It appears that in 2023 we are still somewhat unsure as to why male domestic cats kill young offspring of females to whom they are unrelated. One study published in 1999 found six cases of infanticide by the domestic cats living in rural locations. These appear to have been barn cats. They found that fully adult and sexually mature male, rural domestic cats killed six kittens within the first week of life. The scientists state that "The killing pattern was generally the same as that described in lion". A clear statement that there are similarities in behavior between lions and domestic cats. The females tried to save their newborn kittens without success. They reacted aggressively but couldn't prevent the killing of their kittens by these unknown male cats. The scientists hypothesised the following: Male domestic cat infanticide is due to the same reasons that male lions kill offspring in order to sire their own offspring with the females who'd lost their kittens as t...

Check behind your oven to find your cat's stash!. Screenshot. Cats play with human objects. If it is one the floor it's game. You don't really need to buy toys as they are all around you all the time. They almost invariably push the objects under furniture and OVENS! Why do they do this? To make play more interesting. To make it more realistic. They seem to be creating a typical scenario when a mouse hides under an object. The cat then pokes and prods under the oven to try and get it out. That's feline fun!! And so we come to the video of the owner of a stunning ginger tabby pulling out their oven from the wall for the first time in a long time. It has to be said that it is quite clean behind it 😎 but it is littered with cat toys! What are they? No idea. They look like hair curlers or something like that. Any small plastic item is a good cat toy to poke and prod. To transform into a mouse to be killed. Their cat innocently meanders onto the scene of the 'crime...

Personally, I am sick and tired of seeing domestic cat behaviour described as 'weird' in YouTube videos. It really is time that people grew up on the subject of domestic cat behaviour. Humans are describing cat behaviour which they do not understand as "weird".  The word describes something which is unnatural when this is natural cat behavior under the circumstances in which they find themselves. Stop using the word please. This is a human issue. In fact, you could go so far as to say that the weird behaviour is being demonstrated by people in failing to understand domestic cat behaviour which they have an obligation to understand if they are to be good cat caregivers. It is not the place of humans to denigrate cats about their behavior because humans have failed to understand it.  Below is one of those irritating 'weird cat behavior' videos of which humans are so fond. The problem is that YouTube video makers like to develop click bait to encourage people to...

Esme, a black cat living in the US, is famous for being branded a 'thief' by her owner, Kate who even went so far as to place a big sign on her property next to the items that she had "stolen" from her neighbours.  It's a bit of fun but some people like me can both see the fun I also see something which is not quite right about this. There was a bit of a backlash by people who claimed that the owner was shaming her cat publicly. The news media presenter you see on the video said that cats don't have shame. They can't feel emotional shame. And therefore, it is not possible to shame them. A fair point. Nothing to be ashamed of But the fairer point is to say that there is nothing to be ashamed of 😃. It is entirely natural feline behaviour. Natural for a cat living in the human environment where they have difficulty expressing their natural instincts to hunt. Natural hunting behaviour When a domestic cat does this and "steals" objects belong to nei...

Would you remove your cat while they sleep on your daughter who's on the living room sofa? Why not leave them alone. So much better. Would you take your cat off your sleeping daughter. Image: screenshot. I feel that I need to comment on this video. It shows a large family domestic cat sleeping on the video maker's daughter. This is the kind of thing you see all the time.  Kitten sleeps on bunny. In public domain. Although you normally see a domestic cat sleeping on another animal such as a large dog (or a bunny!) for instance. But it is no surprise to see the family cat treating the daughter as "another animal". It looks like a very peaceful scene. It is a situation which needs to be preserved and it shouldn't be interfered with. However, the mother of the child wants to interfere and intervene. She thinks that the cat is going to wake up the daughter and therefore she wants to remove cat. But there's no sign that the daughter is going to wake up. The cat and ...

The video actually doesn't add a great deal to the general knowledge of most domestic cat owners. Thanks to the Internet, there's been a massive increase in knowledge about domestic cat behaviour. And perhaps the most important aspect of domestic cat behaviour is biting their owner 😒. Or scratching their owner for that matter. And this is linked to the most important aspect of feline behaviour: hunting. It is their raison d'être - their reason for living - which I've mentioned in other articles. And domestic cats are programmed through their DNA to respond to moving objects as the narrator in the video mentions. Stimulated hunting They're 'programmed' to respond to moving objects by attacking them because it's going to be a prey animal. They also have the same response to sounds. Domestic cats can locate a target prey animal through the sound they make thanks to their excellent hearing. But if an owner waves their hand around in front of their domestic ...

The question in the title is suggested by Google. It is a question which is highly critical of the domestic cat. Unfairly so. There is a philosophical dimension as well as a practical one in answering it. But let's agree that domestic cats do damage furniture and other possessions sometimes. They don't do it maliciously. They don't see furniture and other possessions as "possessions". As humans do. As you no doubt know, domestic cats need to scratch vertical and horizontal objects as part of their natural behaviour. Image in public domain. This is Monty. Possessions are important to humans. They like to buy and own nice objects. They like to care for them and keep them tidy, shiny and smart. The domestic cat is living in the human environment. They have the mentality of a wild cat wandering around North Africa under the sun. They have no regard for 'possessions' as humans do. When a wild cat scratches a tree to mark their territory and sharpen the claws, t...

