

 

I'm not sure what it is with some people who just refuse to believe that an Animal is capable of seeing a Human (or any creature) in trouble and trying to help. Do you think you're just that special? Plenty of Animals have shown advanced cognitive abilities, and this includes Cats. When the argument comes down to 'Animal instincts', I ask of what Kingdom do you think you belong to? Do you disregard your cognition because you too act on instinct? Personally, I think you have yourself fooled.

 

This Cat seems pretty legitimately intent on saving this baby. You can find all the excuses in the book to chalk it down to instincts. I'll invoke Occam's Razor.

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I think people try wayyy to hard to believe only they are capable of empathy.

 

 

 

It may not have Human emotions but it has Cat emotions.

 

 

I'm not sure what it is with some people who just refuse to believe that an Animal is capable of seeing a Human (or any creature) in trouble and trying to help. Do you think you're just that special? Plenty of Animals have shown advanced cognitive abilities, and this includes Cats. When the argument comes down to 'Animal instincts', I ask of what Kingdom do you think you belong to? Do you disregard your cognition because you too act on instinct? Personally, I think you have yourself fooled.

 

This Cat seems pretty legitimately intent on saving this baby. You can find all the excuses in the book to chalk it down to instincts. I'll invoke Occam's Razor.

So cat emotions say, "keep a human baby warm"?

 

I dunno....I just find that unlikely.  If it was a turtle, would they do the same?

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So cat emotions say, "keep a human baby warm"?

 

I dunno....I just find that unlikely.  If it was a turtle, would they do the same?

 

A Turtle not doing what a Cat does in no way infers that a Cat won't do what a Human does. I personally don't believe that a Turtle has the same level of empathy as that of a Cat as Reptiles in general seem to lack empathy; at least I've seen no cases of it. To associate this with this scenario in anyway would be a logical fallacy, I believe. Reptilian brains are very different than that of Mammalian brains (which both Humans and Cats belong to).

 

I'm not sure if the Cat thinks, "keep a human baby warm", but I don't know what it is a Cat thinks. I would like to think that its thought process was along those lines, yes, based on what happened.

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A Turtle not doing what a Cat does in no way infers that a Cat won't do what a Human does. I personally don't believe that a Turtle has the same level of empathy as that of a Cat as Reptiles in general seem to lack empathy; at least I've seen no cases of it. To associate this with this scenario in anyway would be a logical fallacy, I believe. Reptilian brains are very different than that of Mammalian brains (which both Humans and Cats belong to).

 

I'm not sure if the Cat thinks, "keep a human baby warm", but I don't know what it is a Cat thinks. I would like to think that its thought process was along those lines, yes, based on what happened.

I meant if the baby was a turtle, not the cat!

 

What if the baby was a gorilla?

 

Still think it would happen?

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I meant if the baby was a turtle, not the cat!

 

What if the baby was a gorilla?

 

Still think it would happen?

 

In short, maybe.

 

In long (?), there are 3 scenarios that I can think of that would make a Cat do this:

 

1) The Cat realised that the Human baby was in need of care, came to its side and tried to get Human attention. This requires a reasonably complex thought process. If this were the case, and the Cat enjoyed the company of Gorillas (or Turtles), than I would say "yes" to your question. As we're just as unlikely or likely to help something we don't or do like, respectively.

 

2) The Cat used this opportunity to impress Humans so we can continue giving it food (as it's probably grown accustomed to). This again requires highly cognitive skills, one such being foresight and another being probability which shouldn't be taken lightly. If this were the case, than I would say "no" to your question. As Adult Gorilla's don't feed Cats. Considering this involves far more Humanistic traits I'm going to say this is unlikely.

 

3) The Cat randomly went into a box, noticed it was warm and stuck around. Then defiantly, against a lone predators instincts, decided to scream. Unless this Cat was in heat, then I highly doubt this. It is probable, though. Was the Cat a Female?

 

 

I'm not saying that you or rippleman are wrong, I'm saying that you shouldn't assume you're right. Also your questions purpose seem to only exist to discredit my position and in answering them have gained you no further insight, nor would they ever. The only way they could serve a theoretical purpose is if this story was hypothetical, but it isn't, it happened.

 

I do know this though, if a Cat sees a baby in a box there is a 100% certainty that eventually that Cat will go into that box and scream (possibily for attention). No such certainty can be given to any scenario involving any other combination of Animal with a Cat.

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