Sudden Bursts of Energy

[jojo]

My year old cat, Dani aka Dani Night Stalker, generally strolls around our apartment but every once in a while, she tears through the place like a possessed demon

.

She leaps up on window sills and races from room to room. Just as quickly, she generally calms down though sometimes it takes me to tell her to settle down. There's no particular time of day she does this nor any behaviour that seems to trigger it. Dani's my first cat, she was an adult when I got her so I don't have any clues to her behaviour as a kitten. Does anyone know what this behaviour means?

Jo and Dani Night Stalker

 

[aristocat]

Hi Jo,

My Felix has a mad few minutes in the garden, he runs in all directions.He will do it in the house ,but I think he prefers to do it in open spaces.I don't know where he gets his energy from as hes nearly 16

Jackie

 

[vjoy]

Danielle will suddenly tear through the house chasing something invisible to my inferior human eye, and it lasts about a minute.

Also, she could be lying on my chest on the couch, purring and awake, or licking herself,...then INSTANTLY she is asleep, snoring!! :LOL:

Then she INSTANTLY wakes up and licks herself, then INSTANTLY sleeps again. :LOL: It is soooo cute!

 

[lorie d.]

I have heard that these sudden bursts of energy are part of a cat's hunting instinct. If the cats were living in the wild they would need sudden bursts of energy to catch their prey, and domestic cats still have a lot of wild instincts.

 

[boo]

These courageous caring creatures of yours are obviously protecting you and your families from dastardly invisible aliens.

I feel honoured that my cat is so willing to face such danger to ensure my safety. Well, I feel honoured until he slams into me.:laughing:

 

[jojo]

Hmmm, there must be invasion forces of those dastardly aliens gathering near my bedroom window

Yes, she's like a little bowling ball with legs when on a full run. She turns the corner so sharply, I'm afraid she'll take a tumble one of these days. Thank goodness we have carpet to cushion her.

 

[tracy_kirch]

My little beasts (Pepper and Angus) do this too - in my old apt, they would run from the back of the house, all the way to the front, out the door and onto the porch, then all over again - thousands of times (and ALWAYS in the middle of the night!) And - they will bounce off of anything in their way, furniture, clothes, my stomach...doesn't matter to them! I always wondered what my neighbors thought of the whole thing!!!!

Then again, they'll turn around and cuddle up next to me and fall asleep (Angus likes to share mine and my husbands pillows, and Pepper takes the foot of the bed) My favorite scene is Pepper (my little gray girl with no voice) fully asleep, unguarded on her back with her paws drawn up around her face. Makes me feel like a good mom to have such an unguarded (in sleep anyway!) little girl.

:-))

 

[dodo]

Minnosh also does the same. She runs from the end of one room to the other and finally she jumps on to the wall & make a turn ( like the swimmers do in a pool ) & continue running in reverse direction

Before, we had cat paws' stains on the wall

Now that all our new apartment is covered with carpet, her paws don't get dirty

 

[jojo]

I can't imagine anything more precious as watching my Dani sleeping. Normally she'll curl up in a ball with her tail wrapped around her but once in a while, she'll sleep on her back with her front paws by her head and the rear legs fully extended.

Unfortunately, the moment I move, she'll wake up and follow me -- no matter where. She does this all day, just follows me. If I stay still too long in one spot, like at the computer, she'll leave for a while then come meow to get my attention. Once acknowledged, she'll leave again but if I start moving around, she's right with me.

I don't understand her completely but I'm slowly learning. Dani's my heart.

 

[hell603]

you mean the mad scientist kitty look -than the charging around the house as if their tail got stuck in an electric outlet? 10 more of little boy and the energy crisis in CA is solved. don't worry quite normal - just get out of the way when they are on a mission

 

[pamela]

Oh, Zebra does that alllll the time. I think it's part of being a cat and to drive owners crazy trying to figure out what got the cats so excited!

I sure love to watch zebra zip thru my apt, zip over my other cat sunni then sunni (8 yrs old and very fat) would jump then try to chase zebra around while zebra would bounce off the walls, etc. Once she was zipping thru and accidently unplugged my tv while i was watching tv. That FREAKED me out! I thought she broke it but it was only the plug which got unplugged but it still makes me very nervous whenever she'd zip thru my tv area. I don't want her getting hurt and I don't want to get a new tv (brand new tv)!

