If you were in a room with your own pet and 99 identical pets, how would you pick out your pet (aside from calling their name)?
Reposting a question I saw on reddit like a decade ago. My favorite answer I read was, "I'd take my 100 dogs home and live like a king."
Personally, I have two cats, Sansa and Shere Khan. For both, I could significantly narrow down the options by seeing which cats meowed at me the most. (I swear I didn't teach them to yell, but here we are.) For both, I could bring in a dog to discern which cats weren't scared of dogs. For Sansa, I could wait until dinnertime and put down some wet food, then see who hems and haws about eating it despite having screamed for it. That might not be enough to get it down to just one each, but oh well. I could use 5 or 10 more cats.
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Reach down and try to pet them.
The one that dodges like Neo in the Matrix is mine.
Thought it was a possum at first lol
After her first vet trip.
Before the trip:
She has such a pretty face!
A blast from the past!
I guess I would simply have to pet all 100 cats
This is probably worth starting with even when you already know which one is yours.
I'd try and use the bathroom. I'd assume that the two cats that follow me in are mine. If it turns out that all cats will just follow strangers into the bathroom, then one cat is immediately going to jump in the bathtub and start messing with the curtain. Another cat is going to try and dive head first into the toilet. Those will be mine.
That's pretty smart. If you fail, hey now you have two more cats
Lie down and take out my phone. The two cats who immediately get between my face and my phone are mine, as are my 198 new cats.
He would be the dead one.
Sorry for your loss, and thank you for the laugh.
And my answer is the same.
You now have 99 dead pets
My dog is the most cowardly dog I've ever met. All I would have to do is bring the toy he is afraid of. All the other dogs will either ignore it or want to play with it. But my dog will recognize the scary toy and cower. I got him that toy for Christmas and it was a really nice expensive toy. Same brand as all his other toys he loves. But for whatever reason, he's scared of it. So I gave it to my parent's dogs who think it's just the best toy they've ever seen.
They would pick me out
This. My pup would be so anxious around 99 other dogs that she'd rush up to me, waggle her butt and whine about it.
I would bring my bed into the room and turn on the floor fan.
awww
Well, first I'd be asking what you did to the eye on 99 other pets. After that, I'd find a stairway and take home the first one that tried to trip me going up the stairs
If there was just my cat? I'd just get a hoodie on and pretend to start studying. The cat that climbs my back and snuggles up into the hood is mine.
If my dog is also there? I'd just say "where's the cat?" In my dialect. My dog would just waltz over to the cat and sit on them. Or just point at them like he does with quails (hunting dog) if he can't reach her.
Seymour has a little pink spot on his muzzle, and I'm not sure if could tell Will from a shag rug...
I've had the same gerbil for almost 30 years. I doubt I'd notice if someone swapped it into identical colored one in the middle of the night.
It was supposed to be a joke. They live around 2 to 4 years.
The gerbil of Theseus.
Oh easy. I’d go sit on the porcelain throne and close the door. He’ll show up incensed that the door was closed soon enough.
Alternately, I could walk within 10 feet of the cabinet that has the treat bag in it.
I'd sneeze. Calcifer (orange cat) would run up and "mer" at me to say 'bless you'
Easy. Mine is the cute but stupid one who keeps walking into walls and barking at his own shadow. And no, he's not blind. Just dumb.
If they are truly 'identical' down to every atom, unless we are talking about spiritual things, they are simply all the same?
Identical in appearance only, otherwise the question makes no sense.
Answering the question of whether they would all be the same definitely gets into the spiritual side of things, its impossible to separate.
I just have to sit down for a few seconds. The one that throws themself over my shoulder like a baby is mine. She did that when I first met her at the shelter and she still does it when I visit her at my brother's
"find it!" will cause her to search everywhere for her toy. For the other one, it's whichever starts yodeling if I splash water into the air. I've never heard another creature make the noises he does
my cat has a dedicated overstimulated corner on my desk where she goes if I'm annoying her too much but still wants attention, and I imagine that's not pretty common. She also stares at the wall.
There's 99 other dogs in the room. The antisocial thing will be glued to my leg 😆
I feign striking my wife in anger.
We shared a house with my wife's brother. He was an alcoholic, and got uppity one night. I was at work, so not home.
Our dog made sure he regretted being an aggressive ass towards his sister.
Then I nearly got assault charges for making sure he remembered why he was bruised and scratched up the next morning after I got home from night shift. The canine puncture was his own fucking problem. Note: I didn't lay a hand on him, was just accused.
Dad's Doberman would only attack if he thought my stepmom was threatened. They'd play fight to encourage him.
Can of whipped cream. Misha has very good pattern recognition.
She also recognises the "c'mon whistle" as head back inside.
Misha is a cat btw
My dog is missing an ear, so that would make her stand out pretty easily. If the rest of the dogs were also missing an ear, I'd look for the one that was trying to play with the rest of them. Calling her name wouldn't do any good anyways, since she would be way too distracted by the 99 other dogs.
