Strangest Cat Behaviors Finally Explained

September 16, 2024

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19 min read

Here are some of the strangest cat behaviors finally explained.

Anyone who’s owned or even merely encountered a cat knows they do some pretty strange things. But while the inner workings of a cat’s mind may seem mysterious much of the time, there’s usually a surprisingly reasonable explanation for their feline weirdness. Grab a bowl of kitty kibble as we check out some of the strangest cat behaviors finally explained!

Cat Chattering

Everyone knows what a standard cat’s meow sounds like, but that’s not the only noise cats can make. Experts suggest cats can make over 100 unique types of sounds, ranging from low, elongated growls, to joyful, chirpy greetings.

But possibly the strangest of those vocalizations is what’s known as "chattering". That involves small, rapid movements in the cats jaws, emitting sounds like this:

Cats usually exhibit such behavior when they’re looking out the window at birds or other animals outside, and there are a few theories as to why that is the case. Some cat behaviorists speculate that they may emit that sound out of frustration that they can see prey animals like birds or mice, but are unable to go out and catch them.

After all, seeing as cats don’t really understand what a glass window actually is, all they see is an invisible wall keeping them from a snack. Other experts disagree, instead suggesting the unusual behavior is actually a cat’s jaw muscles instinctively preparing to deliver a lethal bite.

But a third theory speculates that those strange, high-pitched sounds may be an attempt by the cat to mimic the types of sounds their prey emit. Those copy-cat calls may lure prey closer, ready for an unexpected pounce.

Kneading

Officially referred to as "kneading", that behavior is where cats perch themselves on a soft surface, like a blanket, couch, or an owner’s leg, and begin pressing the surface with their paws. Sometimes, when they’re particularly enthusiastic, a cat may even stick their claws in for good measure, unluckily for their owner’s legs.

Despite how sadistic it can seem, the reason cats knead is actually pretty cute. Its main purpose is for kittens while they’re still nursing, as pressing their paws on their mother’s mammary glands encourages better milk production.

In adulthood, cats continue to knead when they’re relaxed, or if they need to alleviate stress or calm down. It’s a bit like us humans lifting our spirits by enjoying a comforting meal or movie that reminds us of the good times of our childhood, or like a child sucking their thumb.

If a cat kneads on you, it means it associates you with a similar level of care and comfort to that of its own mama. As there are scent glands in cats’ paws, a cat kneading on you may also be its way of marking you as part of its group, and warning outsider cats to back off!

So, if kneading is a sign of comfort or respect, why do cats sometimes stick their claws in while kneading? It seems the answer is either that they’re doing it accidentally and not realizing it’s painful for their owner, or it’s a leftover trait from their wild ancestors.

For the latter option, cats may be instinctively using their claws in the same way they would when patting down a potential sleeping zone in their natural environments. Their claws may automatically extend to clear out any unwanted bedfellows like insects or smaller animals before lying down.

Kneading may well be a combination of all of those factors, but whatever the reasons, show a little understanding next time your kitty accidentally pricks you with their kneading claws. They don’t mean to hurt you, probably.

Rolling Around

Another sign of trust from a feline friend is when they roll around on the floor in your presence. A cat knows that being on its back leaves it in a highly vulnerable position, with its vital organs exposed. Doing that in front of you is their way of showing you’ve earned their trust, and sometimes, it means they’re trying to engage you in a little play time.

Be careful though cats can still be very sensitive about being touched on their bellies, and may bite, kick, and scratch you if they don’t like it. So, don’t always assume a cat showing you their belly is an invitation to give it a rub; or you may end up with a very sore hand.

Butt-Scratch Reflex

One of the strangest of all cat behaviors is something that you might never have witnessed before. Casually known as the "butt-scratch reflex", that behavior only occurs in some cats, but when it does, it’s hilariously bizarre.

When cats affected by it are scratched or tickled at the base of their spine, near the tail, it results in seemingly involuntary licking, strange meowing, and head-turning, alongside a confused expression.

The explanation for that unusual reaction appears to lie in the high concentration of nerve endings at the base of the cat’s tail. That area is what’s known as an erogenous zone. Depending on the cat, it can be so sensitive to touch that it triggers a type of sensory overload, resulting in uncontrollable, reflexive movements and noises.

It’s comparable to how humans involuntarily laugh when tickled in certain spots. That’s right, some cats appear to be ticklish! But if you do notice that response in your cat, don’t overdo it, they’re probably very confused by the whole thing, and unlike a human, they might not see the funny side.

