Why don't dogs and cats seem to realize their tails are a part of themselves?

I think that they they are just playing with themselves. Just having fun. They really know it’s their tail.

I’ve seen dogs viciously attack their own feet, while eating. No idea why…

IMO, they, like humans, see their centers as their eyes. Their tail could just as easily be a burr or some other object/animal/other hanger on, from their POV.

I think that while they do know they have tails, and can intentionally move them, they also move them subconsciously, and by habit, and don’t tend to keep track of where they are a lot of the time.

And sometimes (like @gondwanalon wrote) I think they let go of what they know to enjoy a bit of frenzy, just like when they play with other things.

I think the dogs and cats know what they were doing. Once I was dangling some yarn for a friend’s Siamese cat to play with. When I got tired of doing that, the cat looked up at me. It was perfectly aware of what was going on.

Does this dog know what he is doing? It doesn’t seem like it.

I have video around here of Dutchess chasing her tail. At one point she actually caught it, and yanked herself right off her feet!
And the cat acts like her tail takes her completely by surprise when she commences to chasing it and rolling all over the floor.

^Yeah Dutch! That’s what I’m talking about. WTF?...

My mom had dementia (supposedly.) Toward the end, one of the ways it manifested itself was when she treated her legs like they were separate entities, like they had minds of their own. Like, she was sitting at our kitchen table and Rick got her a cup of coffee. She began patting her right leg asking if it wanted a cup of coffee too. Then she became agitated when there was no response. “How RUDE!” she said. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. And I really don’t know if it was the dementia (if she actually had it,) or the powerful, mind-altering drugs they had her on. She may have just been trippin’.

@MrGrimm888 Right? Maybe that dog has dementia too.

@Dutchess_III I suspect that that dog has some neurological disorder.

<<<< This is our new 8wk old Border Collie pup Buddy & yep, he chases & bites his tail.
Playful frolics is all i’d say.

In very young animals, chasing a tail might be just an instinctive reaction to seeing something move. Later, I’m sure it’s a game just like any other.

@Dutchess_III If the dog in that video were mine, I would immediately get him to a vet. That behavior is not normal. I’m really concerned about all the laughing in the background – if a human acted like that, would we laugh?

i would too, @longgone. I agree with what you are saying. People laugh at the most horrible things, even at their kid’s expense.

^ Yeah, I have a problem with that too.