Oops! I was only investigating that vase as I haven’t seen it before! Sorry, I didn't mean to knock it over! I always use this piece of furniture to help me get to my favorite shelf and… oops!
It can be quite confusing sometimes when my human moves things around; she doesn’t always consider that it might just get in my way. She likes those style magazines so I think she’s just trying something new!
It’s not always her fault, though; there are other reasons why we may knock things over!
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’ - but in fact, it’s our curiosity that helps us survive! Being curious is a natural instinct for us and that’s why you will see us spying from up high in a tree, or sneaking behind a cupboard and peeking out to see what’s going on. We use all of our natural skills (like our super sensitive whiskers) to survey around us before we make our move. So if you see us ‘investigate’ something new in the house, it’s because we are checking it out! Unfortunately, we might just sometimes accidentally knock it over!
Exploring is in our kitty genes. We use our paws to swat or pat, and our nose and whiskers, to work out if a new object is safe or not - or even if it’s alive! There was a nice ball of string on the top of the cupboard yesterday, but unfortunately, it was right above a cup of coffee, so when I patted the ball of string, it rolled into the cup and you can guess what happened next! My human wasn’t best pleased, but by the time she cleaned up the mess I was outside and exploring under the bush.
That ball of string was great fun though! My human realized it was an accident, so she left it on the floor so that we could play with it together; we had great fun as it rolled around and it had a tail just like a mouse which I could chase.
I’ve noticed that she has got some new toys for me to play with; I expect that was to stop me from investigating other new household items and to minimize the breakages! Very clever of her!
Cats are very intelligent and - just maybe - we might knock something over (accidentally!) to get attention. But this can be a tactic that our kitty parents don’t like! So a tip from me - make sure you schedule regular playtimes with your feline friends and keep them mentally stimulated. Regular training sessions and playtimes work well to help build a bond between you. Then we won’t resort to pushing things over just for attention!
Sometimes we cats get anxious. There may have been changes in the home, there might be another cat on the block, or we could be spooked by loud noises and bangs. In these situations, we may try to escape to anywhere that we will feel safer, and in the process we may knock things over.
It’s important that our humans recognize signs of anxiety in their cats and take action to help them feel safe and secure. This could be making sure their resources are always accessible, or you may find they like calming music. Using FELIWAY CLASSIC in the home will help your cat feel serene and avoid common signs of stress.
Accidents do happen and I can’t guarantee that there will be no more breakages, but kitty parents can take steps to minimize them, by:
Purrr!... Now I feel like exploring… but this time I’ll be much more careful not to knock anything down!