The spooky part is the way they (or at least mine) somehow knows exactly what's going to be needed next.
Time to sort that paperwork I've left on the side for 2 weeks and had to put a reminder for it? Cat, who was perched in her spot of the week most of the day, is now on the paper.
Been watching a show, time to get up and do something, or go to the bathroom? You know it is because now is when the cat wants lap cuddles!
Cats need places that they can withdraw into. They seem to want some kind of "barrier" between them and the world to really feel secure, which is also why you'll often see them seeking out hidden nooks in your house. This desire is so strongly wired in their brain that even a virtual barrier will do. A cat will see a surface that's different from the floor around it, even if it's just a sheet of paper or a rectangle on the floor, and it will sit on it because it feels like a safe space.
I had a rug that had a blue background with brown / tan patterns kind of like this. One of my catts would only sit on the brown/tan parts, never on the blue part.
Hmm, that is interesting. Maybe because the cat could see the blue, it would think that being in the other color section would make it more “hidden”. Kind of like hiding in what appears (to their eyes) a dark spot instead of an obvious spot
The blue would sit exclusively on the grey patches and the ginger would sit exclusively on the brown patches of rug. So they were always best camoflaged.
I have a halloween pair (one orange and one tuxedo) I also have a blanket that is black on one side and tiger striped on the other. They prefer when I leave the blanket twisted so both sides are up. They color code themselves so they both blend in. Cats are amazing.
This. Cats absolutely LOVE boxes because it makes them feel secure. Even if it is barely a hiding spot it makes them feel good. So apparently just a piece of paper is enough to make a house cat feel secure because lets be honest, they are mostly secure always, but it gives them a chance find the spot, like a kid playing secret agent and hiding behind a chair, super stealth mode activated. They are just little kids sometimes. Or all the time.
Fact: when you see a black cat turn brown in the sun, that means that they’re charging. It’s the indicator light, like the little LEDs on rechargeable batteries.
If you play the sound of a great horned owl your cats will panic and run under chairs. [Great Horned] Owls are 100% going to go after any animal five pounds or less.
Edit: Both cats I had at the time were rescues. I also had really big speakers hooked up to my desktop.
One of mine that was a rescue we found outside as a baby is the most timid guy I’ve ever seen. If he’s out on the patio he comes running for the door at any little sound. You’d honestly never think he’d spent a day of his life outside lol
So I played the sound of this owl to my cats, one just stared at me as if I am disturbing him and my other cat put on her hunting ears, I think my cats are broken.
Idk if there's scientific evidence for it but there is this folklore wisdom that there are cave cats and perch cats. While most cats will still do both, I definitely experienced most cats strongly preferring one over the other. Like my mother bought a little plush cat house for hers and the perching cat squished the roof and sleeps on top of it rather than climbing into it.
oh wow yes, i definitely have a perch cat! shes hates being enclosed and will always seek out the highest point in the room, often hanging out on top of the doors.
I call them Tree Cats and Bush Cats and I agree that whether its scientific or not that most cats prefer one or the other. My big chunky boy is always under a chair or under a bed whereas our little tabby will leap to the top of bookshelves, the refrigerator, etc. Even if shes sleeping shes gotta be elevated.
It’s great. Also works as a great comfy bed for them when it’s full. 🤣 sometimes I end up getting clean laundry slept on too if I wait too long to put it away lol
I had a similar one with a sort of indentation on one of the long sides and a handle on the opposite one so you could wedge it on your hip and hold it with one hand while you hang stuff on the clotheline (we don't do driers here) with the other. One of the greatest buys in my life.
They are neurologically compelled to sit in or on squares. You can test it yourself with painters tape on a bare floor. Make a box and call your cat over. 90% of the time they will notice the box and willfully sit inside.
I saw a video years ago that said if I marked a circle on the floor my cat would sit in it. He did not. Not even once.
Actually my cat seems to be immune to cat video memes. Not bothered by cucumbers (he liked playing with a toy one for a while) and never went meow when you sing “Boom Boom let me hear you say wayoooh” either.
My partner though…he might be a cat. He kept standing in the circle, answering the wayyyoohh and I’ve never seen him eat a cucumber.
I've had cats that don't react to catnip, one that would rather drink out of a glass than a bowl (so much for the "It bothers their whiskers"), another one that would paw drink, and one that HATED anything seafood.
Unfortunately I do not have a picture of them on the rug because it was over 30 years ago. I would have to dig through boxes and boxes of analog photos.
