This is amusing but it doesn’t mean that cat owners can’t have nice things. We know that but just don’t put something nice on a mantelpiece! The video gives the impression that all cats are manically involved in knocking things over almost all of the time in a deliberately destructive way 😉 . They certainly aren’t.
In all the years I have lived with a cat, I can remember about half a dozen occasions when my cat has knocked something off a shelf. Cats often prod objects around the floor but that’s not the same. Have you lived with a cat obsessed with knocking things over? I’d bet she was a bit bored.
For a cat, it’s fun to prod stuff to see what happens! Cat owners encourage it by playing with their cat using small toys – or is it the cat encouraging the human to play with them with toys? I am never quite sure.
Humans have equivalent entertaining pastimes. What about kids’ games such as Hide and Seek and Treasure Hunt. These are simple forms of entertainment with the unexpected at the end. Isn’t that similar?
It is all about play and entertainment for the domestic cat. It goes back to their wild cat roots. You’ll see wild cats prodding small prey items. The serval lives off relatively small prey for a large to medium sized wild cat. They play with rodents during a kill just like your domestic tabby.
The experts say the reason is what it seems: entertainment. There may be an overlap here with “playing safe” with prey to avoid being bitten. Knocking prey about with the paws is safer for the cat than biting it. A bit can become infected and for a wild cat becoming even slightly ill could jeopardize survival.
I have always felt that when cats knock objects off high places, for them to fall to the ground, it is a way of animating the inanimate – bringing it to life. They want to create prey and an environment where prey scuttles around. This would apply more often for indoor cats.
Just a way of life here. Everything becomes a toy. I keep some fairly clean counters and tables, because they will be cleared for me if I don’t.
I always warn visitors not to leave anything like a purse in sight and not pay attention, because they will lose many, many items to “god-knows-where”.
Years ago while I was at work my girl Angel went into the kitchen and walked up and down the countertop knocking pots and pans off on the floor. My neighbor thought there was a break-in and called me at work. Angel was bored and lonely so I adopted Ruby as her companion.
Furby here. I LUVS this game. It’s all about watching things fall and hearing them break. It’s also about seeing how fast mama can move and try to catch things before they hit the floor. Yea, she’s not so fast anymore. Anytime I’m around its a CAT-Tastrophe! Giggles…
I was surprised because of the weight of it, it was solidly set onto a flat base making it very stable. ( Horse…stable…get it?)
That nicely disproves what I have written 😉 . LOL That would have made a magnificent funny cat video. I have never heard of cat pushing off a heavy ornament.
I remember going to visit my Mother and taking our 2 cats along, during the night there was a loud crash and I found a large and heavy Horse ornament broken under a window sill on the stairs. My cat couldn’t possibly have knocked it off by accident, it was too heavy. I am sure it was him as he was still on the window sill looking down at it when I got there, he was obviously exploring somewhere new and maybe gave it a strong head rub or two causing it to fall.
Being a Birman he was a biggish and strong cat. Or maybe he just didn’t like Horses! 🙂