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What's up with cats pushing things off stuff?

post #1 of 26
4/12/10 at 11:24am
Thread Starter 
Our cat does the funniest thing. She jumps up on say a dresser and then just starts pushing anything she can off. Why does she do it? Just a curious question really. I find it funny.

One time she knocked off the powder box in my mom's bathroom and it all spilled out lol.

Cats are funny and awesome to have.
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post #2 of 26
4/12/10 at 11:29am
Holland does that too. The term I learned here is that they are performing "gravity experiments", and I think a lot of cats do it. I guess they just like to watch things fall!
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post #3 of 26
4/12/10 at 11:34am
Thread Starter 
She pushes em off, watches it and moves on. If she gets to something she can't push off she moves on lol.
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post #4 of 26
4/12/10 at 11:46am
That's firmly in the "because they can" category. There's really no rhyme or reason for knocking things off of surfaces, it's just a universal behavior that most cats have.

It's like cats that get riled up and run around after using the litter box. I don't believe anyone has an answer for why a cat does that after pooping.
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post #5 of 26
4/12/10 at 12:05pm
Ah yes, the poopy-dance Bella knocks objects off tables so she will have plenty of room to sprawl out
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post #6 of 26
4/12/10 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bellaandme View Post
Ah yes, the poopy-dance Bella knocks objects off tables so she will have plenty of room to sprawl out
P.S. I can't have anything valuable or breakable out--it's just a part of life for a cat owner/lover
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post #7 of 26
4/12/10 at 12:30pm
If your cat is pushing things off high places with it's nose then I would say that is strange behavior. If the cat it pushings things off with his paw like playing them your kitty might need more exercise. Try rubbing some catnip on her favorite toy and have her play with it or exercise her with a wand toy. She just might need to relieve some energy. If she's young she needs to be played with at least a couple times a day. Good luck with your funny little kitty. Hope she doesn't break something that's expensive.
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post #8 of 26
4/12/10 at 10:52pm
It's grand kitty entertainment. Nudge it off and watch it fall. Perticualrly for bored indoor kitties.

I've watched Aya very carefully measuring the number of taps it takes to get something to fall off. I've also seen her fish stuff out of my sewing box which is up high for good reason and very deliberately drop them off the cabinet or shelf. then leer over the edge to see the result.
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post #9 of 26
4/12/10 at 11:01pm
It's actually common behavior in cats and is in response to their prey instincts. If it is stationary, it has to be prey- therefore, they nose it (for the scent) find out it isn't worth their time and push it aside. If it moves after it has been pushed then it is indeed prey and it is time for them to chase. If you watch them, they nose it, then push it a bit, eye it, push, eye it then heave it aside and look for the next prey in the room.

Best thing to do is put up all stuff that is breakable or dangerous and invest in Da Bird and have some healthy play time followed by a meaty treat afterward. Kitty's reward for preying. Don't leave the toy unattended with your kitty though or the string will be inhaled and you will have a hefty vet bill and a very ill cat.
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post #10 of 26
4/13/10 at 4:32am
Mazy cat is the boss of Gravity Experiments here, but Tolly is the one who originally taught her all about it.

Mazy has her own special bowl of toys up on a book case for gravity experiments. She loves to fish things out and watch them drop. On one side she can drop them to the living room floor, and often Jennie will run over and chase the toy.

However Mazy also has to option of dropping the toy down a long height, the stairwell, as her perch by the Gravity Experiment Bowl is on the half wall that goes around the open stairway.

In addition, I keep things lined up on the side of the tub for Tolly, he likes to knock things into the tub, and I also place other toys strategically here and there throughout our home for them to find and knock down.
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post #11 of 26
4/13/10 at 4:35am
By the way, I have a friend who had a cat, though she didn't understand cats at all. (her kitty is now)

She used to constantly complain about Tigger and how she would knock over glasses left on the coffee table. Glasses with beverages in them I mean. I kept telling her, if you don't want your glass knocked over, don't leave it on the table. But she never learned. Even now she still brings it up, not in a fond way either "that cat was so annoying" rather that, "Tigger was so funny".
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post #12 of 26
4/13/10 at 8:28am
Hercules LOVES to do this to stuff on the kitchen table. Like when Im getting ready to use seasonings he will deliberatly sit there on the table and knock every one of the containers off it. It looks like he is laughing at me as Im picking them up one at a time and then moving them from him. He is smart enough to wait till I pick one up set it down and then he will knock the next one off. Ive learned to keep my glass containers away from him, keep the sugar and flour containers full so he cant push them around and also keep my ibuprofen and excedrin bottles hidden on the comp desk so he cant bat them around to hear them rattle. We also have to keep everything in the bathroom in baskets because he will knock that stuff off too. I even have to hide my hair ties from GiGi because she likes to snatch them and run off with them. She even tries to yank them out of my hair...
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post #13 of 26
4/13/10 at 10:35am
This reminds me of the stage toddlers go through when they are constantly dropping things of off their high chairs. It is often a two-fer - not only do they get to see that gravity still works but they probably get to see an lovely experiment in human behavior - what will Mom do?

