Why do cats knock over glasses?
September 9, 2014 10:21 PM Subscribe
My cat will knock over any vessel he possibly can. This ranges from glasses of water to very small dishes of dipping sauces. I'm beyond hoping to get him to stop--at this point, I just want to know why. What do cats get out of this? Before anyone suggests it, he always has plenty of water.
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A combination of the satisfaction derived from making a smashy sound and also to see if the same thing happens as last time.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:37 PM on September 9, 2014
posted by poffin boffin at 10:37 PM on September 9, 2014
My cats are utterly convinced that gravity is not a constant force and can be occasionally thwarted at precisely the correct moment. They're not ever sure when that moment is, however, so they have to be constantly testing, testing, testing. Their argument is, "How else could we have gotten on top of the china hutch?"
posted by carsonb at 10:52 PM on September 9, 2014
posted by carsonb at 10:52 PM on September 9, 2014
This also means I can't really fault them because they fully expect that glass of water to just float there and honestly if they're right I'm ok with the misfires as long as I get to see it when it happens.
posted by carsonb at 10:55 PM on September 9, 2014
posted by carsonb at 10:55 PM on September 9, 2014
My sister's cat used to get up on the shelf where all the "too dangerous for puppy" stuff was and throw it down to him. It's fun to kill the puppy! (My sister moved the dangerous stuff to a more secure place. Cat was miffed.)
posted by OolooKitty at 10:59 PM on September 9, 2014
posted by OolooKitty at 10:59 PM on September 9, 2014
Total conjecture, but I've heard that cat eyes can't really see water.
If that's true, I imagine water is a very WTF thing to them. There's something in this glass, but there's also nothing in this glass, I don't understand. So they poke at the glass, trying to catch a glimpse of the weird ghost liquid that appears to inhabit it. It doesn't feel empty, but how can that be possible if it looks empty? Poke poke. Whoa, how did everything suddenly get so wet?
A friend's cat is constantly playing a "will it float?" game, putting all kinds of small objects into her water bowl. Same reason, I figure. The bowl looks empty, and yet this plastic cap hovers in the center of it. What is that about???
And it would also explain the cats who prefer to drink from a fountain, because the shifting reflections in moving water make it easier to see than water in a bowl.
But I don't know about tipping over bowls of dipping sauce. That's some advanced cat science there. Mine is still stuck on water glasses.
posted by katieinshoes at 10:59 PM on September 9, 2014
If that's true, I imagine water is a very WTF thing to them. There's something in this glass, but there's also nothing in this glass, I don't understand. So they poke at the glass, trying to catch a glimpse of the weird ghost liquid that appears to inhabit it. It doesn't feel empty, but how can that be possible if it looks empty? Poke poke. Whoa, how did everything suddenly get so wet?
A friend's cat is constantly playing a "will it float?" game, putting all kinds of small objects into her water bowl. Same reason, I figure. The bowl looks empty, and yet this plastic cap hovers in the center of it. What is that about???
And it would also explain the cats who prefer to drink from a fountain, because the shifting reflections in moving water make it easier to see than water in a bowl.
But I don't know about tipping over bowls of dipping sauce. That's some advanced cat science there. Mine is still stuck on water glasses.
posted by katieinshoes at 10:59 PM on September 9, 2014
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Mine do this too. I haven't figured out any rhyme or reason to it other than "because they can"
posted by raw sugar at 10:23 PM on September 9, 2014