by Linda
(Bullhead City, AZ)
My cat ‘George’ will sit and look out the window and begin scratching on the glass with both paws (one then the other).
At first I thought he was seeing his reflection, but he also does this on the trashcan, the bathtub and any large object with a slippery type surface.
If I have company I tell them he’s ‘waving’ to someone outside.
Linda
Hi Linda.. thanks for visiting and asking. This is not uncommon behavior.
There are quite a few reasons given by people who keep cats. You won’t find an answer in a book.
People say it is because the cat:
–sees his reflection and wants to interact with it. Even a shiny surface that is not a mirror will reflect a ghost image of the cat so he might be interacting with that.
–wants to get attention. I don’t think this is correct.
–likes the feel of it on his/her paws. I am not sure this is right either.
My thoughts about this behavior are as follows.
We should refer domestic cat behavior questions to what happens in the wild with wildcats. That informs us about our domestic cat behavior.
Cats do paw at water in the wild. And domestic cats also paw at the surface of water. They do this as part of an instinctive act to catch prey in the water perhaps by breaking up the reflection so that they can see better into the water. A lot of small wild cats live and hunt near water courses etc. as these areas are sources of prey.
Water is a shiny reflective surface when still. Your cat may be exercising a natural and instinctive ‘searching for prey behavior’ in touching a shiny surface. The fact that the surfaces are vertical (and therefore can’t be water) is not relevant. The behavior is instinctive.
That is one possible reason. Another is that your cat is simply curious at the nature of the material.
Cats are naturally curious as we know. “Curiosity killed the cat”. Cats get into trouble because of their curiosity.
They like to paw at and prod objects that look interesting for whatever reason. Your cat might have a interest in shiny surfaces simply as a personality trait. Cats do have individual personalities. Also shiny surfaces are man made. You won’t see them in the wild unless it is water or ice. This may generate a curiosity.
These are my suggestions. They are not out of books but simply my ideas.
If anyone else has a better idea I would love to hear from them in a comment.
Hope this helps.
Thanks David for a great read. Very interesting. I’ll digest what you say as it may inspire me to write again on this subject.
My cat (Loki; named after the Norse God due to his unpredictable nature) tends to do this at doors he wants to go through; however in the two and a bit years he’s lived with me, originally turning up as a very shy stray cat who would usually wait until one as far away before taking any food left out for him, until he came closer to the house and finally came in through the cat flap (which was left over from my previous two cats which died within one year of one another) until one day I found him asleep on my bed, he was very timid at first and would paw on doors (as if trying to run up the door to the handle; which I’ve since taught him to use on a door with a half broken and weak spring) but he has since started to vocalize when he gets in from prowling, to see if I’m in and where I am, as well as at certain doors to get in or out.
He does act like he’s trying to “bury” his food on a hard tile floor. which I’ve had explained as him wanting to hide it from competitors and sure enough, when I put a few sheets of newspaper down on the.floor near his bowl he covered the bowl over with them, then moved them away when he wanted a snack.
He also does it on semi reflective surfaces which I take to be the same as what Michael (the author) has said, this is usually in the bath, which he associates with water. h
He used to be much more curious (I think living with me may have been the first time he ever properly lived in a home) and would jump up to me while I was bathing and paw at the water there, as well as pawing at my (older and less delicate) TV before jumping up onto his hind legs to see of the picture was behind it, he doesn’t do this anymore (probably because he’s less curious and also because he got shouted at for playing with my new, expensive 4k smart TV) though he will still avidly watch television, usually sitting up beside me with his eyes glued to the screen (he has some specific favourite programs that he will rush in to watch when the theme music plays and also seems to enjoy watching me play videogames), most amusingly he even reacts to what’s happening to an extent, putting his ears back and changing his expression during the show, though he could just be mirroring my behaviour (though, obviously I can’t put my ears back), more on topic however; his pawing at surfaces seems to always be him wanting to fulfil a specific goal, doors mean he wants in or out, cupboard doors mean “I’m hungry”, trying to bury food means “I want this saved until later, okay?” and pawing at the bath usually means “I’m thirsty, please turn the tap on slightly so I can have a fresh drink”
He does do it somewhat randomly too, however maybe I’ve just not found out why yet, when he was pawing at a cupboard that he knew his food was never in I was confused until I opened it, he went in and came out with a mouse. Maybe sometimes he’s trying to sharpen claws, or mark his scent using the glands in his paws.
Thanks for this Robert. It adds to the page.
I first noticed my cat doing this to my tablet. I assumed she was watching the pictures fly by. But then, in my walk in closet, she found then side of plastic blanket carrier. Then plates, plastic waste cans etc. I have no idea. Whenever I go back to the closet, she follows me in and paws the plastic. It’s very ritualistic.
Hi Krystal. Is he scratching the shower wall when you are in the shower or before you enter it?
My cat does this every night when I get up to use the bathroom. He scratches at the shower wall like a mad kitty, and when I’m done he’s done. He follows me out. I wish I knew why he does this. He doesn’t seem to want anything, and goes right back to bed aftwards. Cats are so strange!