Permanent Kittens...

[Nomad]

Interesting article on howstuffworks:

http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2009/04/01/permanent-kittens-flat-out-refuse-to-grow/

These little fuzzballs are genetically modified to say the least, which as we all know is a highly debated topic. The details are a little vague at this point, but this is what we know from a single bizarre statement released by Dr. Tensing Funkhouser at the university on March 21. “Once born, the kitten grows normally up to a designated point picked out by the buyer from a range of two weeks to three months old. If an eight week old kitten is ideal for you, you can do that. If you want a 3 week old kitten that you have to feed from a bottle its entire life, you can do that too.” Dr. Funkhouser closed the statement with a cryptic line — “It is the dawn of a new age. With our fairly successful trials thus far, we believe this will only be the beginning of what lies ahead in terms of purposefully arresting external physical development.”

Thoughts?

 

[terryl965]

Next we can get our kids to be any size!!

 

[Omar B]

That's crazy. Half the fun of having a pet (I'm a dog person) is to see how he develops and learns over the course of his life. If you want something perpetually in a stagnant and needy state one has to question your psyche. Are you completely stagnant and need something to make you feel whole and needed?

Why do you need something that absolutely needs you for all it's survival? Granted a dog would starve and die without his master but at least a grown animal would show some independence. Act on it's own at whatever task it's set to and it would be a pet and companion when called. Seriously, I don't want anything or anyone constantly hanging all over me for it's every need, no matter how cute it is.

 

[CoryKS]

:rofl:

 

[Bill Mattocks]

That's crazy. Half the fun of having a pet (I'm a dog person) is to see how he develops and learns over the course of his life. If you want something perpetually in a stagnant and needy state one has to question your psyche. Are you completely stagnant and need something to make you feel whole and needed?

Why do you need something that absolutely needs you for all it's survival? Granted a dog would starve and die without his master but at least a grown animal would show some independence. Act on it's own at whatever task it's set to and it would be a pet and companion when called. Seriously, I don't want anything or anyone constantly hanging all over me for it's every need, no matter how cute it is.

Many state that dogs are wolves in a permanent arrested state of puppyhood, because we've bred that to be that way. Not sure if this is different or not. They apparently call it 'neoteny' - I'm no expert.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog

 

[Omar B]

I understand that man. But a dog or a regular cat grows, develops and changes. I do not understand keeping a kitten in that state perpetually unless the human has some sort of complex or huge hole in their life that can only be filled with caring for this helpless animal. It sounds like "empty nest syndrome" to the extreme.

 

[Carol]

:lol:

 

[MA-Caver]

Many state that dogs are wolves in a permanent arrested state of puppyhood, because we've bred that to be that way. Not sure if this is different or not. They apparently call it 'neoteny' - I'm no expert.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog

Dogs are in a state of perpetual puppyhood through out their lives except for working military or police K-9's who get a sense of WORK as they go about their duties... same with rescue dogs and other dogs that WORK around their human masters. Household pets are just puppies because they don't get a sense of earning their food/water on a daily basis.

Cats... well they live with an owner and also don't WORK... some cats that are around the farm (i.e. dairy) may work by mousing but they'll still flip you off as they walk away when you call them. :lol:

The idea of arresting natural development is STUPID STUPID STUPID... oh and I also think it's STUPID.

 

[girlbug2]

Many state that dogs are wolves in a permanent arrested state of puppyhood, because we've bred that to be that way. Not sure if this is different or not. They apparently call it 'neoteny' - I'm no expert.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog

Yes, dogs and cats are psychologically puppies and kittens, they're bred over many thousands of years to be that way, otherwise they wouldn't coexist peacefully with humans.

Having said that, at least dogs and cats as we know them today do have they physical bodies of maturity and some ability to fend for themselves. If not, dogs would be no use as guard dogs and cats would be no use as mousers.

My cat hunts for himself regularly, if I disappeared suddenly he'd live a few more years . I'm sure he's only hanging around out of kittenish affection for me, the cozy place to sleep in winter, and the enjoyment of being babied. But, he doesn't have to stay purely for survival. That's partly what makes it rewarding, for me, to be a cat owner; we both know he is paying me a huge compliment in his own way by coming back. We actually like eachother, it's mutually beneficial. I'd lose that if he were truly a perpetual kitten.

As for my labrador, well, he'll be three years old this fall and he's still a puppy at heart. A huge, hungry puppy with a fearsome sounding bark that keeps the house alerted at the approach of strangers. Worth his weight in gold.

 

[Omar B]

The long and short of it is, I don't want anything or anyone around me out of need. A lover who stays with you out of "need" for love is a sycophant, a relationship is equal on both parts, if there's an inequity it usually points to huge problems. Just the same, a pet who's there just for you to feel needed is not a pet but a prop for your crippled self esteem, and bad interpersonal skills.

 

[shesulsa]

What the **** is it with the world today? People seem obsessed with youth and need and ... YUCK!!

First life-like baby dolls grown women stroll around in buggies and now, as if the first isn't disgusting enough, friggin' permakitties.



Is it because those evils normally associated with adulthood are now considered to be eviller than before? Teens used to look forward to smoking and drinking and porn whenever they pleased ... now, those things are BAD for you so now we can't grow up without those things?

Pacification. Does the increased societal need for this not bother anyone else?

 

[Drac]

Permanent kittens? Not for me..It was fun watching our cats grow and watching their personalities develope..

 

[stone_dragone]

Thinking a little bit forward... if the kitten is not immortal but stays in the kitten stage it's entire life, then it will die as a kitten.

That's just straight depressing.

Try thinking about dead kittens and then see if you don't get depressed.

 

[Omar B]

I'm a dog person so no, it doesn't depress me. What does sadden me are the sad souls who need that to fill some void in their life. "Oh look, an entire life, in my hands."

 

[Thesemindz]

What about the consequences of applying this science to genetically modified humans?

Wanna age to 25 and then stop? Be 25 forever? Live 50 years as a 25 year old?

Or, what about keeping our kids 10 years old forever. I know my mom misses me and my brother as young children. What if she wanted to keep us that way for 60 years? Is that fair? Would it be fair for us to be 10 years old for thirty years after our parents are dead and gone?

I recognize they're nowhere near that yet, but it seems from the quote in the OP that the scientists are reaching for that in the future.


-Rob

 

[Nomad]

People really should read the whole article...

We’d also like to wish you a happy Aprils Fool’s Day from HowStuffWorks.com — there is no permanent kitten, no Tensing Funkhouser and no University of Wisconsin at Sheboygan. No wait, that part is true.

... especially on April Fool's Day! :lfao:

Gotcha:lol:

 

[Omar B]

F-ing hell!

 

[Thesemindz]

Genius.


-Rob

 

[CoryKS]

Just when you think you’ve seen it all comes a story from the “Felines: Out Of Love” society — a cat-loving genetic research group based out of The University of Wisconsin at Sheboygan. The scientists there have designed what they’re calling the “Permanent Kitten.” Yes, this is exactly what you think it is — felines that remain in a permanent state of arrested “kittenness.”

 

[CuongNhuka]

Next we can get our kids to be any size!!

I think someone wrote a book on that once. It might have been a story concept I heard from a freind though. Either way, if I recall correctly, it ended in a couple people getting killed, and the poor rising up in a bloody revolt.