Fear Of Water

One of the classic defining traits of cats is that, in the vast majority of cases they absolutely despise water. Anyone who’s tried to bathe a cat and ended up thoroughly shredded can attest to that. But why are cats so scared of taking baths, when they clearly appreciate being clean? After all, they spend half the day licking themselves.

The answer lies in the wild ancestors of modern domestic cats, who originally hailed from dry, arid regions of Africa and the Middle East. Those ancestral felines evolved to survive in conditions where, often, sizeable bodies of open water were a rarity. It’s thought that part of the reason cats are so fearful of water is that, thanks to the ancestral history they’re genetically wired to mistrust large bodies of the unfamiliar wet stuff.

But there are more practical reasons cats dislike water, too. Being evolved to survive in arid environments also meant that domestic cats’ ancestors had no need for water-repelling coats, like those of dogs. Because of that, when a cat gets wet, its fur absorbs a lot of water, and takes a long time to dry.

©Karin Chantanaprayura via Pexels

That not only makes the cat uncomfortable and cold; it also adds a considerable amount of weight, hampering the agility and speed that cats depend on for hunting. So, next time your cat freaks out when you try to give it a wash, remember their body simply isn’t optimized for taking a dip!

Rubbing Against You

It can be a pretty great feeling when a friendly cat comes over and gives you the old friendly headbutt, rubbing itself on you. It’s certainly nicer than a human stranger doing the same thing. But the reason cats like to rub themselves on humans isn’t just for friendly contact.

Similar to the reason cats like pressing their paws on humans, cats rub their faces on us because they like to mark what they perceive as their “in-group”. Cats rub on objects and friendly living things alike within their territory, using glands on their faces and bodies to deposit their scent.

That not only solidifies social bonds; it also gives a clear message of ownership to any other cats in the area. So, while you may give your cat its meals, make no mistakes, as far as your feline friend is concerned, it owns you.

Late Night Zoomies

Every cat owner, at some point, has had their patience tested by a little thing known as "the late night zoomies". That is when, for no apparent reason, at night time, a cat decides it’s the perfect time to go crazy, meowing, running around and bouncing off the walls.

But there’s a reason for that slightly annoying behavior. Because cats tend to spend a lot of their day snoozing, they often end up with a lot of pent-up energy by the end of the day. And, as their natural prey is most active around dusk and dawn, cats have evolved to expel their energy around those times too.

On top of that, the reason the zoomies are so intense, yet short lived, is that domestic cats hunt in short, explosive bursts, guaranteeing a quick kill after a sneaky approach. As house cats don’t always get the chance to hunt, they expel that energy and serve their instincts by simulating the hunt, by running around the house like they’ve totally lost their minds.

Raising Their Butts When Scratched

When stroking a cat’s back, you may have noticed they tend to raise their rear-end as you move your hand closer to their tail. That isn’t just because it wants to ensure you’re exerting the optimum amount of pressure for perfect petting.

It’s another leftover behavior from the feline’s kitten days that happens to be triggered by the unique way we interact with them. While it’s easy for us to pet a cat’s back, cats don’t usually touch each other’s backs.

The only time that really occurs is when cat mothers lick around the base of their kittens’ tails to get them to present their rear-ends for cleaning. That butt-lifting response to touch stays in place as cats grow up, though your cat’s probably not disappointed that you don’t wipe its butt every time you tickle its back.

Slow Blink

Cats eyes are quite a bit different to ours, both in how they see the world and in how they use them to communicate. If you’ve ever noticed a cat blinking slowly while looking at you, or even winking one eye, there’s more going on than the kitty merely moistening its eyeballs.

For a cat, a slow blinking of the eyelids is a sign of trust, as it’s showing you it knows you won’t attack it the moment it takes its gaze off you. Feline behaviorists call that slow-blinking "kitty kisses", as it’s a very affectionate gesture, and something you should feel honored to receive.

In some cases, if you return with a slow blink of your own, a cat may even continue to blow those ‘kitty kisses’ your way. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to your cat saying “I love you” back, so make the most of it if yours ever exhibits that behavior.

Arguably the most interesting thing about cat’s eyes, though, is how they visually process the world. You’ve probably wondered at some point why cats’ pupils aren’t round like ours when they’re not dilated.

Cats have those vertical pupils partially because the unique shape allows them to dilate enormously with the help of muscles in the eye. With such a range of pupil size, they can adjust how much light’s let in, allowing them to hunt both in broad daylight and in almost total darkness.

