The bedtime objection makes perfect sense. Cats evolved as hunters but not pack hunters, so they are careful to “share” territory by noticing when other cats are present, and avoiding the territory at that time. (Besides visual observation, they also smell the area and tell whether a foreign cat has rubbed up against the surfaces recently, as they can measure time by how much a scent has faded.). It’s likely that the nighttime is the cat’s “alone time” in the living room, and the humans are committing a faux pas by not appropriately sharing the territory.
First really good chuckle of the day. With a kitty standing on the armrest of my chair and howling at me for pets, I delay her gratification to salute you.
The domestic cat is actually evolved from a decently social feline. In the wild they like to live in colonies where they care for young, groom each other and will bring excess food back to. They’re not solitary, but they’re not pack like wolves. They basically treat humans like members of the colony.
We think their affinity for routine comes from wanting to patrol their territory regularly and make sure nothing has changed, because change is alarming.
Just like the human pattern recognition system has some funny side effects like superstition, cat routine drive makes them seem really eccentric at times.
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I remember a couple colonies of stray cats around my grandparents house when I was a kid. You’re right that I don’t exactly remember them doing anything as a team, but at the same time, they were protective of each other.
I haven’t seen such a thing in many many years. I suppose animal control got a lot more efficient at getting rid of them?
Often feral cats can’t be rehomed due to behavioral issues like dogs can, they just don’t have the mental framework for it, and there’s so many kittens available that it’s often not worth it to try.
They also pose a pretty gnarly threat to the local ecosystem, particularly birds (and children’s sandboxes 💩) because their group behavior means they want to hunt more food than they need. That’s why they bring you their kills, be it a cat toy or a real creature, and why they really don’t like the food being empty, even if they don’t eat it all like a dog would. They want a surplus and to make sure everyone gets fed.
Finally, a lot of no-kill or donation based shelters are extremely loath to cull cat colonies because it can reduce donations that they need to do other work, because no one likes donating money to killing cute kitties, even if it’s necessary and that’s not what’s really happening. (Taxpayer funded animal control doesn’t have that issue, but they might be stymied by other factors).
What a lot of places do as a result is to capture the cats, sterilize them, and then return them to hopefully keep the problem from getting worse or maybe even get the size of the population to drop. Others just remove their shelters and disperse the colony, and try to get anyone who’s been feeding them to stop.
The bedtime objection makes perfect sense. Cats evolved as hunters but not pack hunters, so they are careful to “share” territory by noticing when other cats are present, and avoiding the territory at that time. (Besides visual observation, they also smell the area and tell whether a foreign cat has rubbed up against the surfaces recently, as they can measure time by how much a scent has faded.). It’s likely that the nighttime is the cat’s “alone time” in the living room, and the humans are committing a faux pas by not appropriately sharing the territory.
A faux paw, if you will.
Get out.
And then immediately come back in.
Or just sort of stand in the door, considering whether now is REALLY the time to go out or whether it would be better to go out later.
Good movie
First really good chuckle of the day. With a kitty standing on the armrest of my chair and howling at me for pets, I delay her gratification to salute you.
Beat me to it.
The domestic cat is actually evolved from a decently social feline. In the wild they like to live in colonies where they care for young, groom each other and will bring excess food back to. They’re not solitary, but they’re not pack like wolves. They basically treat humans like members of the colony.
We think their affinity for routine comes from wanting to patrol their territory regularly and make sure nothing has changed, because change is alarming.
Just like the human pattern recognition system has some funny side effects like superstition, cat routine drive makes them seem really eccentric at times.
you are now subscribed to cat facts: long form research editionI would really like to subscribe…
Do y’all sell any merch?
Wau, I need to update my cat psychology knowledge, can you recommend any good books or articles? Thx.
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I remember a couple colonies of stray cats around my grandparents house when I was a kid. You’re right that I don’t exactly remember them doing anything as a team, but at the same time, they were protective of each other.
I haven’t seen such a thing in many many years. I suppose animal control got a lot more efficient at getting rid of them?
Often feral cats can’t be rehomed due to behavioral issues like dogs can, they just don’t have the mental framework for it, and there’s so many kittens available that it’s often not worth it to try.
They also pose a pretty gnarly threat to the local ecosystem, particularly birds (and children’s sandboxes 💩) because their group behavior means they want to hunt more food than they need. That’s why they bring you their kills, be it a cat toy or a real creature, and why they really don’t like the food being empty, even if they don’t eat it all like a dog would. They want a surplus and to make sure everyone gets fed.
Finally, a lot of no-kill or donation based shelters are extremely loath to cull cat colonies because it can reduce donations that they need to do other work, because no one likes donating money to killing cute kitties, even if it’s necessary and that’s not what’s really happening. (Taxpayer funded animal control doesn’t have that issue, but they might be stymied by other factors).
What a lot of places do as a result is to capture the cats, sterilize them, and then return them to hopefully keep the problem from getting worse or maybe even get the size of the population to drop. Others just remove their shelters and disperse the colony, and try to get anyone who’s been feeding them to stop.