This is great entertainment for me though and I really enjoy watching Zebra zipping thru the apts with no warning- one minute, she's sleeping then the next minute, she's gone like a flash stirring air whereever she goes!

Hhahaha...
I agree with Hell603- if we have more of these, we'd solve the energy crisis! I would love some of that energy for myself so I can do everything I want to do!

 

[sinophilia]

When a cat does this, we use to say it's having "its 5 minutes".
Seems like all cats have this kind of sudden raptus, especially when they're kittens and have plenty of energy to burn. They're so nice, aren't they? At least when your feet or hands are not in their way.

More than once my kittens unplugged the modem cable while I was online. Lucia is specialized into switching off my computer stepping on the right keys of the keyboard... I don't think she can press CTRL+ALT+DEL, so there must be some power-off key I didn't even know about before. She always does so when I just finished typing long e-mail messages (but haven't saved them yet)... the little monster. I get so mad!!! My cats seem tol be all IT engineers.

Diana

 

[flea48]

Three of our five cats do this regularly. Sometimes they do it solo and sometimes in pairs. Melody and Newton are the most likely to do a joint race. They especially enjoy racing through the downstairs, starting in the kitchen, doing a quick left and racing up the stairs, flipping a U-turn to head back downstairs where they end up in the kitchen. At that point they may or may not continue on to the basement. If they do hit the basement I often know where they are by where the crashing sounds are coming from before their return. Ocassionally Isaac joins them and it is a three-cat race. 11-year-old Einstien either sleeps through the noise or watches with big, sleepy eyes. Usually they have the most energy early in the morning and/or around 10 at night. They are better entertainment that the "Today Show" or "The Tonight Show".

It is great to watch and I envy their free spirits and energy:tounge2: They are perfectly capable of keeping this up for 15-30 min.or so before wearing out and, finding a sunny rocking chair or, if it is nighttime, snuggling up with my husband and me on the couch. In peace, Hannah

 

[us cats]

My kitty that passed away September the 15th. used to do that. I had always heard it had to do with the hunting skills. He always ran at break necking speed after he had a bowel movement. He would climb a 7 foot cat tree & claw the heck out of it. I have a kitty named Sheba. She is close to 14 years old and she does the same thing but climbs the French Doors and sits up there after the BM. I guess it has something to do with the hunting or relief. ????

 

[regina]

Us Cats,

Does that sound familiar! My cat Ebony always gets really frisky before and after pooping. He meows loudly and runs through the house and then does a special "poo dance" before settling down to business. Afterwards litter will fly for a few seconds and then he races away from the litter pan. He is more playful around this time as well.

How is the poo activity level related to hunting skills?

Regina

 

[us cats]

I do not know why they do this. The kitty that passed away would yell like a woman. My husband would always say He pooped. I have 5 kitties & just the 2 do that. The rest just do their thing & leave it at that. They are all different. I have noticed that the males are the ones that never cover their business up with litter. I guess its a man thing. Prayers.

 

[lady hawk]

We are still not sure what it all means but we have named this phenomena, we call it "The Darts" our cats only display it when they want to play , with each other or us, although the husband and I do not get down on the floor and do the wiggle butt , lol we do play chase and tag with them and they love it, they chase us and we chase them its great fun.
So there you go guys don't try to understand it join in the fun .

The cats love it , the children on the other hand think we are certifiable.

Tish

 

[jojo]

Duh, we own cats... we *must be* certifiable. (I do the back up and wiggle my butt routine, lord knows it looks hilarious to my roommates).

Love,
JoJo & Dani Night Stalker

 

[lady hawk]

Originally posted by JoJo

Duh, we own cats... we *must be* certifiable. (I do the back up and wiggle my butt routine, lord knows it looks hilarious to my roommates).

Love,
JoJo & Dani Night Stalker

lol thank god, the best toy a cat can own has a human on the other end.

Tish

 

[us cats]

All of my kitties are different. In the way they dig in the litter boxes. I have one female that would did a six foot hole if she could. And a male that stands in the litter box on one leg to tinkle. The other three legs are on top of the litter box. I have tried to get a picture of him doing his business. Another kitty ..a male will go get in the litter box when I sit his food bowl down, then eat. I guess make room for more. He also runs like crazy after he potties. Prayers