Why Cats Act The Way They Do

As cat owners we find that the behavior of cats can be somewhat of a mystery to us. We see our cat bring us dead animals and drop them at our feet. They claw and scratch at practically anything that they can get their claws in. Sometimes it seems that they are out to get us when they pounce on our face in the middle of the night. As troubling as it seems, these actions are actually perfectly normal for cat behavior. Your cat is not manic, nor is it insane. It is acting like a cat. Although cat have been domesticated they have retained most of there wild instincts. When your cat drops a dead or dying animal at your feet it is actually the utmost compliment. Your cat is essentially feeding you as one of its own. It doesnt understand that we would much prefer a cooked cheeseburger instead of a raw half dead wiggling animal. In the wild a cat will bring food to there young or even to another cat that they see as elderly. There are other theories as to why cats will bring in food. Such as a cat will bring food to teach a kitten how to hunt. So, next time your cat brings you a tasty treat of mouse or squirrel, dont scold or punish. This will only confuse and insult your cat. Just quietly accept the food and dispose of it properly. Your cat may just think that you are not sufficient hunter and need help hunting because you dont know how or possibly that you just need a little more nourishment in your diet. Either way, they are just doing this because they see you as part of their colony. Cat owners all know what it is like when our cats start using anything near them as scratching posts. Furniture, speakers, walls, even counters take damage that cat owners would rather they not take. Unfortunately, this is something that can not really be stopped. A lot of people think that they do it to sharpen their claws, but that is not the reason at all. In fact, they do it to shed their old claws. A cat grows layers of claws like humans grow layers of skin. When they start to claw furniture it is to loosen the old layer of claws and shed them. Also, cats have scent glands between the pads of their feet. By pawing at furniture, it essentially marks it as theirs. The only way to really avert damage from furniture is to draw the cats attention from the things you do not want your cat to claw. By putting catnip or cat treats on a scratching post, it draws the attention to it and entices them to use the scratching post for what it is meant for. If you find that your cats are still scratching your furniture, put small strips of aluminum foil on the spots that your cat likes to scratch at. Cats are creatures of habit and they will find the sensation of scratching aluminum foil very unpleasant. Eventually they will look for something that is more pleasant to scratch, which will be the scratch post.