If you’re a cat owner working from home or checking out Netflix titles, there’s a likelihood you’re locked in a heated battle over your computer keyboard. What offers?
Felines show a lot of strange habits (including staring at you and following you to the bathroom), however their love for keyboards is definitely one of the oddest. Or is it? There are actually a great deal of reasons that you may discover cats on keyboards.
Keyboards Are Basically a Cat Bed
Your computer system can get rather warm as you use it, creating an all-too-tempting spot for cat naps.
” Cats frequently feel drawn in to the warmth of electronics and want to take a snooze on a laptop. And if you hold the computer system in your lap, your cat might believe (appropriately!) that the lap comes from Kitty!” says Amy Shojai, CABC, a licensed animal behavior specialist and founder and president emeritus of the Cat Writers’ Association. She includes that our cats may likewise believe human beings need something much better to look at, like a lovely feline, “instead of gaze at the boring screen for hours on end.”
Your Cat Wants Attention
While some kitties meow to get your attention, others invade your individual space when they desire something– and if that indicates blocking access to the computer system keyboard, so be it.
” Yes, cats likewise can use this behavior to actually ‘push your buttons’ to get attention or anything else,” Shojai states. “For circumstances, if you fill the food bowl or toss a toy to entice the cat to vacate your computer, Kitty finds out to use that habits in the future. You’ve been trained by the finest!”
A cat flopping onto or walking across your keyboard may also not have such nefarious intents. Studies repeatedly show that felines like their owners, so maybe they simply use this distance as a method to be close to us and request for chin scritches.
Hunting Instincts Are Kicking In
It might be simply another day of work for you, but Kitty sees you ending up being quiet and severe, eyes narrowed, posture moved as you click on the keys. To them, these are essential behaviors to observe.
Shojai composes on her blog site “it’s the noise and sight of moving prey that supplies the stimulus to chase after and capture, a hardwired behavior as natural to the feline as purring … and wait with boundless persistence for prey to appear.” Your tippity-tapping fingers might activate something in their inherent hunter’s brain.
Does this mean they’re … stalking you? Perhaps. For an indoor cat, watching you type away might be precisely the promoting enrichment they’ve expected all the time. It does not suggest felines are psychopaths or anything– they might likewise think you’re playing and want to participate the fun.
Shojai includes that felines enjoy routine. When your animal sees you go into “work mode” by setting down a beverage and firing up the computer, they believe “Ah ha! Time for me to get into position, too!”
How to Keep Your Cat off the Keyboard
A feline on your keyboard, while distracting, won’t injure them unless they get too curious and begin playing with the cables. Cat fur and dander often get stuck between the secrets, needing you to pop them off for a thorough cleansing.
Since you don’t desire to prevent your family pet from wanting to spend time with you, Shojai recommends utilizing favorable reinforcement cues and strategies to bond with your cat and keep your keyboard kitty-free. Here are some concepts:
Produce a regular that includes your feline in pleasant interactive play before you take a seat with the computer.
Provide environmental enrichment to keep Kitty captivated when you must focus on the screen. “A box filled with leaves, for instance, or a bird feeder outside the window might help,” Shojai recommends. “Do this before you work, or else the cat might believe relaxing on your keyboard makes you reward them with the leaf box.”
Develop a feline relaxation location that’s nearby however more attractive than your computer system keyboard. This could be a cozy box with a fluffy blanket or, due to the fact that our feline pals like to perch in high areas, equip a feline tree or rack with a heated bed.
