This sweet little white cat takes great delight in kicking four items on a shelf onto a hard floor. It is a classic case of domestic cat yob behavior. I am only kidding but we normally see one or two items hitting the deck but this guy loved the sound and sight of the first object flying through the air and immediately wanted to repeat it three more times.
Bravo I say. Why do cats do this? My theory is boredom. This is a form of play. Cats need challenges and stimulation. Pushing or kicking objects onto the floor creates something: a flying object and a crash when it hits the floor.
It looks similar to a cat throwing a dead mouse into the air before eating it. It is a form of self-entertainment.
Perhaps this cat is trying to animate his surroundings. He wants to meet the challenge of catching prey, a moving target. There are none in the home so he creates something similar. Or there might be some, to be fair to the owner, but he wants more.
Sometimes cats jump down after the object has hit the floor and push the object around the floor. This supports my theory that cats are acting out hunting prey. The create a substitute which is far less good but inside a home it’s as good as she can get.
If it bothers the human guardian the solution is probably to ‘enrich the environment’ and play a lot more with the family cat to the point where she is all played out and satisfied.
P.S. For Americans who are puzzled by the word ‘yobbo’ it is a variant on the English slang ‘yob’ which is ‘boy’ spelt backwards and it means loutish behaviour. Sorry but I could not resist using it.
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