# why do cats "smack" things?



## sundia (May 28, 2009)

my kitten saskia has been charing round the house for past hour so i thought id keep her occupied without having to move by sing remote controlls to open and close the dvd and blu-ray player disk drives.

she spent the whole time "smacking" the trays. i notised she seems to smack quite alot:

for instence when i walk up the stairs she will wait at the top and then smack me on the head!

is it a cat thing to smack everything?


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## taraliz (Aug 10, 2008)

Yeah it's just playing


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## sundia (May 28, 2009)

its just really random lol


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## darren81 (Aug 13, 2009)

Wonder if he's showing affection by smacking ya lol.

The same could work towards my kids. :gasp:


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## Pleco07 (Aug 15, 2007)

Maybe she's honing (sp?) her hunting techniques, we've had a few cats in the past, all have been the kind of cats that bring home birds, mice, frogs etc. When ive seen them hunting the always smack they prey item so it loses its balance, making them easier to catch.
We have a three year old cat at the moment, he used to do it with escaped locust.


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

My cats are expert at smacking, swiping & pouncing. If I put my earrings down on the counter, the cats are up, whoosh, earrings are knocked down. They swipe out the stair rails at our heads as we're walking up the stairs, feet get either smacked, swiped or pounced depending on their mood - especially if your feet move at all in bed. If they can, they put their paws under the covers and frantically try to grab whatevers moving - ouch when you wake up at 4am in the morning with a cat grabbing your foot under the covers :lol2: My dogs are always getting swiped as they move too.....

Mine haven't noticed the dvd tray yet though!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

One of our cats loves to sleep on the sky box, which is on top of the DVD player... Sometimes, we like to open the DVD tray when she's sleeping soundly *giggles*


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Yes, I have to agree it's standard cat play, but most of what you see is instinct-based on hunting, so Plec is right, I think. In fact I just said on another thread last night that most kitten play is 'practice at killing', which it is. They pat the prey to see if it's dead or playing dead, so if you put a new toy on the ground for them, the first thing they'll do is pat it, to see if it's alive or dead.


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## taraliz (Aug 10, 2008)

feorag said:


> Yes, I have to agree it's standard cat play, but most of what you see is instinct-based on hunting, so Plec is right, I think. In fact I just said on another thread last night that most kitten play is 'practice at killing', which it is. They pat the prey to see if it's dead or playing dead, so if you put a new toy on the ground for them, the first thing they'll do is pat it, to see if it's alive or dead.


 
............. and even if it's dead they will kill it anyway, and if they are still not sure they will grab it and totally kangaroo it .... example below LOL
(Marmalade strangling his teddy and kangaroo kicking it just to make sure after 6 years it really is dead !)


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## sundia (May 28, 2009)

taraliz said:


> ............. and even if it's dead they will kill it anyway, and if they are still not sure they will grab it and totally kangaroo it .... example below LOL
> (Marmalade strangling his teddy and kangaroo kicking it just to make sure after 6 years it really is dead !)
> 
> image
> ...


omg! she does exactly that with my socks! lol so is this something she will grow out of? i was told if i keep her playful she will always be playful? i like to play with her alot as i think its good for her to be active rather then sleep alday and grow fat lol


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## taraliz (Aug 10, 2008)

Its just a cat thing and im sure she will always do it. Even the oldest most frail cats will still widen an eye at a passing bit of string x


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

sundia said:


> omg! she does exactly that with my socks! lol so is this something she will grow out of? i was told if i keep her playful she will always be playful? i like to play with her alot as i think its good for her to be active rather then sleep alday and grow fat lol


None of mine never grew out of kangaroo kicking their toys to death! :lol2:


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## taraliz (Aug 10, 2008)

I miss cats :-(


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## Miss Lily (Oct 3, 2008)

Phoebe is 3 years old now and she still kangaroo kicks her 'Ribena berry', lol! It makes me laugh every time she does it! The bigger they are the funnier it looks!:lol2:


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## Dave8706 (Sep 23, 2009)

grabbin a sock with front paws, kickin it with back legs n biting it is normal, the sock is small prey,.
my granparents cat is around 7 years, when lying down i rub his belly with my foot, n he clamps on n bites my toes n kicks,
my cats , theyl whack anything, female cat Lulu, always at pens, plectrums, allan keys, hair bobbles, :devil: she also loves the faux fur throw we have, always lickin n clawing at it, a wee bit disturbin but cute


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