Why Does My Cat…?

I find myself Googling the phrase, “why does my cat *insert weird thing my cat does*” way too often.

Like any good blogger, I thought I’d share some semi-amusing shit from my life with my readers and document the answers to said weird things.

Whether you have cats or not, it’s fun to learn. I hope you enjoy this delightfully strange, and slightly unsettling compilation of weird things my cats do, and why.

But first, background!

My partner and I have two cats: Aang and Korra. Yes, they are named after two Avatars. And yes, their names are super apt, given their personalities. It’s actually amazing.

They are 1 year and, I want to say 4 months, old. We don’t know their exact birth date. They were stray babies. Straybies, if you will.

Aang is a floofy boy. Korra is a pretty girl. We call Aang “the chonk”, “chonkasaurus”, “big fat chongus” and other variations of the sort, but Korra is the actual dinner time demon. She screms and pushes Aang out of the way. We have to intervene to make sure they both get adequate noms.

They are both hilarious, and we love them, however, they do some weeeeiiiirrrddd shit. See below…

Armpit licks (Aang)

Aang will sometimes snuggle into my armpits, then he will lick. I am ticklish. No beuno.

Apparently cats do this for a few reasons:

1. Cats like the taste of salt. Sweat tastes like salt.
2. Cats like to leave their scent on things they feel like they have ownership over. The armpit exudes a strong odour that the cat wants to overwrite with their own scent.

The mouth thing (Aang & Korra)

Ok, if you’re a cat owner you may already know what I’m talking about. If you’re not, you’re probably thinking “What the fuck is the mouth thing?”. Allow me to show you 2 gifs to explain what I mean.

It’s fucking weird, right? And they always seem to do it after smelling something.

To Google!

I was not expecting such a interestingly scientific answer, yet here we are. Cats, along with many amphibians, reptiles and other mammals, have a little something called a Jacobson’s organ located in the roof of their mouth which helps them to process scents, and in turn, sends signals to the brain allowing the cat to identify a scent.

Naturally, the internet has turned this super interesting biological process into a joke about how cats hate the smell of their owners feet. See Exhibit A below:

Eating every plant (Korra)

Honestly, Korra doesn’t just stop at plants. She is an eating machine. She literally ate part of the flyscreen door at our old place and ended up at the vet, suuuuuuper constipated because it was blocking her bowel.

Anyway, plants. She can’t get enough of them. The Christmas before we adopted the cats my bf bought me some houseplants, making sure to get ones that were 100% non-toxic to cats. You can probably guess what happened. Enter Korra, the gobblin’ goblin. My plants were stripped bare and I had to put them outside in order for them to regrow and escape the razor sharp teeth of all-encompassing doom.

Let’s ask Google about this.

Ok, a few things here:

1. DO NOT EVER LET YOUR CAT A PEACE LILY. They’re toxic to both cats and dogs.
2. “Why does my cat eat my phone?” – Regarding this, I have more questions than answers.

Now, to the answer we’ve all been waiting for. Cats eat plants for a few reasons. Indoor cats sometimes eat plants out of pure boredom, or because the leaves flutter in the wind and look like something that would be fun to prey upon. Although they are predominantly carnivorous, they will sometimes nibble on plants for extra nutrients or fibre, or simply because it’s sterile and they like the taste.

We also think that she may have a condition called feline pica. Basically, it’s where a cat will eat things that aren’t meant for consumption, for any number of reasons. We’re going to ask the vet their opinion on our next visit. Fun fact: humans can develop pica as well. If you’ve ever watched the show My Strange Addiction, a lot of the people showcased on there probably have it or a similar condition.

So, in conclusion. Cats are weird. They do weird shit. There’s no denying or changing it. You just need to research the weird shit to make sure it’s harmless, normal behaviour and won’t lead to any future behavioural, physical or psychological issues (for you or your cat) – much like a child, really.

If your cats do any weird stuff and you’re not entirely sure why, please yeet the deets into the comments below. I love learning about cats and their little nuances.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Bye.

Kates