I'd say the silliness seen here goes hand-in-hand with curiosity and intelligence, which makes them clever and effective hunters. This type of derpiness also earns them a rent free spot in monkey houses. So, dumb as it may seem, this is actually a very fit behavior.
Your premise is mistaken. The cat is rubbing its scent glands/scratching its cheek (and shoulder) on the stairs' edges, to satisfy an itch and mark its property simultaneously. Sliding down the stairs is merely a benign side effect.
Uh... its fairly energy conserving, accomplishes the desired goal when time is not a critical factor, also keeps kitty limber via basically a light stretch/workout of many diffent muscle/tendon groups?
"On the rheology of cats" is the article that studies this phenomenon, please if you don't trust my link don't follow it just search the name in quotes from the beginning of the message (you should never trust the links
(-________________-)
)
https://www.drgoulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Rheology-of-cats.pdf
25 Comments
miss_demeanour@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 85 pts · 351d
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 351d
Close, but not sideways, no cheek-skritch action
brisk@aussie.zone · 78 pts · 351d
Soup@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 351d
“That’s so weird!”
“And what are you doing?”
“…”
They expect embarrassment but they will only get pity.
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz · 39 pts · 351d
logicbomb@lemmy.world · 35 pts · 351d
Preservation of energy. Anti-parasite behavior.
selokichtli@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 351d
By lack of limb and intestinal autonomous motion! Yep, the cat is also digesting while flowing down.
JohnAnthony@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 350d
Also, autonomous bodywide scratching
whosepoopisonmybuttocks@sh.itjust.works · 31 pts · 351d
I'd say the silliness seen here goes hand-in-hand with curiosity and intelligence, which makes them clever and effective hunters. This type of derpiness also earns them a rent free spot in monkey houses. So, dumb as it may seem, this is actually a very fit behavior.
death_to_carrots@feddit.org · 30 pts · 351d
Well, cats are basically liquids, so flowing down the stairs is actually the expected behavior.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works · 26 pts · 351d
Your premise is mistaken. The cat is rubbing its scent glands/scratching its cheek (and shoulder) on the stairs' edges, to satisfy an itch and mark its property simultaneously. Sliding down the stairs is merely a benign side effect.
manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml · 20 pts · 351d
I bet theyre also having fun, because cats do like fun
ininewcrow@lemmy.ca · 15 pts · 351d
The temperature in your house is too high .... because your cat has taken to its liquid form.
AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 351d
slinky cat!
blackbrook@mander.xyz · 12 pts · 351d
Example of convergent evolution.
carmo55@lemmy.zip · 12 pts · 351d
Sometimes when I'm really tired in the morning I get out of bed like this, it's the path of leadt resistance.
Zephorah@discuss.online · 8 pts · 351d
He wants pets and is using the stair edges to handle it himself.
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 351d
A pet with pets? Petception.
SkabySkalywag@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 351d
Felis Slinkere!
slothrop@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 351d
Cathartic?
betanumerus@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 350d
jaybone@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 351d
Looks like a sidewinder snake.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 350d
... Drunken Tiger Paw?
Evolutionary advantage...?
Uh... its fairly energy conserving, accomplishes the desired goal when time is not a critical factor, also keeps kitty limber via basically a light stretch/workout of many diffent muscle/tendon groups?
sqw@lemmy.sdf.org · 3 pts · 350d
i think stairs can just be awkward for cats to navigate too. they are designed for human feet...
TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com · 3 pts · 351d
not everything is an Darwinian adaptation.
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 351d
ewigkaiwelo@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 351d
"On the rheology of cats" is the article that studies this phenomenon, please if you don't trust my link don't follow it just search the name in quotes from the beginning of the message (you should never trust the links (-________________-) ) https://www.drgoulu.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Rheology-of-cats.pdf
RedSnt@feddit.dk · -1 pts · 351d