©Zakabog via Wikimedia Commons

But another important reason for the silt shape is that it allows them to judge distances with an extremely high level of accuracy. That is due to the fact that, the narrower the pupil can go, the sharper the image in focus can be. With cats’ super-long yet thin, adjustable pupils, they’re able to focus in on a target, blurring out the surrounding background, achieving a highly accurate sense of depth and detail.

As domestic cats are ambush predators, that ability comes in extremely handy for making sure they judge the distance correctly and hit the target on their first pounce. Just before they pounce, their pupils dilate, allowing maximum light in instead of detail, so they can react to any slight, last second movements of the animal they’re hunting.

Funnily, though, that depth and movement judging ability comes at a trade-off, as cats have great difficulty focusing on anything closer than about 10 inches away. That is why, sometimes, you can place a treat right in front of a cat and they’ll miss it completely.

Luckily, though, that is where a cat’s other sensory tools, like its nose and whiskers, come in, helping it detect things that are too close to see. Unless your cat’s like mine, who’s still too lovably dumb to find nearby treats even while using his whiskers and nose.

Knocking Things Over

On the list of annoying things cats love doing, batting random objects off of shelves and other surfaces is probably at the top. So why do house cats love that mischievous activity so much?

For starters, unless they’re really starved for attention, cats don’t do that to annoy their owners. The real reason is that cats are incredibly curious creatures by nature of their evolution. After all, investigating their environment is a valuable skill to have both in terms of securing food and keeping safe.

Cats don’t understand the intended purpose of many of the inanimate objects humans keep around the house. Instead, a cat’s instincts tell them that a little ornamental knick-knack on a shelf, or crumpled up piece of paper on your desk might be a mouse or other small prey creature.

Seeing as their vision for nearby objects is so poor, the only way to find out is to bat it with their paw to see if it squeaks or scurries away. In some cases, cats may also knock items over purely for the stimulation of the movement and sound, though that is usually when they’re bored.

That behavior can often be remedied with a little more attention, or with some fun toys to occupy their interest and energy. So, next time your cat shows its curious side, by knocking something over or propping themselves up at the dinner table to see what’s going on, don’t be mad. They’re just doing what they’ve evolved to do.

Eating Grass

Despite being carnivores, cats are occasionally witnessed eating grass and other plants. Much of the time, that is followed shortly afterwards by said cat throwing up its salad lunch. Surprisingly, though, in many cases, that is actually a totally healthy behavior, depending on what plants the cat is eating.

While flowers like lilies are extremely dangerous when consumed by cats, many other species of houseplants, and grass in particular, are pretty much harmless for cats. In fact, cats will actively seek out plants to consume for a number of reasons. One such motivation is seeking variety of texture from their usual food.

A more important reason cats intentionally eat plants, though, is to trigger a vomiting response, which can be helpful if a cat is dealing with a particularly stubborn furball stuck in their throat. There are also nutrients in grass that are absorbed even if the cat ends up vomiting most of the plant matter.

Cats will occasionally seek out those nutrients if they’re not getting them from their regular food. But by far cats’ favorite plant to consume is catnip, which is from the mint family. Catnip contains an organic compound called nepetalactone, which cats are attracted to, as it’s thought to mimic certain feline pheromones.

In the 70-80% of cats affected by catnip, it appears to induce a euphoric state when they inhale its aroma or eat it. In that state, cats roll around, purr, meow, drool, bat at things that aren’t there, and generally act like an oddball for around 15 minutes. It’s not yet certain exactly what’s going on in a cat’s brain while on catnip, but it’s harmless, and they certainly seem to enjoy it.

Drinking From The Faucet

Almost as strange as cats’ occasionally uncouth eating habits are their methods of drinking water. The first of those strange sipping tactics is drinking from the faucet or tap. Cat behaviorists suggest drinking from a running faucet is a leftover trait from their wildcat ancestors.

In the wild, running water usually in the form of a stream tends to be safer for animals to consume than stagnant water, as there’s less chance of deadly toxins and bacteria being present. Drinking from a running faucet is the closest thing to sipping straight from a stream many house cats have the opportunity to do.

That behavior could also be a sign that a cat’s water bowl is dirty, leading them to seek alternatives. With some cats, it may even simply be that they’ve observed their owners getting their water from faucets, and they’re mirroring the observed behavior.

