People ask Google for an answer to the above couple of questions and today, in The Times, we have an article reporting on a study into “gay behaviour” of non-human animals which I think will help answer them. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications. Same-sex sexual interactions can serve to form and …
There are two very well-known biologists and cat behaviourists who, in my view, agree on this point which is that the domestic cat sees us as surrogate mothers. We don’t quite know how they really process their observations of us but in terms of their behaviour towards us it reflects a kitten-to-mother relationship. These celebrity …
There are many more articles on scared cats at the end of this post Video showing terrified cat. I feel sorry them.
Until the internet really took hold and began to genuinely educate millions of cat owners about cat behaviour, there was a misconception about a strange aspect of feline behavior when every so often a cat would be seen to pause and adopt a curious sneering expression as if disgusted about something or that the cat …
This behavior unfairly gave the cat the false reputation of sneering at people Read More »
This is an interesting illustration from Dr John Bradshaw’s book Cat Sense (which you can download to Kindle by the way which allows you to search for keywords) on the topic of how well or not so well domestic cats understand what is going on around them in the human world. As cat owners, I …
Domestic cats haven’t yet worked out many aspects of human activity Read More »
Domestic cats have good learning abilities as shown by the fact that they adapt to indoor living. They make sense of their surroundings by classical conditioning and learn how to open doors through ‘operant conditioning’. We see a lot of videos online of cats opening doors; often interior doors and sometimes fridge doors. It looks …
The conclusion from a couple of PhD experts, Dr John Bradshaw (Cat Sense) and Dr Desmond Morris (Cat Watching and many other books on animal and human behavior), is that cats do not think of us as equals. The domestic cat thinks of us as (1) surrogate mothers and/or (2) kittens and/or (3) superior creatures …
Do cats think of us as surrogate mothers, equals or kittens? Read More »
The full question from Reddit.com is: “Can someone explain to me why my cat will just sit and stare at me for minutes at a time? What does this mean in a cat’s world?” It accompanied the photograph below that they took from their bed. This is an extended version of the response that I …
Can someone explain to me why my cat just sits and stares at me for a long time? Read More »
Years ago, I suggested that at least some domestic cats sniff their owner’s face at night to check that they are still alive! Click this link to read that page. I wrote this at the time (about 6 years ago to the day): My firm impression is that cats sniff our face while we sleep …
Why do cats like to roll on concrete? Answer: the obvious reason and a reason which comes across in spades when cats do this. They obviously enjoy it a lot. And the only plausible reason why they enjoy it a lot is because of the sensation it gives them which has to be the way …
We are referring to domestic cats. Perhaps wild cats do it as well. Some of them probably do and one species definitely does: the African wildcat, the ancestor of the domestic cat. I have just this minute watched my cat eat some dry cat food and immediately after eating he flicked or briefly shook his …
Why do cats sometimes flick one hind paw after eating? Read More »
There are four fundamental types of domestic cat play: Play-fighting – practice for defending against predators and subduing prey. The mouse-pounce – practice in stalking small prey animals. The bird-swat – practice in attacking escaping birds by taking flight. The fish-scoop – practice in catching fish. You’ll see them during play either between kittens or …
Some people think that domestic cats, rather perversely, are attracted to people who don’t like them. And if this is true at least to some extent, it deserves an explanation. And the reason is probably fairly straightforward namely that in a room of people where one or two dislike cats and into which a cat …
Why are cats perversely attracted to people who dislike them? Read More »
Why do cats suddenly make mad dashes around the house? This is otherwise known as the zoomies or the cat crazies. It is a very comprehensively discussed topic on the internet. I have written about it before but here I go for a third time! Every cat caregiver has noticed their cat companion suddenly make …
Why do cats suddenly make mad dashes around the house? Read More »
A cat has no concept of its own death and so it cannot anticipate it, no matter how ill it feels. – Dr Desmond Morris If an old domestic cat left to their own devices falls ill, they don’t think that they are dying. They feel pain and discomfort and what it means to …
Cats have no fear of death which is an enormous advantage over us Read More »
