Why cats like to climb a tree?

Do cats like to climb a tree? Absolutely they do.

But have you ever considered why? I am curious about this, so below is what I got from Google.

It's said that mostly to do with predatory or defensive tactics. 

Some said they just work on improving their climbing abilities.

Another interesting thing, cats never climb down from a tree because their claws curve inward, allowing it to grip onto surfaces while going up head first. Unfortunately, this useful climbing curve does nothing to help the animal get back down again. So they just jump out of the tree.

Well, evolutionarily speaking, it's highly linked to the fact that cats' ancestors (and cats themselves that live in the wild) have prey that live in trees (birds, squirrels, etc) so being able to climb on that front would have had a huge evolutionary advantage. They could stalk their prey up into the trees. It's also advantageous against many potential predators. Wolves and coyotes can't follow a cat up a tree, so a cat can very easily get away from their ground dwelling predators. Because they can use both the ground and trees, other predators, like eagles, would also have a hard time catching a wild cat that makes good use of heavy tree and ground cover. So basically the ability (and therefore instinct) to climb trees is a highly advantageous survival characteristic for the niche cats initially evolved in.

I didn't really know that about why they don't climb down from trees though. That's actually quite interesting! It explains why so many cats get stuck in trees when they get a little too ambitious in height, haha.

When Bud was 8 weeks old, he started climbing trees.  EVERY ONE of them (and I live in a forest).  75ft up, out of sight.  He backed down them like a pro.  The only time he ever had any problems was when he was out on a limb.  Getting from the limb, back to the trunk, would sometimes confuse him.  He would go head first, slip around, and then be in position to back down the tree.
He's two now and this has slowed down a bit.  He now watches for movement (birds and insects) before he heads up a tree. 
It used to be whatever tree was in front him....he was going to climb it.   Now, not so much, unless something up there moves.

Our older cat climbs one tree.  Next to the house.  Jumps from the trunk, to the roof.  And she will jump from the roof, back to the tree, and then back herself down the tree.

I don't know why some cats know how to get down, and some cats don't. 
We used to think Bud might think he was a squirrel, or might have watched squirrels and just followed suit.  He couldn't eat solid food, but, he knew how to get to the top of a 100 year old oak tree, and get back down.  Scared us the first few times.  We stopped worrying about him after seeing him jump from one tree to another.

He's also shredded every screen on the screened in porch.  

However, when danger is near (another dog, cat, etc)....he hunkers down.  He's not smart enough to head up a tree when scared.

I think what you said makes sense. You know pretty much. 

I become curious about Bud after your description, he is so funny.

hellocat said:

 
I become curious about Bud after your description, he is so funny.

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His 1st few trips to the vet, he was kitten tiny.  They would check him out, give him shots, and then set him down and let him run.  He would come straight to me, look up, and head to my arms.

Too little to jump, so, he would climb my pants.  
Anytime he wanted up, anywhere....he would climb. Or at least try.

Followed us around the farm like a puppy dog from 2 months old-to-well past one year old.  He would romp ahead of us, and UP a tree.  We would walk past and he would come down, run back up front, and UP another tree. 
The size of the tree didn't matter.  The height didn't matter.
He has been to the top of every tree within 100 yards of the house, several times. And that's A-LOT of trees.

Must have been a kitten thing though.  He's sure slowed down his climbing this summer.

Thanks for your sharing @BassCat. I have  checked your album and like the sleeping one most. 

That's really dangerous. Fortunately, he got himself back safely. He must be curious about and like to explore the outside world, so he even ran into that pipe, I am gonna call him a "Little Warrior".

I live in a forest too @BassCat  and my cats love it. There are plenty of trees out in their enclosure to climb. They're actually pretty good at getting down again. They've learnt that the claws are only helpful if they are facing upwards so they shuffle back down, butt first, until they get to a point that is low enough for them to jump from.

Hiro is the real master climber.

Connor and Murphy don't get to go outside, but they love climbing their scratching post and anything else they feel like.  My apartment building was converted from an old church so we still have some stained glass at the top of the living room window.  It's really pretty.  Anyway, Murphy decided to climb up there and it's a good 6 feet higher than either me or my boyfriend so we had no clue how he was getting down.  He had no issues though.  I was all worried while he was sitting there chillin' and then he just came back down, easy as you please.  Brat.

I have a TNR female I feed, lately a Tom comes around, I am trapping him this month to neuter. She is so afraid of him she goes up a tree onto the roof, when she comes down she land on an old wooden fence. I hope her fear subsides once he is neutered! Anyone think she will stop her fearful behavior after his neutering? He is not a big cat, not sure he is a boy even! I am guessing he is because he never looked pregnant.

Hiro is smart, he climbed a really tall tree.

Why do you want to neuter on him?

Did Murphy jump down or climb down?

hellocat said:

 
Did Murphy jump down or climb down?

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He jumped down onto my boyfriend's keyboard and broke it.  Haha.  He was just fine, though.  He loves scaring the crap out of us.  He makes jumps that you think would be impossible.  Like when he jumped from the end table to the top of the bedroom door.

Flying cat Murphy 

Apparently.  Between my kitchen and living room, there's a wall with a window like hole in it.  It has decorative wood bars going down it.  Murphy jumped from the top of their scratching post tree over to the window thing.  It's probably a 6-8 foot jump.  He caught it with his front paws and dangled for a minute before he pulled himself all the way up, but he made it.  And he did this 2 days after getting neutered.  It obviously didn't slow him down at all.

hellocat said:

 
Why do you want to neuter on him?

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To stop him fathering feral kittens, that will probably die or add to the feral cat problem, to stop him being driven to roam around looking for a mate, putting himself at risk of being injured, getting involved in cat fights, possibly catching Feline AIDS or FeLV or any of those other deadly cat diseases.

Bonepicker is actually doing this cat a great kindness by taking the time to TNR him.

 [article="32879"]9 Practical Ways For You To Help Feral Cats​[/article]  

 [article="22304"]Why You Should Spay And Neuter Your Cats​[/article]  

Maybe next time you could record that video which will be amazing.