My Cat Is Watching HDTV!
by Phillip Swann

And she isn't alone. Many High-Definition TV owners report that their pets are having trouble distinguishing the realistic picture from reality itself.

Washington, D.C. (January 14, 2006) -- The other night, I was thinking of watching a movie on HBO, but my female housemate wouldn't let me. She was absorbed in a PBS documentary about birds, which was broadcast in High-Definition TV.

My female housemate is named Snoopy. She's a five-year-old black domestic cat.

Yes, my cat watches High-Definition TV.

In fact, she will watch for 20 minutes at a time, particularly if the show features birds, fish or animals. If she sees a bird flying on a high-def channel, she will crouch down in the attacker stance as if the winged creature was right in front of her.

The high-def picture is so clear and life-like that Snoopy apparently thinks it's real.

The Eagle Soars

I first noticed this phenomenon in 2001 when I brought home my first high-def set. Surfing the dial, I stumbled upon a HDTV channel that was showing a documentary on the American Bald Eagle. Snoopy was taking a cat nap in a chair to the left of the TV, but suddenly looked up and saw an eagle soaring across the screen. She immediately walked over and began watching -- and she hasn't stopped yet.

Over the last four and a half years, Snoopy has also shown remarkable interest in baseball games broadcast in high-def. (See picture below.) But, oddly, she totally ignores other sports, such as football and basketball. (Just like a woman, huh?)

I have told several people in the industry about my HDTV-watching feline and I have been greeted with skeptical looks at best. I was beginning to think that either Snoopy (or I) was crazy until I recently researched the topic on the Internet. There are actually several message boards filled with comments from high-def owners saying their pets are watching HDTV -- and having the same trouble distinguishing the realistic picture from reality.

"My cat attacked the TV when (the high-def network) HDNet was playing a show about lions," said one high-def owner at alt.tv.tech.hdtv.

"Our cat generally ignores the TV. But one night there was a show with wolves. She went over to the screen and tried to touch one," said another.