People who keep cats at home often see cats pushing things on the table to the ground. Cats will deliberately push things off the table, and broken bottles and jars will be seen from time to time in the house, these are the "masterpieces" of cats. Many people don't understand cats' behavior. The things on the table didn't provoke the cat, so why push the things to the ground? And they seem very keen to do so.
Why do cats like to push things to the ground?
Cat's curiosity
As we all know, cats are very curious animals. Cats love to scratch with their front paws, whether the animals in front of them or various things in the house. Especially putting something on the bare surface aroused their curiosity even more. They always think about how to touch them, and they seem uncomfortable if they don't touch them, but they will push things off when they touch them. Looking at the broken things on the ground, not only didn't they feel guilty in their hearts, but they returned to their nests arrogantly, as if nothing happened.
Cat's hunting habits
It is often seen in life that after a cat catches a mouse, it will basically not easily eat the mouse except when it is very hungry. The cat will play with the mouse continuously until they are tired of playing by themselves, then they will enjoy the delicious meal happily. Affected by their hunting habits, cats are prone to harm the things on the empty table, push the things on the table over and over, and push them to the ground. In fact, not only cats, many felines will play their prey, such as tigers, leopards, and other animals. When conditions permit, they will play their prey as much as possible. Cats play their prey just like a game, in fact, the play can improve their hunting skills.
Cat did that on purpose
Although sometimes cats push things off the table unintentionally, sometimes cats do it on purpose. When they see something on the table, they will play with them with their claws. If they don't like it, they will directly push things off the table. They will push everything from cups, remote controls, etc. on the table to the ground. Or if the cat owner provokes the cat, the cat will also deliberately push things on the table to the ground out of revenge. They don't care your things are valuable, and cleaning is troublesome. And it's basically useless to hit it, and it will push things down the same way next time. If you hit the cat hard, your cat will range from ignoring you for a long time, or running away from home in the worst case. After all, they can catch prey in the wild and basically won't starve to death.
Cause the owner's attention
The cat pushes items off the table, possibly to cause the owner's attention. Although cats are typically solitary animals, because they live with their owners for a long time, they will be dependent on their owners. If the owner is doing their job or entertaining and leaving them alone, they will get very angry and push things off the table to cause the owner's attention. If the cat pushes things off the table, it is necessary to see if they are deliberately pushing things down because they are not favored.
How to keep your cat from pushing things?
Of course, the most effective and thorough method is to keep valuable and fragile things out of the reach of cats, or simply put them in the cabinet. However, some commonly used things will inevitably become the target of cats. What are the ways to prevent cats from pushing things?
Restrain your emotions
If every time the cat pushes something to the ground, you immediately pick it up and put it back in place, it will make the cat mistakenly think that you are playing a game with it. This will only make the cat push things to the ground more frequently and recklessly. So when the cat pushes something off, pretend nothing happened and don't react. Don't use any attention to reinforce this behavior, and wait until the cat isn't "on the spot" to pick it up. If it is a liquid or a very dangerous thing (such as broken glass, etc.) that needs to be cleaned up immediately, we must restrain our emotions, clean up the mess with a blank face, and not have a cheerful face to the cat.
Negative stimulus
For persistent cats, try smearing unpleasant odors on items. Such as lemonade, orange juice, etc. However, it should be noted that the applied liquid should not be harmful to the cat. Otherwise, it will not only hurt the cat but also destroy their feelings for each other. Cats will not come into close contact with these things due to the irritating smell. After a few repetitions, the cat will instinctively stay away from these items.
Divert the cat's attention
If the cat is "committing a crime", in this emergency, you need to make a sound to get the cat's attention. Pull out its favorite toy, and your cat will turn its attention back to you. Keep in mind that cats have to push things off for a reason, as long as you have better alternatives in your hands, it will arouse your cat's desire to hunt and play interactively. At the same time, we can increase the time we play with cats every day. When cats are tired, they have no more energy to toss! If you don't have enough toys at home for your cat's pastime or if the cat is tired of the toys, remember to change the toys! This will keep the cat from focusing on "destroying."
