Why do cats love concrete slabs? A vet explains.
If you scroll Instagram, Tiktok or the more specific subgenre #Cattok, you may have encountered recently feline behavior: many videos of excited cat owners presenting their pets with concrete tiles, even by making trips to the hardware store to collect paver. When presented with their new gift, always curious, cats investigate and finally seem to enjoy their new hard toy. But why?
“As it is typical of cats, only they know it,” said Bruce Kornreich, veterinary cardiologist and director of the Feline Health Center at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University Popular science.
Although we don’t really know with certainty, there are certain things that we can glean from this behavior. Cats generally like to explore objects with different textures. However, as in humans, these are different features for different feline people.
[ Related: Why do cats make biscuits? ]
“The messages to scratch are a good example,” says Kornreich. “Some cats love wood with bark on it, while certain cats like the box.” Sometimes the orientation of a scratch post can determine whether a cat uses it or not. “Cats love straight, other cats like horizontal, and some cats want horizontal with the carpet on it.”
As for concrete, the porous nature of the equipment can offer cats a place where to place their perfume. The smell is important for many animals, the felines included. Cats can use their urine and pheromones as a way to communicate. According to the ASPCA, the marking of urine of individual cats alerts other cats of its presence and “also makes a declaration on things such as which piece of property is its, how long in the region and, over time, when other cats can expect what it is coming back.” Foulins will also use urine to advertise when they are looking for a companion.
This same porous property in concrete could also be good for one of the most common cat behavior: the skyscraper.
“We think cats like messages to scratch because they can participate in natural behavior,” says Kornreich. “We believe that in many cases, they scratch to mark the territory. They can therefore scratch these things or rub their pheromones on them to mark them like their own. ”
Izalysonarts / 500px / Getty Images Izalysonarts / 500px
The temperature can also be involved. The cat can use the slab as a place to warm up if the block is left in the sun or cool if it is in an air -conditioned room. Presenting a concrete slab in the environment of a cat could also be something exciting to explore or a new territory to claim.
“They may say,” Hey, that’s a new thing. It’s a bit porous. I can put my perfume in it. I can sit on it. I can scratch my nails. It also provides me with a nice little scratch on my back. It is therefore certainly possible that these things are involved in the reasons why a cat would be attracted to it, ”explains Kornreich.
[ Related: The mystery of cats and their love of imaginary boxes. ]
Kornreich and other veterinarians recommend that cat owners stimulate and play in the natural behavior of their feline friends. Presentation of scraping posts, time supervised outside walking on a leash or on an outside “catio” locked up and using toys to imitate hunting behavior all help a cat to stay in good health, happy and diverse. Even “five minutes a day” of dedicated playing time will help make life of cats more full and pleasant, explains Kornreich. Changing cat food under the supervision of a veterinarian can also help them stimulate.
Social media can sometimes seem tailor -made to document strange feline behavior, of cats speaking to hide inside the tables. But if your cat develops destructive habits or behavioral problems, discussing your concerns with a veterinarian is the key.
But if your cat just likes a concrete slab? “I don’t see any real concern,” says Kornreich.
This story is part of popular sciences Ask us anything seriesWhere we answer your most bizarre and burning questions, from the ordinary to the wall. Do you have something you always wanted to know? Ask.
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