This is a video of Ricky Gervais talking to Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen Show . He's talking about the difference between cats and dogs. I'd like to comment on it.  I don't want to get too serious but in the opening 30 seconds he makes a desperate mistake. He says that he likes both cats and dogs. Fair enough. But because Gervais's work takes him away from home all the time, he can't have a dog because a dog would ask him why he can't come along 😎.  Whereas with cats they don't mind if they are left alone. That's what he believes. Completely wrong. Perhaps he means that he leaves his cat with somebody else but I don't think he does because from what I can see he genuinely believes that cats can take it or leave it when it comes to human companions. Please note that sometimes YouTube videos disappear or stop working because they are deleted on the YouTube website. If that has happened, I'm sorry but I have no control over it. P.S. Ricky is great ...

This is a cross-post on an infographic which looks at cat intelligence from a different perspective. Humans tend to measure domestic cat intelligence through their eyes. They project their ideas of intelligence onto their cat. They also tend, sometimes, to make comparisons with dogs.  Dogs tend to be good at playing fetch because often they're working dogs bred over thousands of years to fetch. And dogs are more trainable than cats because they are pack animals and look to their master, their human owner, for answers Therefore, it is unhelpful to compare cats with dogs when trying to measure intelligence. But you might hear a person saying that their cat is intelligent because they play fetch and because they learn very quickly when they train their cat. Their cat might be intelligent, even more intelligent than average, but I don't think these are good tests. Dr. Fogle looks at the abilities of domestic cats and works backwards from there. Of course, many domestic cats don...

Why do some cats like to get into glass jars? For the reasons stated on this page. Image: Screenshot. There can only be 2 overlapping and viable reasons why domestic cats sometimes like to wriggle their way into relatively small glass jars and vases. You see this a lot on the Internet in funny cat videos. The two reasons are (1) they can do it because they are incredibly flexible and athletic and it is a form of self-entertainment and (2) domestic cats do like to crawl into small spaces as they feel more secure. This statement is borne out by the fact that we have seen cats sitting in a circle marked out on the floor with tape or chalk. To the cats this is a solid, secure encampment protected by an invisible wall. But it's just thin air. The video below may not play unless you click the center play button first followed by the bottom-left button or clicking the center button twice 😎. It is a high-tech Google Blogger website. And we see the same thing in the classic 'cat jumpin...

A picture of a grown kitten suckling milk from a bottle in his "arms" brings to mind quite a commonplace question about adult cats which is that sometimes they suckle on objects which are not their mother's breast. It's a form of compulsive suckling as if they are kittens i.e. permanent kittens. And this is for me, a part of the answer. I see this "problem" being to do with two issues, one of which is an overarching issue and the other is a more specific issue. Adult siblings suckling each other. Screenshot. See base of page for explanation. RELATED: Sibling suckling . Overarching issue I call this an overarching issue because it seems to me that cat owners a.k.a. cat caregivers (which is a better description), through their actions and their relationship between themselves and their domestic cat companion, keep their cats in a permanent state of kittenhood.  Because they constantly provide food, security and warmth to their cat companions, the cat's nor...

This is a TikTok video which shows a cat repeatedly becoming super-excited, almost frantic, to get to the automatic cat feeder which I presume is making a sound as it opens to alert the cat to the fact that food is available.  @couvieandkitty Beano: "Restraint? Never heard of it." #hungryeyes #catsoftiktok #cattok #beano #petsoftiktok #foodlover ♬ Hungry Eyes (From "Dirty Dancing" Soundtrack) - Eric Carmen Note : This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which stops it working here. I have no control over this. The cat finds this incredibly exciting, and as you can see in the video, races towards the feeder for that precious food.  The video gives me the impression that the cat is being starved 😃. Why else would a cat be so desperate to get to that food which is protected normally by the automatic feeder and which opens at a programmed time. That's my interpretation.  Perh...

This is pure bollocks to put it crudely. The video is meant to show a couple of cats destroying a brand-new, wonderful, all-leather gaming chair in a matter of minutes. It's complete rubbish.  Lies! Mischievous pet cats destroy owner's brand-new gaming chair. Screenshot. For a start, this is not leather as we can clearly see in the image above and I would bet my bottom dollar that this chair was nowhere near new in any case. It is an example of click bait. This video might not be around forever so if you don't see it, I'm sorry but I don't control its existence. Perhaps it is better that it doesn't exist! Mischievous pet cats destroy owner's brand new gaming chair #manila #philippines #gamingchair #cats #kitties #naughty #KameraOne pic.twitter.com/HTx2JhKxMr — KameraOne (@kamera_one) February 23, 2022