I have taught my dog a few nonverbal commands, so I could easily identify her without even speaking... If she isn't too busy terrorising the other 99 dogs of course.
I’ve answered this before, but -
I would sneeze or cough, and my oldest would act horribly offended and yell at me. Or she’d come up and demand attention because she’s 8 pounds of fluffy Velcro.
My second oldest would be the one cat to act offended at a bowl of wet food.
My boy would come running at the sound of a yogurt container opening or a whipped cream can being used.
My youngest girl would be the one to make eye contact with me and bolt away. She’d also be looking for her momma (my second oldest).
My boy cat has always given me very affectionate, but forceful, cuddles under my chin, especially when scared. Which reminds me that my old lady cat always buries her face in my elbow when she's scared.
So, I'll just have to pick up every cat and see who trusts me enough to use me as a blindfold lol
Can I have props?
If yes, give me a kitchen sink, cutting table and some tomatoes.
Upon the mere sound of water running in the sink, my little bastard will run to my feet and start yelling because he thinks I'm preparing meat. Then I show him I'm actually preparing a salad, and offer him a tiny piece of tomato.
He sniffs and walks away in one swift disinterested motion.
Whoever doesn't scream at my feet when I'm at the sink, or shows any interest in the tomato is out of the list 🍅
My dogs know their names. They also have individual whistles. They react to certain phrases.
Emeril gets upset if I put my shoes on my hand and clap. To him, it is like I'm a parent admonishing a child. Also, he can sit, paw, and speak.
Eli has the energy of a wet rug, but he whips his head around at the right phases. He can sit, paw, and roll over.
Della is gassy and treat motivated. She would be the hardest because she doesn't know me when she is free. She can sit, paw, kiss, and play guess what hand the treat is in.
I would go to bed and just from the duvet rustling notice which cat comes running to be the little spoon.
Or I would sit with some yummy human food (like butter) and see which one will stop sniffing at it when I tell them to leave it, and instead go sit patiently at their own place waiting for their taste of the treat (cats aren't known for their patience, but we have developed this ritual together.. next step is utilising the same command when it's time for their food and see if I can stop that darn yowling).
Forget my pet, I would be very worried with everyone involved, cats will just like "holy fuck so many enemy!" and cause a fight.
Other than that, depend on which one im looking for, one could be identify with his eye and being chonk, one with her belly and hook-shaped short tail, one with his whine and fluffy tail and his mane, and one with her very judgemental squint.
Pick up the cats one by one and see which lets me pick them up without trying to attack me.
My cat scratched me a few times on Month 1, but is fine with me now 2+ years in, so if you mean it's all identical clones except the memory, then judging by her initial behavior, only my cat would let me pick her up.
He would come to me on his own. He's the goodest of good boys and loves me infinitely. My only problem is that he loves people too much. "Hey that's another human who hasn't petted me!" But he always comes back and wags his tail because he's proud that everyone loves him the way that he loves everyone.
I call my dog Yardstick because she only has 3 feet. Pretty sure I could pick her out, besides the fact that she'd be glued to my leg.
I have a parrot, i just need to say “who wants a blueberry?” And that little fucker will fly to me and start demanding his treat.
She's the only one who ignores me when I call her name
By "identical" I'm going to mean you want me to pick Izzy out of a lineup of 100 female grey cats.
Wait and see which one starts yelling at precisely 3:45 PM. That'll be my Izzy, that's her loudest meal time.
I don't have to wait. My pig runs when I whistle. It's storming right now and he'd bolt out into the rain if I whistled.
Alternatively, bring in the lady next door who feeds him almost daily. He'd started honking and pigging and running to her.
honking amd pigging. your pig pigs? or sometimes doesn't pig?
I'd bring a pinch of crabgrass and see which sleek void with a kink in her tail comes up to eat it.
Mine would be the dead one. It's been quite a while since I've had a pet.
I'm sorry
Oh, it's easy. Mine is the one cat who is picking constant fights with all the other cats. For the amount of love and affection this guy has for human, he has the identical in size hatered for other cats, especially if they look like him
I honestly can't think of anything better than being in a room with 100 Boxer dogs.
At the end, the sofa and blanket would have to be huge to fit us all on it, though.
My cat can do tricks. So I’d just make him do them and take him back home
I taught my cat tricks. So it would be the one who would shake my hand for a treat. My cat also is a coward, so would check the wallflowers first.
I'll do the "Ku" pose from the movie Kindzaza a couple of times and the dog will come running to jump around me. For some reason, he loves it when I do that.
Kika: raise the palm of my hand threateningly, and start saying things like "nojenta" (disgusting), "jaguara" (sly), "cachaceira" (drunkard), "chata" (boring) etc. Most cats will go away. Kika will however come closer and turn her butt towards me, as if saying "slap it".
Siegfrieda: start speaking in German. No, seriously. She actually identifies when I'm speaking in Portuguese or in German, and if it's the later she immediately thinks it's something with her. Good luck finding 99 cats with a bent mouth and a protruding fang, though.
