Last night - minding my own business - speaking to a dear friend on the telephone - I was run over by a cat! Nemo, who had been peacefully asleep for some hours, suddenly went from 0 to 60mph - steeple chasing round the room - from sofa to chair to table to bookcase - back to sofa - ran over me - back to table - kicked over a basket of apples - threw my magazines off the coffee table - pushed a small ornament off the window sill - and broke it - tried to jump onto the mantleshelf and failed - went off in a sulk. Donât know what triggered it - but have to admire his energy!
Maybe I should start having Whiskas and Go Cat for breakfast!!
Made me laugh out loud, that! Holly too had a mad minute or so while I was trying to sleep. She likes to rub herself around the bed, and along the carpet, making noises in her throat as she does so, and I had to put the light on to ask her, as I usually do in a playful voice, âwhat are you doing?â Was it something in the air, lol??
Yes even though Ellie is 11 , her mad moment comes on at 5ish when shes had her evening meal , thats when she starts ,it involves me and I turn into a snarling human on all fours chasing her round the room which she absolutly loves , She pounces at me and I pounce back and she bolts from room to room waiting for me to catch her up before she bolts again .
It ends with us both exhausted , I know then I can get back to normallityâŠtill the next evening .
Many decades ago, when I lived in the UK, my wife and I used to breed Burmese cats. My daughter used to call them kamikaze cats, they could circle the room at window/picture rail top height
Yes, most of the cats Iâve lived with over the years used to have a mad half hour - and thatâs exactly what I used to call it too!
It didnât always happen at the same time but very often it would be in the evening, around ten oâclock. They would race around the room, scramble over the furniture and act as if they were being chased by a scary demon!
They would crouch down, tail lashing, looking for an innocent shadow to pounce on - grabbing a toy or cushion to pummel to death.
When I had several cats, one of them would usually set the others off, so they would all be racing around chasing each other as well as imaginary prey.
We had foxes around who would sometimes kill a cat and lots of farm yard cats who would have night time fights, so I always made sure I got my cats indoors in the evening and they couldnât go out again until the next morning.
I used to wonder if their âmad half hourâ was their hunting instinct being aroused when it got dark.
We call it a WHIM (what have I missed) the impulse to check everything is as it should be while they have slept.
The experts answer.
Why is my cat running around the house like a maniac?
But thereâs a technical term for this behavior: Frenetic Random Activity Periods, or FRAPs. When your cat gets an intense burst of energy, running around the house is a simple way for cats to get that energy out.
@Cinderella - thank you for that - a really interesting read - must show it to Nemo!
I have been to the other side of town and back - heâs still snoring on the bed!
I tie a Stinkie on the end of a piece os string ( long enough to throw accross the room & pull it slowly towards you. I find that 10 mins play time usually calms them down⊠& Tammy loves it!
Mr Grey , who is 5 years younger than Tammy, isnât so active since his broken leg, but he loves toy mice and tries to pull their tails off so I bought him Ratty, bigger than a toy mouse with a sturdy tail. If you move Ratty and let Mr Grey see his tail moving , he will spend about 5 mins playing with it, then have a wash and go back to sleep.
Both cats come to bed with me and have 10 mins play time, then they fall asleep till about 6 am.
If they disturb your sleep, play before you settle for the night & they tend to adjust to the routine & not wake you.
