Cat Aquariums

Posted4 months agoActive4 months ago

robin_reala

146 points

40 comments

cataquariums.comOtherstory

calmmixed

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60/100

Cat AquariumsAnimal WelfareNovelty Products

Key topics

Cat Aquariums

Animal Welfare

Novelty Products

The 'Cat Aquarium' product allows cats to observe fish in a tank, sparking discussion about its novelty, potential cruelty to fish, and the cat's actual interest in the display.

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01Story posted
Sep 14, 2025 at 2:42 AM EDT
4 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Sep 14, 2025 at 7:30 AM EDT
5h after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
19 comments in 6-12h
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04Latest activity
Sep 16, 2025 at 5:44 PM EDT
4 months ago
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Discussion (40 comments)

Showing 40 comments

danhau

4 months ago

3 replies

This is exactly the kind of thing the internet was made to share for. Made me lol. But I can‘t help thinking that the cat will eventually get bored of the fish it can‘t eat, and the you end up with a weird looking aquarium.

ngruhn

4 months ago

1 reply

True :P On the other hand, laser pointers seem endlessly entertaining.

ndsipa_pomu

4 months ago

2 replies

I've heard that excessive laser pointer chasing is cruel as the cat activates their hunting instinct, but is never able to catch it leading to a build up of frustration.

latexr

4 months ago

5 replies

Can confirm, both from experience and consulting with veterinaries. Don’t play with cats with laser pointers. Had one cat who became so obsessed (and we didn’t even play that long) that for years afterwards would react to any light reflection, like the sun bouncing of the phone screen and onto the wall. Thankfully it subsided significantly later in life, but it took a lot of care and vigilance.

quesera

4 months ago

2 replies

I suspect this is bunk -- the vast majority of feline stalking sessions in nature are unsuccessful, and these are often motivated by hunger, so failure is more meaningful than it would be for a domestic cat. Also, how does one measure feline frustration? Cortisol levels? Brain activity? Is it distinguishable from the stress/excitement of the hunt?

Regardless, my approach has been to start by putting together one of those 3V lithium battery LED assemblies, wrapping it up in clear tape, and hiding it under the dog bed. This takes about 30 seconds of preparation.

Then I run the cats around with the laser pointer for a few minutes, and finally let them watch the dot "hide" under the dog bed, so that they reach in and pull out their prize.

Which they then attack for a few seconds, but lose interest in pretty quickly, because it doesn't run away or smell edible. But their predator success desire is met, I think.

This chase-catch-abandon cycle is their MO for flying bugs and mice as well, FWIW. They seem to enjoy it, although I am not sure it's any easier to measure feline pleasure than feline frustration.

willseth

4 months ago

Our vet told us it is far more important that house cats get exercise than any potential frustration caused by a laser pointer.

latexr

4 months ago

I’m reporting on the behaviour, which has also been confirmed to me as something which does happen by a veterinarian specialising in feline behaviour, I’m not discussing its reasons on a biological level.

ModernMech

4 months ago

1 reply

I feel this is just a cat being a cat. Cats are hardwired to chase any small thing moving quickly. Their eyes are great at detecting contrast, and a bright light has a lot of contrast to interest a cat. They chase it because they don't really understand it's not prey and just a reflection. That the cat lost interest as it got older is perhaps it just being old and less exuberant.

latexr

4 months ago

Not this cat. It was an obvious behavioural change from before. Additionally, siblings in the same house didn’t exhibit the behaviour. It got better with old age in the sense the cat started giving up sooner after we hid the light, but there was no loss of energy or other changes.

doright

4 months ago

1 reply

My understanding is this is 100% true for dogs but not for cats, and the reason for the difference in level of obsession is unclear.

mikestew

4 months ago

We’ve got a rescue dog like that, reflections off watches or whatever (including kitchen baking sheets). It genuinely distresses him. Dog was seven years old when we got him, probably no fixing it now, but we do try to mitigate things as best we can.

In his particular case, his hunting instinct doesn’t help, I’m sure. He’s a pit bull, but that speckled neck and feet tells me that there’s some Spaniel in there somewhere.

gliptic

4 months ago

1 reply

This doesn't really make sense to me. Most cats I've known react to such reflections without ever having seen a laser pointer in their life, for the same reason they react to laser pointers.

latexr

4 months ago

This cat didn’t.

secretsatan

4 months ago

1 reply

That’s def not the laser, most cats will play with light reflections if they’ve seen a laser pointer or, i did this as a kid pre laser pointer age. I would say the laser pointer at least works without sunlight.

latexr

4 months ago

The cat wasn’t like that with reflections before the play with the laser. And siblings in the same house never cared for reflections.

noir_lord

4 months ago

Place a treat out the way but where you can hit it with the laser, play with them for 10-15 and then point it at the treat and as the cat arrives kill the laser.

tim333

4 months ago

Cat's have remarkable persistence at watching potential prey. I don't think ours ever stopped taking an interest.

bmacho

4 months ago

This is exactly the kind of content HN tries to avoid, funny cat content.

