Research continues into the extremes of violence demonstrated by Mazuzu Whang whilst at play.
I have posted before in “Dance Hall Days” about his tendency to not only chase a laser dot on the floor, but to absolutely obliterate it. I’ve also observed his disregard for human comfort or safety when chasing or being chased by Tito, bouncing off us at high speed while we sleep…
I now think we may have an explanation for this Clockwork Orange level of violence.
I referred in a previous post my suspicions about Mazuzu’s lack of peripheral vision, and true enough, trying to get his attention by waggling a finger on the edge of his visual field yields no reaction, nor does pointing a laser dot in the same area either to his left or right. Even if he catches a reflection further in front of him, he shows no sign of understanding where this light comes from, unlike Tito.
Mazuzu does enjoy watching television, and he once at least watched “Up!” almost in its entirety, despite some attempts at distracting him.
I think this has to do with the way his eyes are set in his skull: forward like all predators, but also on a flatter plane, unlike most other cat breeds which extend slightly to the side of their head enhancing peripheral vision (Jesus-Christ I sound like a Nazi!)
But look at these pictures, which, while not the best, give an inkling as to what I mean:
This is what I refer to as the Wayfarer-Oakley effect, and Mazuzu’s violence is over-compensation for it:
While Mazuzu is capable of intense focus, he would be impaired trying to survive in the wild. Even wearing the wool-wife beater we bought him, actually he’d probably get beat up by other cats for his tuna money.
He backs straight up rather than turn, does not really manage high speed sharp turns well at all, resulting in him flapping his huge ears making a sound like meat-castanets… In other words he’s really not stealthy at all, and needs humans to survive, not unlike:
And true enough, I took this picture last night:
