These Kittens' Favorite Pastime Is Watching Mice Run Across The TV

Many cat owners marvel at the event of their cat or happy bunch of cats sitting in front of the TV screen and observing birds, fish or mice on the glowing planes. Other cats in less tech-savvy households can be seen staring out of the window for hours, seldom mumbling to themselves. We can call this Cat-TV and it is an ‘extension’ to you kitty’s personality. Its instinct demands it.

This, however, is not innate to all prey animals. Dogs, for example, hunt together in packs by running after, surrounding and killing their prey. This is why cute Fido cannot hold himself from chasing after the frisbee. Cats use the ambush strategy, like in a mouse hunt. This entails detailed planning. This entails making careful observation.

As you can see from the video, cats are very vision-sensitive. They detect shapes similar to those of their prey. You cannot see a typical rat there, but a computer simulation, and a crude one. However, all the fluffy little heads are set at the direction of the screen following their gaze with abrupt body movements, as if mimicking the gestures of the moving mouse. The smell factor is absent, the depth of the screen has been checked and then double and than triple checked by the fellow felines from the pride, so all it is left is hunt simulation. Watching these kittens, you can see they all know it is just a game, it is all a bluff but the instinct is stronger than anything.

What we can do is provide them with enough stimulation to make them as happy and as content as they make us feel when in their presence.