Alright, I admit--it sounds cruel. And you know what? As funny as I think it would be seeing a cat react to a pepper's heat, I would never force a hot pepper onto a cat; the most I'd do is let the cat smell it, carefully making sure that it doesn't actually lick it or touch the pepper with its nose (assuming the pepper is sliced in half to better allow the smell to escape). I really like cats (they're one of my favorite animals, they always have been, probably always will be) and I like sharing with them things that I like, but obviously there are limits. Even I know the crazy intense heat and pain sensations that can result; I've had my ass kicked royally by the innocent fruit after underestimating it many times, although I keep coming back desparately for more pain and pleasure. What's funny is, all of my cats always seem to like the smell of the peppers I present to them, while at least my older two are downright repulsed by the fragrances of hand creams (which are likely to cause little to no pain or suffering). I can't even put my hand near them in the winter for hours after using hand cream, even after several subsequent hand washes; they outright despise the smell.
Yet ironically, I have a newer (and younger) cat that seems to love playing with hot peppers... and I didn't even really get him started on them. He'll swat the peppers off of the plants (I have a whole bunch in pots that I'm attempting to overwinter), and once he has them down on the ground, he'll continue swatting at them across the floor and even pick them up in his mouth and carry them around the house, protecting the pepper as if he caught a prize mouse or bird or something. Yes... this cat's got some balls (okay, not really, he and his siblings from the litter were estimated by the veterinarian to have been born around mid-April 2011 and was castrated on Halloween last year... so he doesn't really have any balls, at least not any more...). Yet he's playing with some fruit most other humans that I know wouldn't even touch with a ten-foot pool, let alone heavily diluted to the point you can't even feel the heat in food (not to mention, they usually use varieties that have minimal heat to begin with). He seems to have no major "ouch! That f***ing hurts!" reaction to them either. I always end up finding dried-up, damaged peppers throughout the downstairs area of the house that he punctured with his teeth and claws. He gets major respect from me as my little furry chilehead. He's a brown and black mackeral tabby, the first cat I've ever had with that fur pattern.
This cat was originally named the Little Shit because soon after his mother and her practically-wild kittens (including him) were found in our garage earlier last year, he took a shit in one of my potted pepper plants that was sitting on the porch. He has been caught (and yelled at/chased away from) doing the same thing in some of my mom's potted plants, but you know... as long as he's not doing it in my peppers, I don't really care. Heh. I decided to keep him, thinking he would actually turn out to be a good cat, and he has; indoors, he's using the litter pan, not my potted plants. And apparently he shares something in common with me: a love for hot, Capsicum chinense-species hot pepper varieties. Good kitty.
Since I decided to keep him, I thought he needed a more "proper" and vet-friendly name, so I decided to name him Leviathan. His brother, Hurricane (or Shit #2; other alliases include Hurricane Abigail, as in the King Diamond album and character, or Hurricane Abbey Ale, like the beer style) doesn't seem to be quite as fascinated about peppers. Anyone who has watched the movie "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" or read the book "The Satanic Bible" by Anton Szandor LaVey (in which Leviathan is described as one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell, representing the element of Water and the direction of West) might immediately recognize my inspirations and influences. Leviathan is a water demon, a serpent of the sea. And true to his name, this cat can really down water. And yes, the nickname Shit #2 is supposed to sound nonsensical as it seems; "shit" and "number 2" are the same thing, and it's intentional... sort of a joke... yet it's also appropriate for him, because he's also shat in areas (on the floor) that he shouldn't on occasion (especially when he's pissed off).
But yeah... does anyone else have any pepper-loving furry little friends? My mom used to have a dog who would have no qualms eating any fallen hamburger meat for my tacos that fell to the floor. I should add that I chopped up and put three to five C. chinense-species peppers in that stuff, so it's not exactly cold.
Yet ironically, I have a newer (and younger) cat that seems to love playing with hot peppers... and I didn't even really get him started on them. He'll swat the peppers off of the plants (I have a whole bunch in pots that I'm attempting to overwinter), and once he has them down on the ground, he'll continue swatting at them across the floor and even pick them up in his mouth and carry them around the house, protecting the pepper as if he caught a prize mouse or bird or something. Yes... this cat's got some balls (okay, not really, he and his siblings from the litter were estimated by the veterinarian to have been born around mid-April 2011 and was castrated on Halloween last year... so he doesn't really have any balls, at least not any more...). Yet he's playing with some fruit most other humans that I know wouldn't even touch with a ten-foot pool, let alone heavily diluted to the point you can't even feel the heat in food (not to mention, they usually use varieties that have minimal heat to begin with). He seems to have no major "ouch! That f***ing hurts!" reaction to them either. I always end up finding dried-up, damaged peppers throughout the downstairs area of the house that he punctured with his teeth and claws. He gets major respect from me as my little furry chilehead. He's a brown and black mackeral tabby, the first cat I've ever had with that fur pattern.
This cat was originally named the Little Shit because soon after his mother and her practically-wild kittens (including him) were found in our garage earlier last year, he took a shit in one of my potted pepper plants that was sitting on the porch. He has been caught (and yelled at/chased away from) doing the same thing in some of my mom's potted plants, but you know... as long as he's not doing it in my peppers, I don't really care. Heh. I decided to keep him, thinking he would actually turn out to be a good cat, and he has; indoors, he's using the litter pan, not my potted plants. And apparently he shares something in common with me: a love for hot, Capsicum chinense-species hot pepper varieties. Good kitty.
Since I decided to keep him, I thought he needed a more "proper" and vet-friendly name, so I decided to name him Leviathan. His brother, Hurricane (or Shit #2; other alliases include Hurricane Abigail, as in the King Diamond album and character, or Hurricane Abbey Ale, like the beer style) doesn't seem to be quite as fascinated about peppers. Anyone who has watched the movie "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" or read the book "The Satanic Bible" by Anton Szandor LaVey (in which Leviathan is described as one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell, representing the element of Water and the direction of West) might immediately recognize my inspirations and influences. Leviathan is a water demon, a serpent of the sea. And true to his name, this cat can really down water. And yes, the nickname Shit #2 is supposed to sound nonsensical as it seems; "shit" and "number 2" are the same thing, and it's intentional... sort of a joke... yet it's also appropriate for him, because he's also shat in areas (on the floor) that he shouldn't on occasion (especially when he's pissed off).
But yeah... does anyone else have any pepper-loving furry little friends? My mom used to have a dog who would have no qualms eating any fallen hamburger meat for my tacos that fell to the floor. I should add that I chopped up and put three to five C. chinense-species peppers in that stuff, so it's not exactly cold.
) and they'll regularly walk on the bench, smack them on the floor, play with and chew on them. They don't seem to react to the heat at all - no matter what stupidly hot chilli it is. 
