The Way of Cats

Do cats have a sense of humor? Of course they do!

Cats enjoy a good joke. Because of our differing verbal abilities, it’s not like we can sit around and tell them to each other. But when expressed through body language, we can have a good time with our cat.

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One joke my cats enjoy is the game of Which Hand? I put in a treat in my hand, and shuffle it behind my back. If they paw at the hand which opens to reveal a treat, they get it. When the hand they paw at opens without a treat, we get a look which will make us laugh.

Put a treat or toy under some little boxes. Show the cat we have hidden something under one of them, then shuffle. Encourage the cat to investigate the boxes.

The laser light toy is one cats don’t get tired of because there are so many baffling aspects to it. Dear Husband recently let the light quiver inside one of my slippers, exciting RJ. We could tell he thought he had cornered that red dot at last. When his pouncing on the slipper resulted in the red dot appearing somewhere else, he took it in good humor. He realizes the red dot has magical qualities.

These tricks we play on the cats are ones they don’t mind because they enjoy puzzles and thinking. Their considerable mental abilities, (as great as a six year old child’s according to many studies,) makes them appreciate mental games far more than most people realize. They know we are pulling their leg by hiding their treats and toys. They like it.

Can cats play jokes back at us? I think so.

Mr. Bond likes to leave his play mice in our bed. Not just left on the bedspread, but hidden under the pillows and stuffed down under the covers. We always laugh when we find them at bedtime, when Mr. Bond is sure to be there and enjoy our discovery. How can we call this a joke? Isn’t Mr. Bond just leaving “food” for us to show he cares?

One night Dear Husband played the joke back at him by pretending to eat the mouse. Mr. Bond gave me a sideways look which clearly expressed his belief that Dear Husband was not getting it, and, in fact, should be checked for a mental condition. So Mr. Bond knows these mice aren’t real. He knows they aren’t meant to be eaten. We hide toys on him, so why shouldn’t he do the same to us?

RJ makes a game out of racing us to the chair in the computer room. He always beats the person in there, and then sprawls on the chair, beaming up at us. He gets rewarded with laughs and cuddles. But we didn’t come up with this game. He did.

Cats love our attention. That’s why, if they do something and it makes us laugh, they will do it again. We could understand a cat doing something and getting praise or petting. But when a cat does something just to make us laugh, it shows that they know laughter is a good thing. They like to do it, for us.

We should return the favor.

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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.