Why Cats Do What They Do
Posted by Owen Jones in Uncategorized, tags: animals, cats, diseases, education, environment, family, health, house, other, pests, pets, relationships, Uncategorized, veterinaryCats are so everyday that we scarcely look at what they do and why they do it, but cat behaviour is quite an interesting topic really, particularly for cat owners and animal lovers.
Cat behaviour is normally taken to refer to that of domestic cats, although they do share some characteristics with their larger wild relatives.
A cat’s behaviour for the most part depends on whether it is a lone cat or one of a number in a household. Cats are normally solitary animals just coming together to mate, although they will usually co-exist with other cats in a house, especially if they met while they were young or those that were introduced were kittens.
You may get problems of territorialism if you attempt to introduce an older cat into a house, where another cat has been living for a time. This is similar to large cats, which have their hunting ground that they patrol and delineate with urine and faeces every day. Male cats sometimes do this at home, much to the annoyance of their owners.
Rubbing has a similar meaning. A cat rubs with scent glands on its face to mark something as its own, particularly territory, which is all cats actually care about except food.
Kneading or knitting is another common mannerism in household cats, although it is not actually well understood.
One theory goes that domestic cats stay juveniles, never actually growing up, so kneading is evocative of kneading its mother’s teats to stimulate the flow milk. Others say that it is reminiscent of flattening grass to create a bed, but this does not appear to explain the rapture that cats appear to get from kneading.
We like to hear our cats purr because we perceive it as a sign of happiness, but is it? Well, it almost certainly is, but it probably comes from the fact that cats are born blind and, like most infants, fairly stupid, so the sound of mum purring almost certainly attracts the kittens to her for a feed. The ‘memory’ of this happy event almost certainly triggers purring in adult cats.
When a cat arches its back, it is probably signalling to its assailant that it is bigger than they think it is. It is also an attack stance. With its back arched, a cat can rear up in order to claw a taller opponent, but it can also jump or run, whichever action is apposite. The hissing goes with arching to deter the antagonist.
Cats do not have a broad vocal range and, being nocturnal hunters, they have developed a sort of ‘eye language’. For example, if a cat is happy, it’s eyes dilate - rather like when humans look at their loved ones.
However, it also happens in cats while they are hunting, which means either that they enjoy that activity or that they have to get as much light as they can to see by.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with feline distemper vaccination. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Distemper Vaccines
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