Why Do Cats Do That? E-Book

Kim Campbell Thornton

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 36

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Award-winning author Kim Campbell Thornton offers "Real Answers to the Curious Things Cats Do" in this fun-fact book that all cat lovers will adore. Why Do Cats Do That? discusses twenty peculiar feline habits that have puzzled cat owners since the first semi-domesticated cat plopped a dead baby dodo on a caveman's doorstep! Why do cats bring us mangled mice as gifts? How and why does a cat purr? Why do cats land on their feet? (Do they always land on their feet?) These questions and others are explored and sometimes resolved in an entertaining and instructive format. More than good fun, owners will discover the reasons behind common behavioral problems, including litter box accidents, furniture scratching, spraying, and more. Feline facts and training ideas plus lots of funny cat photos complete this Simple Solutions book.

Leseprobe

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Copyright © 1997, 2009 by I-5 Press™. Cover photo by Seth Casteel/www.littlefriendsphoto.com. Interior photos by Seth Casteel/www.littlefriendsphoto.com (pages 21, 28, 33, 34, 42, 46, 51, 54), Isabelle Francais/I-5 Publishing, LLC™, and Gina Cioli and Pamela Hunnicutt/I-5 Publishing, LLC™

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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-80216

ISBN: 1-889540-01-3

eISBN: 9781620080566

I-5 Press™

A Division of I-5 Publishing, LLC™

3 Burroughs, Irvine, California 92618

Printed and bound in China.

15 14 13 12 11 10     4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Why Do Cats …

Bring Us Gifts

Chatter

Crave Catnip

Eat Plants

Groom So Much

Hate Getting Wet

Have Eyes That Glow in the Dark

Land on Their Feet

Like Crinkly Sounds

Make Biscuits

Play with Their Prey

Purr

Roll on Their Backs

Rub Against Our Legs

Scratch the Furniture

Sleep So Much

Spray

Suck Wool

Swish Their Tails

Use a Litter Box

A LAST MEOW

FELINE FACTS:5, 14, 22, 26, 30, 36, 39, 48, 58

KITTY CONDUCT (TRAINING IDEAS):8, 10, 13, 18, 24, 32, 41, 44, 50, 56, 62

A Present for Me?

Most of us have always acknowledged that cats are superior creatures; now we must accept that our cats know it, too. How else can we explain their need to feed us and help teach us to hunt by bringing us gifts of captured prey?

It must concern them that we are so inept at fending for ourselves. Cats, both wild and domesticated, have innate hunting skills, nurtured at an early age by the mother cat. She brings food back to her kittens, including live prey so they can practice their killing techniques. When our cats bring us prey, it could be that they are attempting to help us survive. Even spayed females exhibit this behavior. Maybe they are redirecting their maternal instincts to us, their surrogate kittens.

There may be another reason to explain this behavior. Wild cats instinctively bring their prey back to a safe area to eat, such as a tree or den. For a domestic cat, it may seem only natural to bring his catch back to his food dish because that’s where he normally eats.

When your cat lines up live bugs on your pillow at 6 a.m. or proudly brings a mouse to your feet, accept the gift gratefully. Praise him for being such a good provider before discreetly disposing of the gift.

FELINE FACT Garfield, the fat, lazy and utterly lovable cynic from creator Jim Davis, was launched June 19, 1978.

Chatter Cheese

If cats had a theme song for their daily hunting expeditions, it would no doubt be “Bite the Dust” by the Pussycat Dolls. That’s exactly what’s going through a cat’s mind when he sees a potential meal outside the window. Imagine the feline frustration: “I know I could get that bird, I just know it, but here I am stuck behind this window.” It’s enough to make a cat gnash his teeth, which is exactly what he does.

When a cat spots prey, he displays his excitement by swishing his tail and chattering his teeth. However, the chatter isn’t just frustration. The chomping action is the same killing bite he would use on prey. It is like he is carrying out the attack despite his inability to reach the target.

Cats make three general types of sounds — murmurs, yowls and strained, high-intensity sounds — and at least 16 distinct vocalizations. Chatter falls into the category of strained, high-intensity sounds, which may come from mom’s training. She uses the sound to alert kittens to potential prey.