You come home to find your couch in tatters and your curtains on the floor. The culprit is obvious, but when you send a stern look your way, your cat just stares back silently, leaving you to wonder, “Do cats feel guilty? How will they apologize?”
Cats don’t feel guilt or regret like humans do, so if you wait for an apology from your cat, you’ll be waiting a long time. Here’s why cats don’t feel guilt.
Can cats feel guilty?
Do cats feel regret or guilt? Not really. One reason for this is that most of the conflicts humans have with their feline companions are actually language barriers, rather than cats feeling guilty about anything.
From a cat’s point of view, there is nothing to feel guilty about because these behaviors are so ingrained in them and just part of their nature. Humans, on the other hand, are much more likely to feel guilty when they are sure they did the right thing than when they are unsure of what the right thing to do is.
4 Situations in Which Cats Should Feel Guilty
So when might your cat feel guilty? Here are some examples:
1. Shredding furniture
When your cat scratches your furniture, you might think that he is being rebellious and doing something bad. But does your cat really feel guilty? No, scratching is a natural, instinctual cat behavior.
Cats have scent glands on their faces and paws that they use to “mark” their territory several times a day.
The scratch is often the biggest and most noticeable in the room, leaving a visual mark that lets all other cats know, “This room is mine!”
Cats also scratch to sharpen their claws and to express their emotions (for example, they may scratch if they are excited or anxious).
The scratches on the furniture are large and strong. Cat Tree Placing a climbing and scratching spot in front of a window will give territorially-minded cats a sense of pride and is more likely to enjoy it than a sofa.
2. Urinating outside the toilet
If a litter box trained cat urinates outside the litter box when a new cat comes into the home, it may be looking for a new place to urinate.
When one cat is using the litter box, the cat “holds its nose” and doesn’t mind stepping in its own pee, but when another cat uses the litter box, the litter box is “dirty” and they’ll go elsewhere.
In these situations, you should take the cat to the vet to make sure there isn’t a medical problem, and if you find that the cat in question is healthy, Trash At home.
It’s a good idea to have one more litter box than you have cats, so if you have two cats, you’ll need three litter boxes. These should be located in different parts of the house, rather than all in the basement.
3. Bringing in live rodents
Cats often bring you the “catch of the day,” which may be a mouse, chipmunk, bird, or other animal that’s still alive. They may simply be bringing you a “present,” or they may be treating you like a kitten and trying to teach you how to hunt for yourself.
This is normal and common cat behavior, and although it may be unpleasant for us, it’s a form of affection that cats show.
To prevent your cat from bringing live mice into your home, keep your cat indoors at all times or BellAlternatively, feed the wildlife in an area that cats can’t reach.
4. Attacking the ankle
Has your cat ever jumped out and attacked your ankles? This is certainly annoying, but to the cat, it is simply a form of playful hunting.
Providing interactive toys that encourage chasing may help reduce the behavior — consider a game like laser tag. Laser pointer And like a toy Fishing Rod Teaser WandIt encourages cats to chatter, bat, smack and bite.
Can cats be shy?
Whether cats are shy or not is a little difficult to answer.
We’ve all seen cats who, after a failed jump, look around as if to say, “I hope no one sees me.” They may be feeling something akin to embarrassment, but like the misconception above, cats may actually be experiencing thought processes that are unclear to us.
For example, your cat may be looking around to see if the sound or movement of its failed jump attracted the attention of a predator, or it may be that your cat reacted to your failed jump and is therefore reacting to you as well as the jump.
We’d like to think that cats feel embarrassment just like we do, but that may not actually be the case.
How do cats apologize?
For a cat to apologize, he would actually have to feel bad about what he did, and as we’ve already said, this probably won’t happen in reality.
However, cats may sense when you’re feeling stressed or unhappy and may “give a helping hand” to try and reconcile whatever is upsetting you.
Here are some cat behaviors that may indicate your cat wants to get back at you:
- “Bunting” you with the top of their head or cheek
- We deliver “gifts” of birds and rodents
- Rolls over for belly rubs (and kicks and bites)
- Knead
- Rolling around
- Start playing
- Licking/grooming
- Approaching for attention or cuddles
- “Slow blinking” cat eyes
Cats may not feel guilt, remorse, or even shame, but knowing their motivations and acting within that framework can help solve many behavioral “problems” that are only really problems when viewed from a human perspective, not a cat’s.
