Clickbait with a true background: head pressing in cats and dogs as a warning signal.

Yes, they love clickbait. Headlines that appeal to emotions are intended to attract users to the site, where they are usually confronted with harmless but exaggerated facts or even made-up fairy tales.

Information about the term “clickbait”: This refers to posts that use lurid headlines or tempting images to entice people to click on certain links. It's intense, isn't it?

But rarely, very rarely, about as rare as a unicorn (okay, a little more common, we have to be fair), there are even true reports. Of course, these are not posted without the clickbait character.

In this case the heading reads:

If you notice exactly THIS behavior in your animal. React immediately, otherwise it will be too late.

All that’s missing is an “OMG” or alternatively five exclamation marks. The article itself explains that if a dog or cat presses its head against the wall, this can be a sign of a tumor, poisoning, a stroke or other illness.

That's not a lie, we quote the website “Katzentipps.ch” at this point:

If a cat repeatedly presses its head against a wall, floor, or other surface, this may be a warning sign of a medical problem.

This repeated head pressing over a certain period of time can indicate a neurological disease and the cat should definitely be checked out by the vet. This does not include friendly head-butting or scent marking on the side of the face in cats.

Possible reasons why cats and dogs press their heads against the wall

• Tumors
• Portosystemic shunt (altered course of veins in the abdominal organs)
• Poisoning (e.g. lead poisoning)
• stroke
• Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain)
• Hepatic encephalopathy (brain dysfunction resulting from inadequate detoxification function of the liver)
• Infection of the nervous system due to parasites, bacteria, fungi, viruses…
• Brain trauma

Other symptoms may be

• monotonous walking back and forth
• aimless wandering
• getting “stuck” in a corner
• go in circles
• Coordination problems
• cramps
• Vision problems
• stare at a wall
• non-functioning reflexes

Well, isn't it good if the site explains it?

Clear. There is no discussion about it at all. The more pet owners are informed about this, the better.

But unfortunately there is a bad aftertaste... The site (yes, you noticed correctly, we deliberately don't mention it by name) copied its entire post almost 1:1 from HERE . Including pictures.

Add an emotional headline and it will be shared like crazy people and of course without naming the source.

Convince yourself. On the right is the original.

Links on the topic:

• Dogs Who Head Press Should See A Vet ASAP. Recognizing This Behavior Could Save Your Dog's Life
• Why does the cat press its head against a wall?

Another final remark:

According to days, if not weeks, of intensive and serious research by the online magazine mentioned, 34% of animals are said to exhibit this behavior. And nobody knows what it means! This is what a study from Switzerland revealed!! OMG!

However, we could not find any evidence of this and there was no source either. But maybe we just overlooked it because who posts statements like that without a source? That would be kind of stupid and unprofessional...

Conclusion:

Take your animals' symptoms and behavioral problems seriously and go to the vet early enough. But don't let yourself be driven crazy just because a piece of (essentially good) information is packaged in an overly panicked manner.

Ok, one final final remark: Another site, which attracted attention due to heavy clickbaiting, has already posted almost exactly the same report on its website and has already cashed in on its euros.

Author: Novel, mimikama.org