Almost all cats like to sit on the owner’s lap, purr, touch with their front paws, stretch their claws. There may also be increased salivation. At such moments, the animal looks absolutely contented and peaceful.
The reasons for this behavior can be different: a milky step, primitive habits, getting rid of stress. However, this process sometimes gives a person discomfort due to the released claws of the animal.
Causes
There are seven main versions explaining why cats trample on humans with their paws. All of them have a certain biological justification. Neither of them contradicts the other: in different situations, animals can behave in the same way for completely different reasons.
Reflexes and instincts have a huge influence on the behavior of animals. Versions that explain pet trampling on a person or any objects from this point of view:
- milk step;
- primitive habits;
- sexual desire;
- getting rid of stress.
milk step
This version is based on the behavior of newborn kittens. During feeding, they often have to press their paws on the mother cat’s stomach so that milk comes out of the nipples faster. The movements produced by the cubs are very reminiscent of those made by adult cats trampling a person. This hypothesis also explains the active salivation that can sometimes be observed in a pet during this process.
When an adult animal tramples a person with its paws, this can be considered the highest manifestation of love, trust and affection on his part. At this moment, the pet associates the owner with the mother, in those days when she fed, protected him and was the only guarantee of survival.
This pattern of behavior is firmly fixed in the memory of the kitten and transferred to adulthood. This phenomenon is called the “milk step”. This hypothesis is the main and generally accepted one. Most of the rest of the explanation for feline stomping comes from her.
Ownership
When trampling on the owner with its paws, the cat marks it. These animals are loners by nature, not accustomed to sharing what belongs to them with anyone. It could be territory or food, or it could be a person. This explains the behavior of the pet and in relation to inanimate objects – furniture, toys, own bedding.
Paw trampling is seen in cats and other animals. As their relatives, and, for example, dogs. It expresses all the same: friendship and affection.
The pet leaves marks with the help of special glands located on the paw pads. They secrete a secret with a very obvious smell for animals. For all four-legged animals, such a mark serves as a clear signal: “Don’t come near, it’s busy! »
primal habits
Before being domesticated by humans, cats were wild animals, sometimes living in very difficult conditions. Often they had to sleep on surfaces that were completely inappropriate for this: cold, hard, prickly. Fingering with their paws, they could equip themselves with a more comfortable “bed”: crush the grass, heat it with the heat of their body and slightly loosen the ground with their claws.
This version explains why animals sometimes stomp in more than one place, but describe several circles before lying down. However, she is contradicted by the fact that street city cats never commit such acts. They simply find the most convenient place available and fit there without making additional manipulations.
Checking out a place to stay
Cats check the surface for signs of discomfort before lying down, using especially sensitive receptors on their paw pads.
When arranging a “sleeping place”, the animal is guided solely by the instinct left over from its wild ancestors, and is completely useless when living in a city apartment. The actions of a cat exploring a surface are partly conscious.
Checking the spot can also be an instinctive action, as it is very important for wild cats to observe absolute silence when hunting.
Relief from stress
Cats can get irritated, angry, offended, afraid, and experience many other negative emotions. Active, even violent, stomping on a surface with outstretched claws may indicate that the pet is releasing accumulated stress, even if it purrs in the process.
After such a procedure, cats become calmer. If the pet was offended by the owner, then having properly cut any object, he can forgive him and come to put up. Cats also release endorphins when pawing their paws.
sex drive
When a cat is in heat, she makes movements with her paws that are very similar to a milky step, in the same way she purrs and releases her claws. In addition, she arches her back, takes characteristic “call-up” poses, and can meow loudly.
All these actions are aimed at attracting the cat to the female, signaling to him that the cat is ready for breeding. With this behavior, the cat never tramples on a person or other animals.
Help for a sick owner
The vast majority of cat owners noticed their “healing properties”. After the animal tramples on the sore spot, it stops hurting or begins to heal faster. This observation has scientific confirmation.
It has been proven that cats can find problem areas on the human body. But it has not yet been clarified how exactly they do it. But it is clear that when cats touch with their paws, crumple a sore spot, this gives an effect comparable to the effect that a professional therapeutic massage has.
Do all cats behave this way?
There are individual individuals who never trample on their owners with their paws. Most often these are cats grown artificially, without the participation of the mother. There are also animals from litters in which, for some reason, there were few kittens. They did not feel the need to accelerate the release of milk, since they already had enough of it. That is, manifestations of such behavior are not found in animals that did not master the milk step as unnecessary in childhood.
During the period of sexual desire, all unsterilized cats make trampling movements with paws with extended claws, which are accompanied by purring.
But there are exceptions to this rule. Some cats simply do not remember the milk step due to the peculiarities of their psyche. This is absolutely normal.
What to do if the cat tramples with its paws?
By such behavior, the cat expresses its trust and affection to the owner. Therefore, a person should not scold her, drive her away and show any signs of aggression. In such a situation, it is worth stroking the cat, saying something affectionate to him, in every possible way showing the beast that his sympathies are mutual.
The problem of protruding claws is easy to deal with. It is enough to put a pillow or blanket on the part of the body chosen by the cat. Or regularly carefully trim your pet’s claws. It is best to entrust this procedure to an experienced veterinarian.
In no case should you completely remove the claws, this will extremely negatively affect the health of the cat.