One of my cats loves gravity experiments. He also loves "water flow" experiments. I can no longer use a tall glass for any beverage or he will perform his experiments in water flow.
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post #14 of 26
4/13/10 at 10:50am
Lucy and I will play a game where she will push a pencil or something else small off the desk and I will put it back. We can go on like this for 15-20 minutes.
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post #15 of 26
4/13/10 at 10:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
It's like cats that get riled up and run around after using the litter box. I don't believe anyone has an answer for why a cat does that after pooping.
A forum member once told me that they are getting used to weighing less, its like if we lost 10lbs and suddenly exercise was not so hard

Quote:
Originally Posted by katachtig View Post
Lucy and I will play a game where she will push a pencil or something else small off the desk and I will put it back. We can go on like this for 15-20 minutes.
Quincy does that
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post #16 of 26
4/13/10 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by icklemiss21 View Post
A forum member once told me that they are getting used to weighing less, its like if we lost 10lbs and suddenly exercise was not so hard
Even if I suddenly lost 10lbs, that would so not be the time I'd want to exercise.

I also have cats that will push everything off to make space for themselves. Cats that wouldn't understand the concept of "prey" if a mouse came up and tapped them on the shoulder.
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post #17 of 26
4/14/10 at 7:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
It's like cats that get riled up and run around after using the litter box. I don't believe anyone has an answer for why a cat does that after pooping.
We call this the "victory run."

Flowerbelle loves to push things off stuff. It means she wants attention and we haven't played with her enough. Time for da Bird!
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post #18 of 26
4/14/10 at 8:21am
Small items are good to push off but we had one who would knock flower pots off the stand if scolded. Mom once caught her trying to shove a large pot off by bracing her back against the wall.
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post #19 of 26
4/14/10 at 12:33pm
Riley is the "pusher" in my house. We've decided that he just likes the minimalistic approach to decorating and prefers his tables and shelves bare

Xander doesn't seem to care and only knocks things off by accident when he's climbing around, but Riley will push off anything that isn't nailed down!
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post #20 of 26
4/14/10 at 2:23pm
Spooky loved to do the "Bombs Away!" trick in the middle of the night, pushing stuff off the headboard of the bed, onto my head. I love the term "Gravity Experiment."
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post #21 of 26
4/20/10 at 11:07pm
My cat does this too. Watch your dishes or anything breakable. I generally don't have things left out, which is good since earrings, hair ties, pens, and other things from my counters, dressers, etc. have been messed with. She will EAT bills if the mood strikes, so money needs to be hidden from her. She shreds paper when in the mood. One never knows when. She will also dig in people's purses and drag things out occasionally, really embarrassing.
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post #22 of 26
4/21/10 at 2:11pm
This thread really made me chuckle! Both my cats perform Gravity Experiments on a regular basis. With Newt it's usually small things like pushing pens off the coffee table. Ripley is much more ambitious however. Once when she was a kitten I made the mistake of leaving a carton of eggs open on the kitchen bench. There were four eggs left in it. She lifted each egg out of the carton, rolled them across the bench & onto the floor.
When we moved into the house we put a shelf up in the living room. It wasn't long before I gave up trying to put anything on it. We still have the shelf but it now has the sole purpose of providing a perch for Ripley to survey her kingdom!
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post #23 of 26
4/22/10 at 7:57am
Many, many years ago, when Hydrox was an only cat, I had placed a plant in the center of the bow window in the living room. I really didn't think about the window sill being "his" spot and in thinking about it, it was stupid of me to even think that the plant would be safe.

And it wasn't. As soon as I put the plant there, Hydrox jumped into the window and sat down. And nudged over toward the plant. Intrigued, I sat down on the sofa and watched him. He stood up, moved a bit closer to the plant and sat back down again. He kept doing this until he knocked that poor plant out of the bow window and on to the floor. As soon as the plant fell, he jumped out of the window, walked over to me, gave this meow-snort kind of noise and sauntered away.

Lesson learned....no more plants in the window. Cats do rule.
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post #24 of 26
4/22/10 at 8:16am
This thread makes me laugh too.

There are certain things we just can't keep on the coffee table - like pens or important mail. Batman likes to take mail and carry it upstairs to his lair. (He'll take cards off the fridge too if they're low enough ) He likes to knock things off that are interesting if they spin around - like a pen. He's not into knocking things off that are boring. I think we keep the house cleaner because we have him now - if junk was laying around, he'd be into it.
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post #25 of 26
4/22/10 at 11:45am
I think it was LDG that mentioned this and Im wondering the same thing... are your cats just trying to get your attention???

All i know is thats the ONLY time my cat pushes stuff off - he'll even jump on my desk -reach up to my shelf and push off whatever is there - BUT ONLY IN THE MORNING HOURS or in the middle of the night - when hes hungry.
In fact (not that this is a good idea) i will feed him at that point because its the only thing ive found that will stop this behavior and i can get some sleep. But it usually is an every night/morning thing. If i move everything off my desk and bureau - he will swat at my fake tree (which i had to move also) and then WATCH me to see what i do.... when I get up - he runs to the kitchen to eat. So maybe somehow I trained him to do this... but its now a routine for us.
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post #26 of 26
4/22/10 at 4:55pm
In our house we KNOW that Forrest will always knock things off the counters, tables, etc. My husband forgot and recently left a very heavy glass on the edge of the kitchen counter and walked away. I was in my office and I thought a bomb went off in our kitchen. I came running in to find that Forrest had pushed the glass off onto the tile floor.

Honestly, when vacuuming up the glass it was like over 15 ft. away and I was still hearing glass go up the vacuum tube. PLUS the floor tile was chipped. He is definitely the devil of the household.

Only Forrest pushes things off the counters and tables. The other two don't bother anything. He's an incorrigible beast but I love him.
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