Cats love to knock things over and knock things off tables, which can lead to a lot of broken items. Are they bad goblins who hate your stuff? Somehow – but not exactly. Here is the truth about this annoying behavior, and how you can prevent it.
You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that cats knock things over because it’s fun. That’s it – that’s the whole explanation. If you want to stop doing this, you need to know why this particular hobby is so enjoyable, so that you can provide your cats with better and less destructive opportunities for that energy.
It’s everything cats love in an activity
How This video from the Grady Veterinary Hospital YouTube channel explains cats like to jump on things. They also love to examine potential prey – which any small object could be to cats – by poking them with a paw and watching what happens. If it moves, great; if it makes a noise, even better; If it does both, jackpot. Once they find something that is fun to play around with, stick with it until the prey finally dies or they get bored and move on to their next victim.
When you bump things off a counter or table, all three activities come together into one, such as: B. CrossFit for cats. You get a difference in height and a veritable buffet of things to nudge and poke, and so much the better if it rolls around in an exciting way and makes funny noises when it hits the floor – then you can play with it even more.
It gets the attention
It doesn’t take long for cats to find out that sending something on the floor makes a lot of noise, which can result in a human caretaker running to investigate. How Veterinarian and author Dr. H. Ellen Whiteley explains In a HowStuffWorks article, this is incredibly valuable information for a cat:
[O]In fact, if a cat learns that tapping something on the floor is slowing people up, it may do so on purpose to get your attention, especially if it thinks a meal is long overdue.
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It might be part of the point for your cat to get you to jump up from your comfy reading chair to yell and yell over another broken glass of water – so don’t give them the satisfaction.
How to stop them
Stopping this behavior is pretty easy, but you need to change your surroundings a bit. Since the difference in height is at least half the fun of the overturn game, give your cats something different that will make them more enjoyable to climb onto your end table or bookcase. Cat behavior specialist J.ackson Galaxy recommends developing a cat highway– a route that takes you from the ground up and around the room without having to come back down. If that’s a little too complicated, try giving them a few berths at different elevations.
Tired cats don’t have any problemsSo play with your cat a lot. Choose toys that offer the same paw feedback they get when you hit the counter, such as toys. B. wand-based or wire-based toys, ball-and-track toys, or motorized animals. A laser pointer will definitely tire them out, but since cats cannot capture light, they may not be satisfying their foray enough to keep them away from your belongings.
You also need to change your behavior. Don’t leave valuable fragile items where your cat can reach them. If they’re really into water glasses, switch to plastic or metal until they’re settled into their new digs and playing routine. And remember: your cat probably loves calling you from another room by causing you to crash something. Don’t drop what you’re doing and run to the crime scene every time (or feed them to silence them). Take a few minutes to make things over, then quietly clean up the mess. As time goes on, you don’t have to do it that much.
This article was originally published on December 11, 2015 and was updated on May 6, 2021 with new links, updated information, and the latest style guidelines from Lifehacker.