Fraterkes

4 months ago

3 replies

Ive always been taught that fish bowls are cruel because they leave the fish feeling really exposed and stressed. Wouldn’t this create the same effect?

komali2

4 months ago

1 reply

I mean, it's a fish, how would we know?

sleepyguy

4 months ago

Perhaps after they go from vibrant and living to floating upside down shortly afterward, is a good indication.

petesergeant

4 months ago

If that was true, I feel like it would be surprising that fish towers/elevators/view-tubes often fill with fish.

wzdd

4 months ago

Bowls specifically are worse than large, filtered, rectangular aquariums because they're typically too small (causing stress), unfiltered (resulting in waste buildup which causes stress), round (which can act as a lens if the bowl is small, which provides an unnatural, constantly-changing view which causes stress, and which also offers no corner to hide in or rest), and open at the top (so things can fall in, fish can leap out, and cats can attempt to catch them).

moffkalast

4 months ago

1 reply

Hmm, aren't cat eyes largely unable to focus on objects less than 30cm/12inch away? I wonder if this is more like colourful a blur to them.

AnotherGoodName

4 months ago

2 replies

That’s utter nonsense.

I could post many many videos of my cats focused on objects on my latop or tablet screen or perhaps a session where they follow a bug around from a few cm away for fun. But i don’t need to since you can google many such examples. There’s even tablet games for cats since they can see things so clearly

moffkalast

4 months ago

1 reply

Just because they react to these objects doesn't mean they can see them clearly. It's just physics based on the eye and lens dimensions. With human eyes that threshold is about 10 cm, and if you try seeing objects closer than that you can still very much track and identify them, but they are blurry nonetheless. Maybe cat brains are also better at compensating for it, that part we can't really know, but they are most adapted to be ambush predators that don't really need to see things up close once they lock on and pounce.

AnotherGoodName

4 months ago

1 reply

It doesn't even pass the smell test. A bit like "dogs can't look up" which is ridiculous to anyone with a dog.

Eg. https://imgur.com/a/GwwzIEh for my cat playing with tiny objects on the screen. Take this behaviour 100x over each day and you'll wonder how anyone can think they can't see things up close.

moffkalast

4 months ago

Not being able to focus clearly on something != Not being able to see something completely. Maybe my wording was a bit off there. They see something there, it's just very blurry to them. It's measurable directly from lens and eye dimensions, and from pupil reactions, the way opticians measure people for their prescription.

I know you're arguing in bad faith at this point, but just do an experiment, put your face 5cm close to a monitor, wave the mouse around. That's what your cat sees at 15cm away.

metabagel

4 months ago

Cats can’t focus on objects closer than about 25 to 30 cm away.

https://youtu.be/mdqBbvYX3MU?si=MWZgpLbW-9NSsIcw

https://www.petmd.com/cat/general-health/cat-vision

yardstick

4 months ago

1 reply

Can’t the cat just sit directly beside the fish tank and watch?

kijin

4 months ago

Cats seem to prefer sitting in enclosed spaces, like a cardboard box.

trolleybus

4 months ago

2 replies

I'm a bit perplexed: the "Bottom Entrance Cat Aquarium" looks like a fucking trap to stun and kill the cat with its own carbon dioxide...

p1mrx

4 months ago

The cat jumps up through a hole in the bottom of the table.

Normal_gaussian

4 months ago

carbon dioxide is heavier than air; the holes are in the bottom. The cat will be fine.

ilamont

4 months ago

1 reply

Reminded me of the “bonsai kitten” hoax of the 90s, maybe one of the first mass outrage events on the WWW.

If I recall correctly, it was an MIT student prank. This looks to be an early copy:

https://public.websites.umich.edu/~rsc/Humour/www.bonsaikitt...

bdcravens

4 months ago

That was literally the first thing I thought of when I saw the link. We're old lol

postepowanieadm

4 months ago

Was expecting something more like kitten-bonsai.

jakedata

4 months ago

Make the platform removable and it becomes a hat aquarium.

tempodox

4 months ago

> Enhances cognitive function

I wonder how they arrived at that. Do I have to expect my cat to start talking, “Cut the BS and give me the fish already”?

Still, I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a catquarium to be something like https://anycrap.shop/product/cat-aquarium

AndrewOMartin

4 months ago

Please do not tap on the glass. It distresses the fish, and gives the cat ideas.

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ID: 45237970Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 4:23:22 PM

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