Bad Behavior - Cats Hunting Owners

Any cat owner who has experienced violent behavior from their cat, knows this can be quite cute and quirky. Or, it can be annoying and painful. Case in point, my Margene, has gotten into the habit of attacking me through my sofa throw when I'm on the laptop for too long.

She is making a valid point through her clawing, gnarling violence, though, because I haven't played with her for more than about 10 minutes total in the past 2 days. Many cat owners don't realize cats need to spend a certain amount of time hunting. This isn't helped by the fact that house cats tend to get fat and lazy. Still, the tracking aspect of hunting seems to be one of the more fulfilling exercises a cat enjoys.

I suggest that you play with your cat daily, and try to be patient. Often, their annoying or violent habits will subside with just a half hour of running a shoestring around the couch and floor. If your cat is lazy and just "watches the show" you should make sure you run the shoestring behind something or underneath something, like a pillow. They seem to enjoy it when the prey starts to hide. If you just keep it up for several minutes for underactive cats, and 30 minutes for an overactive cat, you can give them a great predator outlet, and they'll snuggle up later.