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Cats can be pretty funny
creatures, but there is
a method to the madness.
First of all, cats sleep
for the majority of the
day (sometimes close to
20 hours) so, for the
few hours that they are
awake they have A LOT of
excess energy to burn.
Which is why, when you
are sound asleep at
3:00am, your cat may
suddenly decide it needs
to run laps around your
house at mach 10, stop
suddenly and pretend
like nothing happened,
and then do the same
thing again, but this
time counter-clockwise.
It is also why cats
engage in a number of
odd behaviors during the
day.
Another reason that
cat's act "strange" is
that they are practicing
their predatory skills.
An activity that may
look very odd to you
(like jumping from the
floor to a 4ft high
banister, stopping on a
dime and then sitting
there for a minute
before jumping back
down) may very well be
your cat honing it's
hunting and survival
skills (this is also why
they will make an
obstacle course out of
various parts of your
house and run it a few
times in a row before
settling down to a nice
cat nap).
As to why cats
sometimes knead, (when
they look like they're
running in place if they
are de-clawed or when
the pull at the carpet,
a blanket or your tummy
if they have claws) this
is a vestige of when
they were kittens and
were still nursing. In
order to get more milk
from a mother cat
kittens will knead the
area around her teat
while they are suckling.
This helps the flow of
milk to the teat and
enables them to consume
more. Once cats grow up
they sometimes still do
this just as a comfort
activity, perhaps it
reminds them of mom. |
