Have you come to a point of giving up on your cat’s behavior?  Understanding cat behavior and channeling them to a less destructive activity is a key to a harmonious relationship between you and your pet feline.  Let’s admit it.  Although you care about your cat like a family member, there are certain cat behaviors that you might find to be utterly objectionable, and which you might abhor to a great extent.

These unacceptable (for you) cat behaviors may just be a cat’s instinctive behavior which it developed after eons of living in the wild.  It’s interesting to find that domestic cats behave so much like their wild cousins – the lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, etc.  They chase, hunt, scratch, observe routines, and are territorial in nature.  So what you view as a perfectly irrational behavior may just be perfectly normal to your cat.

This is not to say that it’s time you allow your cat to scratch or pee on your furniture or knock over on your priceless china while chasing its prey.  The bottom line is to understand why your beloved cat behaves in that manner and how to curb behaviors that are seemingly unacceptable in a domestic world.

Cats communicate through body language

Needless to say, cats cannot speak like humans do but they do communicate through body language.  From a gentle purr to a shrieking yowl, to scratching, and other behaviors you observe from your cat.  However, it might be difficult to decipher everything that your cat wants to tell you because, after all, cats can make 3,000 different kinds of sounds! 

Some cat behaviors are your feline’s coping mechanism to stress and boredom.  Yes, cats also go through stressful times perhaps because a new pet has just been introduced into the household or he’s simply bored because you haven’t given him enough mental stimulation.  The essence is to understand your cat’s behavior in order to train your cat to behave in a suitable manner.

Cat behavior meanings

As mentioned, cats are adapters of routine and they dislike being surprised either.  Notice how your cat can exhibit a behavior it doesn’t usually display when you change your own routine.  It’s hard to wrangle with an instinctive behavior.  Instead of giving him punishment (which is a no-no for cats given that they only pick it up as a retaliatory aggression on your side), try soothing your fur ball by giving him a gentle pat or stroke his fur.

Cats like to play with its prey, which is a normal behavior among wild feline hunters.  As a member of the cat family, your cat is no exception to this behavior.  Your cat seems delighted to see its prey scurry away when it pokes its paw, giving him a good game.  This can send your clocks or vases crashing on the floor. 

Sometimes, this is also your cat’s way of amusing himself.  To avoid this battle with inanimate objects, give your cat something to busy himself with by giving him appropriate toys, a cat-proof room, or a real-life playmate (such as another cat).

Scratching is another instinctive behavior we see within the feline family.  They seem to continuously have this urge to scratch for three reasons: to mark a territory, keep their claws in top condition, and exercise the muscles and ligaments of the feet and toes.  When your cat begins to scratch on furniture, gently pick him up and assign a scratching post where he can do his thing.  This can take a lot of work but your cat will eventually adapt to this routine and scratch only on the assigned post.

Your relationship with your fur ball can be so much easier when you understand that the behavior your cat displays is borne out of instinct rather than view it as an annoyance.  Nonetheless, there’s always something you can do about them.