Whenever you think you know and understand your cat, she’ll do something completely weird and baffling and correct your erroneous thinking. Cats are quirky creatures by nature, they have tons of these weird, adorable, or appalling habits that are just so hard to explain. You think you’ve got them figured out, and then they go do something completely unexpected. Or sometimes it might just be an old habit that you’ve never quite managed to decipher. Does it imply affection towards you? It she offended when she does that? Is she simply asking for a belly rub? You might never be able to discern the answers to all these questions, but we’re going to help you figure out at least some of the weird things your cat does.
1) Kneading
Kneading, as is done to dough, when the cat pushes it’s paws repeatedly against an object, repeatedly. Have you observed your cat doing this whenever she’s on your lap, or just anything soft and squishy for that matter, say, a pillow?
Theories are abound regarding exactly why a cat does this, but the most common one seems to be is that its a habit left over from its kitten days. As a part of a litter, it would have had to compete with its siblings for its mother’s milk, and would have kneaded its mum to promote the flow of milk from her teats. It is very common behavior and anybody who has observed kittens feeding will have noticed this. So what does it mean when the cat kneads your lap? Maybe that your lap is as soft and squishy as its mother was, which, i guess, is a compliment in cat terms. regardless, it seems to be trying to give you a compliment. You, or the blanket. If you like it when she kneads you, and it makes you feel all warm and soft because, at least somebody likes your pudgy paunch, then encourage her to do it. You can do this by petting her every time she does it, so she knows its behaviour that you approve of, and will also like that her affection is being returned in petting. Kneading may be accompanied by sucking on whatever it is she’s kneading. Which brings us to another quirky habit.
2) Wool sucking
Wool sucking, although named as such, refers to the habits some cats develop of sucking on all kinds of cloth, and not just wool. A lot of owners complain about having soggy, chewed up shoelaces, because the cat’s been at them. You might also find that your cat starts to lick your clothes whenever you’re near her, or holding her. Its got nothing to do with the taste of the fabric, in case that’s what you were wondering. Wool sucking is thought to be a habit developed by cats who were weaned from their mother too early, one that they generally grow out of. There are a couple of species that are particularly predisposed to this behaviour, you might catch them doing it throughout their lives. If neither of these cases are applicable, your cat’s diet may be deficient in some essential nutrients. Visit the vet and consult him regarding what could be missing. Also, while the sucking itself might not be dangerous, it might escalate to eating plastic or other such harmful materials. And when it comes to cloths like wool, she could easily swallow the fibers, which she just simply throw up later as a hair ball, but it could also clog her intestines, so this is not a quirk, no matter how cute, that should be encouraged.
3) The dead animals
So everyone’s been through this right? You wake up early in the morning, and little Tubby has a surprise laid out for you on the carpet; a dead mouse, a still struggling baby bird, or whatever happened to catch their fancy. You could’ve understood if they were hungry, but you feed her regularly, so that can’t be it, can it? Also, she doesn’t even always kill them. Sometimes she’ll just grab them, set them free inside the house, then hunt them down for fun, making you wonder just what kind of monster you’ve let inside your home, especially when she won’t even eat them after sometimes. A certain theory says that cats don’t see us as humans, just as bigger cats. And seeing as how we’re unable to even hunt for ourselves, they like to show off their hunting skills to us to prove their superiority over us. Not that they need any affirmation regarding that matter. Or maybe it is how a lot of owners like to believe, that they’re giving us presents in the form of unappetizing dead/semi-dead animals as a thank you for all the back rubs.
4) The incessant rubbing
Does your cat like to rub it’s face, ears, chin against you all the time? Does she randomly sit on you while you’re lying down and start rubbing all over your face?
Most people assume it’s a sign of affection, from their cat, something like how people kiss each other to show affection. That may not be far from the truth, but it isn’t exactly wholly accurate either. Cats have scent glands behind their ears, under their chins, near their paws, and they basically use it to mark their territory by rubbing the glands over it. So basically, what she’s doing when rubbing against you so lovingly, she’s basically marking you as her property. This can’t be a surprise to you, you know her she’s more your master than you will ever be of her. But i guess the good thing is, she’s probably doing it to mark you as hers, so other cats know to stay away from you. She’s basically saying, this human’s mine, so back off!