Growing up, the only pets I had were dogs and one psychotic gerbil. As a result, all I knew about cats was the negative stereotypes I’d heard from other people. My husband and I got our first cat about two years ago. Since then, I’ve learned that cats do a lot of fun things that I never knew about, and today, I’d like to share ten of them with you.
1. Cats flip onto their backs while they sleep. Most of the time, my cats curl up into a ball and fall asleep. While they sleep, they often turn over onto their back. Sometimes, they even stretch their front legs over their heads. I know they’re sleeping deeply when they start doing that, and it’s pretty adorable.
2. Cats love playing under doors with each other. Despite how much they dislike being shut out of a room, my cats enjoy playing “footsie” under the door when one of them is shut inside a room. At my house, there is enough space between the floor and the door for the cats to stick their paws underneath it, and they have a lot of fun playing that way. I’ve even seen them get on opposite sides of an open door so that they can do it.
3. Cats behave completely different around strangers. Most dogs are extroverts. They will wag their tails and ask for belly rubs from any stranger that walks through their door as long as their humans welcome them. Cats, however, tend to be introverts. All three of my cats are affectionate with my husband and me, but if one of our friends come to visit, they run away and hide. Growing up, I didn’t understand that, so I thought every cat I met was just unfriendly.
4. Cats use each other as pillows. My cats cuddle and lay next to each other often. Sometimes, though, they use another cat as a pillow for their head. I find it pretty funny.
5. Many cats don’t drink milk. When I watched movies with cats in them, I thought it was cute watching a kitty lap up a saucer of milk. After I got my cats, I offered milk to each of them, and none of them wanted it. Even though I was disappointed, it turned out to be a good thing. Apparently, modern veterinary medicine has proven that most cats are lactose intolerant.
6. Cats will play with balls. If I throw a ball, my cats almost always chase it. Unlike dogs, however, they can’t be trained to bring it back. They either leave the ball where they found it or pick it up with their mouth and carry it off. Cats will also play their own version of solo soccer by batting a ball with their paws to move it quickly across the floor.
7. Cats sometimes aggressively groom each other. Before I got cats of my own, I knew that they groomed each other, but I never new how aggressive they could be with it. My cat, Luke, is especially prone to this. He frequently wrestles Jake and Taiyo to the floor, pins them down with his paw, and grooms them. It’s quite entertaining.
8. Cats get tricked by their own reflections. When cats see themselves in a mirror or other reflective surface, it confuses them. My cats usually try to look behind the mirror to see where the other cat is hiding. They sometimes meow at the other cat and try to smell it as well.
9. Cats greet you as they walk by. If one of my cats walks close to me, I like to point my finger at them because they always extend their neck and touch their nose to it. I find it adorable that they do it every time even though they already know what I smell like and have no need to sniff me.
10. Cats chew on anything that looks like string. From what I’d seen on TV, I knew that cats like playing with string. What I didn’t know is that they attack and chew on anything that resembles string. This includes shoelaces, cords, and ear buds. While this has caused some problems, I still find it rather cute.
Over the last two years, I’ve learned just how fun having cats can be. Do you have other cat-isms that you find fun? Let me know in the comments.
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I hope you have a great day!