My cockatiel is the only one in this hypothetical flock that would scream my name, when any nearby human gets into an argument.
My cat would be in a corner, or hiding under a sofa. It's feral, blind, deaf, and wary of everything and everyone. If it managed to recognise me, it would give a dismissive twitch of the tail and/or take a swipe at me.
I haven’t got any pets now, but for the last pet I had, it would’ve been easy. I mentioned in another comment on here recently that she used to attack/eat dandelions.
I could’ve held up a fluffy, white dandelion and waited to see which pup came over to chomp it.
I dunno, statistically speaking, there's gotta be a few more dandelion eaters in that group of 100
So I'm in a room with 100 cats, one of which pesters me for love and affection about a thousand times a day. I could just sit down and wait for her to come over and scream like she's in immense pain as she usually does. If that didn't work I'd clap my hands and look around. The room should look something like this
😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳☺️😳😳😳 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
because she knows me and is used to me being noisy sometimes.
Easy - I wouldn't. Especially since it would just be an empty room.
If I say "it's here" she'll run towards any window to bark.
My dog comes to click noises like a horse
I would try to walk. That would instantly make our one cat sprint to my feet to get directly under and infront of them.
For the other cat saying “soft food” would work. She’ll come screaming and expect to be served. Lord help me if I don’t have food on me though.
I would first try to spray all dogs with a water hose.. all who play or chill are eliminated. Then I would bring them to a lake. Mine would be the first in the water.
Completely heuristic and I would never be entirely sure I have the same one; however, like others have said I'd just have 100 pets. I wish I could afford that and have enough space for that.
Oh he would find me. Classic hide and seek
Each of my cats has a specific strange trait that I would look for.
I would call my cat and the one that walked up to me stopped a arms reach away would be mine.
Stand their till mine comes and jumps on me. She lives with my family most of the time so she gets very excited every time I see her.
With one of my dogs, I'll look for the dog that does exactly what I say when I say it. For the other, I will look for the dog that completely ignores everything I say.
One has obvious visible signs from a rough past, plus she makes unique Chewbacca sounds and hops like a kangaroo/faints like a goat when excited. The other would tackle me and not leave my side.
I do a simple tongue click twice and wait. My cats all understand what the 2 clicks means.
I refer to my 2 dogs as "my children" all the time, to the point that when I'm calling them both in from outside, I throw open the door and shout "Children!" Or when they're being annoying, I'm like "Children, stop!"
So I would just have to shout the word "Children!" And they'd come to me.
"Wet food?"
i literally had a nightmare about this and it really stressed me out
My cat would find me
Just give them commands, that aren't their name. Both my cat and dog do an assortment of tricks and are very food motivated.
Sit down and try to eat a snack. The cat that ends up about 2 inches in front of my face purring while trying to steal my food and gnaw on my nose is mine
Put down their favorite box and start trying to pet cats. The one that slinks away rapidly to the box and gets bitey/swatty if you put your hands near is her :)
@Balerion She responds to her heads-up noise. She also complains when I pick her up (even after she's asked to be picked up).
I know his meow.
Vegetables that normal dogs don't like.
Yes. I have a unique whistle that she would immediately respond to.
His soft little meows. I'd try to mimic his "Outside" button, and see which one comes running and beseeches me with the most pathetic whining. To confirm I'd pick him up and see if he makes a dramatic, offended meow.
I wouldn't want to but I'm guessing...smell their butts?
How identical are we talking? Moles all the same place?
Depends which one, escorting me around, flopping over and not leaving til I’ve scratched the shit out of him, or mithering for food would be solid indicators though.
Do that little side-mouth click.
"chk chk" means food and they know it
edit: Cats are trainable AF with sound cues. Ever time I opened the front door I did a twee-twee-twee whistle with my teeth. It taught them that when they hear that sound, it's the opportunity to go out or come in. If I wanted to call them home I'd open the door and do the distinctive whistle, within 10 minutes they'd be hovering at the front looking to come in
All cats.
If it was my old boy, omg I’d love to have 100 versions of him, but the test would be if I sat down, the cat immediately on my lap is probably him, but to be sure I’d bring in some random stranger and sit them down and see if the same cat goes to them immediately. He was the absolute friendliest cat on the face of the earth, even thought the mailman was there for him!
As for the girl I had at the same time, I’d put down wet food aplenty, and then put a pizza box in the very middle of the table with ham in it and see which one could, and wanted to, get it open. She fucking loved pork for whatever reason, and she was smart enough to understand that knocking a food box off the table would get it open very nicely. I lost a lot of leftovers to that bitch.
My current cats.. they would yell at me and disappear. So no idea. I’d probably put my quail cage in the room and see which ones don’t give a shit about the birds. That’s probably a good clue. Tho the fact that they would be fighting everyone would also be a good clue, that would not be a happy time. They can’t even stand small wildlife by the door..
I have a special stupid call that only my dog goes nuts for.
I mean the one that follows me the most.