But here's one of the curly cats. It does not do her justice.
My camera roll is filled with pictures of our cat sitting on literally anything on the floor. Pieces of printer paper, a CVS receipt, a guitar case, plastic grocery sacks, a book, a bra, a brochure, a shoe, an extension cord, and on and on.
I think they are smart enough to know the rectangle won't protect them. When it's thundering out, my cat doesn't feel safe on the paper in the middle of the floor. She hightails it for under the bed, or some other legit enclosure. She only likes to sit in rectangles out in the open when she's just chilling. I do think it's connected to a feeling of comfort and enjoyment, but when actually scared, they know it won't protect them.
Isn't it possible that they can be smart enough to notice it, but still prefer it? I mean, humans will see a dating partner which is a wandering red flag with thorns sticking out, and still choose to pursue them. So it wouldn't surprise me if the cat is aware the taped area isn't safe, but still sits there because it gives the comfort feeling.
OP's question and the photo made me go "oh yeahh the box thing!" in my head then I see your comment haha
I'm surprised and disappointed no one else has said anything about it though like have people forgotten when doing this to our cats was super trendy and popular? 😭
Paper and cardboard have a low heat transfer coefficient compared to the floor so even if both are the same temperature, the paper will feel warmer because heat is not drawn out as fast and stays in the paper longer.
Seriously, I always assumed this was the reason, but there's a person insinuating that you can get cats to sit inside squares marked off with tape which might represent a counterpoint.
They like sitting On Something. That's how we tricked my cat last year so we could have pictures of her under the Christmas tree, by placing a piece of paper under it and telling her not to sit. She sat.
He’s clearly the author and is struggling with perfectionism and he’s not quite ready for you to read it. But he’s really just wanting reassurance scritches that you will love him no matter what.
My daughter's kitten pats at our phone screens while in our laps. Very inconvenient, because it responds to her lil toe beans! But so cute, she just wanna play on our phone together lol.
I made a rule that anytime a living thing made several attempts to get my attention while I was looking at a screen, I always have to put the glow box down for the living thing. I swear they know this bc working on my iPad is like a cat beacon, and my cats specifically walk on my iPads when I put them down, doing all sorts of damage with their toe beans!
Also, you can use a cat paw with the fingerprint scanners to unlock phones!
I've done a meta analysis of all the scientific literature (comments) so far in this thread and concluded: No, nobody knows shit about fuck. It's cats innit.
Mine does this too. Any piece of paper, any box, a folded shirt, a single square of toilet paper, my phone. Tucks all her feet in and makes it work no matter what 😂😩
I never get any work done haha she’s SUPER clingy and whenever I’m busy she starts scratching at things to get my attention
omg i have a whole ass album on my phone just for pictures of my cat chilling on my notes / textbooks. and it always happens when i need them the most, like right before an important deadline. i think they do it just because they can. i kinda get it when it’s a thick uni textbook that’s a 1000 pages long, it’s like a little sofa for them
My daughter keeps her room pretty clean except for a lone sheet of notebook paper in her floor. I was about to pick it up when she said "i left that there for Ellie", so i stood back up n said "uh huh nice try". Right on cue Ellie slinks in tha room n parked her butthole directly on tha middle of tha paper. So id have to say this has been scientifically proven
some Cats love everything, that feels like that makes them stand/lay higher than the ground, if that makes sense!! My cat would even sit on a Stamp, anything that makes her feel like she sits higher than whatever shes currently sitting on, my Grandmas Cat does that too and a friends Cat too!!
Also Cats do that because they are territorial, seek warmth and also because they wanna mingle their scent with yours. It has multiple reasons actually. (and some cats do it for the love of the game, lol)
because they can. everything they see is their’s. even if they don’t know what it is or it’s something that you’re trying to read or do something with, it’s still their’s. The light in the room? that’s their’s, too.
Yep. Any item I leave on the counter, table, etc that is remotely square or rectangle shape Jolene has to sit on. I went through my whole reel and don't have any of her doing it though, so here's blunderball.
i have a theory of layers. the more layers between cat and ground = better. so if there’s an object they’ll be on it. object on an object? even better!
Anything that appears, to them, to get more of your attention, needs to be put in it's proper place, as in under them or beneath them. This way they tell you that your homework, business work, possibly children, are not as important as they are. Thus if it it on the floor, whether important to you or not, has now been shown to be beneath or lesser than them.
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