Domestic cats can be like squidgy tubes of toothpaste the way they wriggle into small spaces. Bengal cat dives into corner pocket of billiards table. Screenshot. This is strange to say the least but it is all in play. That said I am astonished how easily this glamorous Bengal cat dives into the corner pocket of a billiards table with complete ease and nonchalance and disappears. Following in his footsteps is his kid who pokes and prods him as he has turned around inside the pocket. I think he makes a habit of it. Cats have an extraordinary ability to get into small spaces because of their flexibility. They are like a tube of toothpaste sometimes. RELATED:  Domestic cat squeezes through 4 inch height gap under sofa . Note : This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

 This is a funny cat video from the TikTok website. The video is on a loop which gives the impression that this cat is endlessly playing with his stainless steel food bowl in a sign of sheer desperation. However, I'm sure that he plays with it for quite a short time. The rattling of it and the static nature of the cat all adds up to make the video slightly strange and amusing. But perhaps there is a serious side to this feline behaviour. I can't help but think that this chap is bored. Bored to tears with a dull life. Note: Videos such as this one inevitably stop working over time. If that has happened I'm sorry. @tiktokcats How many times did he move the food bowl? 😹😻 ♬ original sound - Cats 🐱😍 Or, perhaps, this is his way of asking for food. Maybe it's been trained into him that he requests food by rattling his food bowl a bit like Oliver Twist! Actually, I don't think Oliver Twist did rattle his food bowl but he did offer it up in a polite request. Bore...

Well, this is quite a nice video from the AVMA. The AVMA is the association representing American veterinarians. They have no power over them because many American veterinarians declaw cats not as a last resort but as a first option. In the video, the veterinarian does mention that declawing is a last resort but this is ignored. Despite that weakness, the video, I think, is useful in that it addresses some basic issues to do with the human-cat relationship. It is always useful to go back to the basics and remind ourselves how best to relate to domestic cats. 'Respect the cat' is my mantra. Cat and man emotionally distanced? Screenshot.

This little fella loves his pink pig. He becomes very aggressively possessive when his human guardian delicately tries to take it from him. I can understand. I guess he regards his human 'owner' as another cat who is trying to take it from him. It is his plaything. It brings him pleasure and as such he refuses to give it up. This sort of possessiveness occurs often with food bowls. You'll see cats arguing over access to food in multi-cat homes. These are circumstances under which bullying cats can dominant the more timid cats in the home. In fact you'll see cats arguing with the owner if they like the food in a bowl and the owner wants to move it. They think the owner is taking the food from them and hiss and growl. It is not a good experience for the owner who loves her cat and is doing the best they can for her feline friend. Kitten is aggressively possessive over his pink pig. Screenshot Another source of dispute in multi-cat homes is access to the litter tray. In...

Not all domestic cats are stimulated to play with a laser pointer but nearly all of them are. It is entirely instinctive as it is in their DNA to chase fast moving objects. I think in this video the tabby cat has been turned off by the game. He's failed to catch the laser point and after a while decided that there is no reward so he stopped.  This is a weakness in the laser pointer. It is an unfair cat toy. Some people claim that they are cruel. I would not go that far. The best cat toys, the ones a cat will not get bored of, are those that they can catch and destroy! Yes, they won't get bored but they'll kill it. The next best cat toy are those made by the cat's guardian: homemade cat toys which are very simple like a piece of string or a ball of scrunched up paper. Watch out for small pieces of string though as they can end up being wrapped around the tongue of cats or stuck in their gullet. And you might not see it until your cat behaves strangely. I might be too lat...

Curious cat video: a cute one which reminds us that cats like to stick their noses into things. So curiosity killed the cat? Is that right? It is an old saying which implies that the domestic cat is too curious for their own good. Their curiosity gets them into trouble. It is a idiom-proverb which warns humans (you can't stop cats doing it!) that if you investigate too far and too much it can bring trouble on you. Note: sometimes these sorts of videos stop working and if that has happened I am sorry . But the origin is in an entirely different word: "care". The original saying was "Care killed the cat". In this instance 'care' means concern and concern leads to worry. If you worry too much it can harm your health. The origin of the saying "Care killed the cat" is found in a 1598 play by Ben Jonson. His play contains the line: "Helter skelter, hang sorrow, care will kill a cat, up-tails all, and a pox on the hangman." I wonder why...

This cute little video proves that cats like flowing, cool water to drink (see at base of page). It is the reason why water fountains are popular. I think water fountains are less useful that taps (faucets) because water fountains need maintenance while taps don't in terms of a build up of algae or some other crappy substance. Synchronised cat drinking from a faucet (video). Screenshot. This is a brown tabby-and-white below a ginger tabby who are both feverishly drinking from the tap. There are many videos of cats doing this. It is the first that I have seen where two cats share the experience. We should remember, though, that not all domestic cats are quite so obsessed with flowing water. Although it is to be expected as it follows what the wild cats do when drinking from streams.  It is said that cats can pick up the sterilising chemicals in human tap water such as chlorine or chloramine. The sterilising of tap water must vary from state to state in the USA. The method of ster...