Other cats have a somewhat annoying preference to knock their water bowls over and drink the spilled water off the floor. Some veterinary experts theorize that that may occur because some cats dislike the way the bowls feels against their whiskers while drinking from it. So, if that seems to be the case, the solution is simple, just get a bigger bowl!

Cats Vs Combs

Returning to another one of the truly bizarre yet lesser known behaviors exhibited by some cats, we have what we can call the "comb freak-out response". Oddly, certain kitties seem to seriously dislike the sound of someone running a coin, or just their fingers, along the teeth of a hair comb. So much so, that it can trigger a gag reflex in certain cats!

Other cats, meanwhile, just stick their tongues out a little in response. The explanation for that is very surprising indeed. It all comes down to the fact that cats can hear frequencies that human ears can’t pick up. When someone scrapes a comb like in those clips, there are frequencies emitted beyond our hearing that appear very loud to cats.

But the sound isn’t just annoying, it appears to trigger an internal response that could be dangerous if overdone. As those higher frequency sounds are usually associated with cats’ prey, when heard in a non-hunting context, like when sitting comfortably inside their home it can lead to confusion, irritation, gagging and worse.

A 2016 study in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery found that when some cats hear high frequency sounds of that kind, which also include rustling aluminum foil or plastic bags, prolonged exposure can cause mild to moderate seizures!

The verdict is still out on exactly why those sounds trigger such a powerful response. But, if your cat seems annoyed with you making a high pitched racket, do them a favor and stop before you cause them harm!

Staring At Walls

One of the funniest and most puzzling things cats are often seen doing is staring at blank walls, sometimes for long stretches of time, seemingly without reason. If you were to see a human doing the same thing, you’d be right to assume they’d gone mad but that isn’t the case for cats.

For one thing, cats are able to see things from a distance that we’re totally unable to pick up on, such as tiny mites and specks of dust. That could explain what’s capturing their attention, although the source of their interest may not always be visual.

As hard surfaces particularly in the corners of rooms reflect sound very effectively, cats will often place themselves close to corner walls to home in on sounds they may be hearing. Be it a distant scurrying mouse, or someone rustling a bag of kitty kibble, the corner seat is always best, so don’t judge your cat’s weird seating choices. Judge them for other things, like eating your house plants.

If I Fits, I Sits

One of the trademark cute yet weird behaviors of our feline friends is summed up by the phrase, “if I fits, I sits.” What that means, of course, is that cats have a tendency to sit in spaces that to a human might seem very cramped indeed, often to hilarious effect.

The reason cats do that is just as adorable of the pictures of them in the act. Small, enclosed spaces, like baskets, boxes, and containers make cats feel safe and secure.

That comes from an instinctual desire to be protected and concealed, as their wild ancestors would’ve been vulnerable to threats like predatory birds when out in open spaces. Hiding in those tight, covered spaces also appeals to cats’ predatory ambush instincts, as a good hiding spot helps with stealthy attacks too!

But what about when cats sit on things that are being used, much to their owners’ inconvenience? For things like books, magazines and iPads, cats’ desires to sit on them comes from the fact that they’ve noticed their owners are paying a lot of attention to those objects.

By placing themselves onto those items, the cat is hoping to steal some of that attention. But they also like to feel warm and cozy, and something like a laptop or a freshly ironed pile of clothes makes the perfect heated seat on a cold day.

Likewise, on a very hot day, you may find your cat making itself at home in a sink or bathtub. That is often done because porcelain stays nice and cool, but may also be due to the interesting smells and sounds coming from the pipes. All in all, there are many reasons cats like to sit in strange places, so unless they’re causing you a lot of annoyance, just let them do their thing.

Scared Of Cucumbers

By now, most people have seen videos of cats freaking out when objects like cucumbers are sneakily placed behind them. A popular online theory for why cats are so frightened in those videos is that they mistake the cucumbers for snakes, but in all likelihood, the fear isn’t so specific.

After all, domestic cats hunt snakes in various parts of the world, so it’s unlikely that they have an instinctual fear of the reptiles. Instead, the more likely reason is that cats see their feeding areas or other familiar spots in the home as places where they don’t need to be on their guard.

So, when an unexpected object, cucumber or otherwise is placed behind them without their knowledge, they’re likely to be startled by the invasion of their trusted space. That can actually be quite distressing for the cat, making them feel threatened in a place where they previously felt at-ease. So, as funny as it looks, do your cat a favor and keep those cucumbers away.

I hope you were amazed at these intriguing cat behaviors finally explained! Thanks for reading.