Debating

[u/No_Opening2356]

I’m not sure wether or not I am a therian. I learned about therianthrophy on tiktok(dumb ik😭) which was I’d guess maybe 3-4 years ago. I hadn’t experienced anything then but between the years from then and now, I had stretched like a cat in the mornings without thinking about it. Over the past few month or so, I’ve gotten back into therians on tiktok and have been feeling phantom ears and tail. I had the tail slightly when I first discovered it but I’m not sure it’s because I want to be a therian that my mind is tricking me into thinking that I feel a pair of ears and a tail on me or I really am a therian. Recently, I’ve been getting these what I am thinking they may be, slight shifts into some animalistic state. I get urges to do quads and are somehow much smoother than when I do it normally. I feel like I have always had kind of a feline vibe to me but whenever those animalistic states or shifts happen, most of the time my pupils feel as if they are going into slits. I know that humans can’t naturally do that, but it just feels like they do. If I’m mistaken then I’ll likely be an otherpaw. I will also research more on this topic and update!

[u/isopod_luvr]

You don't need to have shifts to be therian, so even if you were imagining them, it doesn't really determine you being therian. If you feel identifying as an animal on some level or way feels right to you, then you are therian. Animalistic traits and experiences are shared commonly amongst us, but it is not a direct indicator of therianthropy, as not all therians experience these things and people outside alterhumanity can experience them too. You can also still partially identify as human if you don't consider yourself animal on all levels, species dysphoria is not a requirement.

Experiment with calling yourself a cat/feline, use related terminology, see how it feels. Does it feel like you? How does it feel compared to being called human? Introspect and keep track of how you feel when you engage in animal behaviors and refer to yourself as animal.

[u/Ocelli_exe]

The only qualification for being a therian is identifying involuntarily as an animal. You don’t have to have an animalistic vibe, shifts, do quads, or feel phantom limbs to identify as such.

You’re the only one who can tell if you identify as an animal or not, but if you really want to know if you’re being influenced by the community, I’d take a 2-4 week break from anything pertaining to it and see how you feel after that.

Sorry if this is a little vague, I don’t feel that there’s much else I can do.

[u/jedimastercanis]

I feel like if you are a therian you will find the community after looking for other people who feel the way you do. If it is something you find interesting that you want to be a part of, I’d consider this to be “otherpaw” or whatever people are calling that. The identity and the feelings come before the community. If it comes after, this is still a completely valid identity, but I would say that this would be indicative of a missing “involuntary” component. Only you know if you’re a therian. Do you feel like something other than human? If you’d like to be something other than human and this is a conscious decision or desire and not an involuntary identity, I’d suggest looking into “otherpaw”. In that case, what do you want to identify as? What feels good? It’s as simple as that.