Your Cat is Bored and You Can Fix It!

what are you i'm a panda what are you i'm an elephant pandas are stupid oh wait a minute what are you i'm a donkey donkeys are stupid elephants are stupid donkeys are stupid well we can agree on something what's that pandas are stupid i'm a shark shark shark crap [Laughter] what are you doing i'm making a video oh my god with sharks yeah the shark eats the donkey and the elephant because they were making fun of the panda this is what we do when we're bored well good day my mojo tears are designed jackson galaxy today we are going to talk about boredom oh my god i'm so bored a lot of us are spending a lot more time at home than we have before so i think that we can empathize with our cat family when they're trying to tell us that they too are bored the fact is our cat family can't just walk up and say dad i am so bored they don't do that but there are other things they uh can and will do when they're bored that can be annoying to humans and there are some things that they can and will do when bored that are a danger to themselves or others i am going to break it all down for you today five ways that your cat is telling you that they're so [Music] bored right so first as always i'm going to make some disclaimers because anytime we try to be totally universal about what cats will or won't do the things that i'm about to run down are things that jump into your mind because your cat doesn't always do them and that's why it sticks out in your head and you go what is this and then we do all kinds of weird interpretations of what that must mean and the last thing we ever think about is boredom that oftentimes some of these behaviors so to speak are indicative of something physical going on with your cat so again if it's something that really stands out to you and just sets your spidey sense going go to the vet first don't just sit there with your spidey sense go to the vet clear it off the table here oh and speaking of clearing off the table let's get to it number one now there is a name for this kind of cat and i'm not gonna do it because i don't believe in types of cats like oh cat's from hell look i'm just gonna call it because other people have said it cat it's terrible i don't even like it coming out of my mouth but at least it gives people a jumping off point as to what this cat will do when they're bored which is they'll be destructive they'll just do that thing that you have definitely seen before which is your cat just seeing if this thing that's on the mantel will fall and then when it does oh that was cool what else is there going up in places that they have no business you know as you're sitting there watching the cat go on a shelf you didn't even know they had access to and there's you know aunt edna's ashes in the urine you know that kind of thing and and you see these things as annoying right whether it's knocking things off shredding things if they had a slingshot you'd be in real trouble right that is our first sign that your cat is bored your cat being hyper destructive and curiously watching things break that's the number one way that your cat shows you that he or she is bored the number two way that your cats will show that they're bored is if you've got other cats or dogs or sometimes kids in the house they're all game but picking on other cats specifically cornering them in litter boxes uh just jumping on their backs just seeing what happens if they can turn a cat who they usually get along with into a squeaky toy running and screaming around the house and getting some kind of satisfaction around that that's boredom if you really just turn your perception around you can see things like attacking other cats as an outlet for some sort of excitement this is a cat who's never made a play for territory before they're not the kind of napoleon cat who just wants to scare everybody into submission waiting for them waiting for them jumping on them looking at them in the litter box and as they're doing it they're doing that little butt wiggle thing that you see them do when they're hunting something aha that's the behavior right there i'm not doing this because i hate you i'm doing this because it's fun to hunt you it's fun to hunt you it's fun to stalk you it's fun to jump on you and see what kind of reaction i can get and oftentimes that reaction if you're that cat is fun and definitely not boring so that's number two the number three way dude that was scary the number three way that your cat shows you that they're bored is attention seeking various ways of just trying to get you to pay attention one of those ways is just meowing their head off just staring at you and meowing and and you're just sitting there going wait a minute i'm what do you want what is it that you want you ate you can't be hungry you it's hard for us sometimes to believe that a cat is going to literally sit in front of you and go meow meow meow meow translation i'm bored i'm bored i'm bored i'm bored i'm bored i'm restless another way of doing it that uh i i i know a lot of people have seen is cats chewing on your hair that was them at two months old and it's them now so be it but suddenly you see things like chewing on your hair and you're like what could this possibly be what about the cat that just if you're reading the paper they have to sit in the newspaper if you're working and you're on your computer and all of a sudden plop on the keyboard in between you and the monitor and these days how many cat butts have i seen on zoom meetings too many to count if you need a clear sign that your cat is saying i'm bored the one where you're kind of just laying there kind of zoning out and all of a sudden you feel pulling at your face letting you know it is just this close to a toddler pulling on your jeans or on your skirt or whatever it's that close you know and then there's the flirt and the flirt it's that sort of being in front of you and just rolling on their back assuming 17 different positions in 30 seconds just sort of how do you like this one you like it when i do this what about if i do the sea otter can i look really cute these are things that your cats have done in the past or as kittens to attention seek let's not forget for a second that meowing is a sound that cats make to attract humans to get humans to do something check out this video right here about the sounds cats make and you'll get a little bit of a grip on that we have in some way or another validated these actions at some point in their life we have reinforced it to some degree and now your cat's just pulling every trick out of the bag that they possibly can to get you to realize that they are bored and when it comes to attention seeking there is the king of all attention seeking behaviors and that would be our number four way that your cat shows you their board which is play aggression okay so play aggression is one of those really misunderstood things again can't count how many times one of you guys writes in in all capital letters jackson help my cat attacked me for the first time ever jackson help my cat is attacking my ankles every single day ankles okay so there we go just imagine your little bush dweller underneath the dining room table and every time you come by that dining room table i heard you know just grabbing onto your ankles or biting your ankles or or going for your toes or whatever that is and if you're another cat or a dog or a child you're gonna get it as well why is that that's not an attack you guys that is play aggression that is i've got nothing else to play with so i'm gonna hunt you in the same way that we were talking about how your cat will hunt the other cats in the home they're gonna hunt you as well remember for a cat prey equals play this is how we do it this is how we do it it's not just running around and doing backflips that's part of play for sure but hunting is everything so when they see your ankles walking by that table you might as well be a squirrel you might as well be a mouse you might as well be a vole you might as well be a little something on the ground walking and it's their cue to do the butt wiggle and attack play aggression is the most misunderstood thing that possibly i would say in the top three of the most misunderstood things about cats oh that's another video okay and now we are at the number five way that your cat shows you that they're bored and again this is this is one that i'll track back to possibly being something physical that's going on with them something that your vet might need to see but it can also be at least partially attributed to boredom and these are the overs right number one over is over grooming and that is just sitting there and getting to sort of this echo chamber of groom and i'm going and i'm going and i'm going i'm going i'm going and i'm going and it's not just boredom this is where boredom sort of crisscrosses with anxiety boredom can give way to anxiety can give way to irritability can give way to these sort of almost ocd type behaviors and over grooming is one of them so if you start to see your cat grooming themselves bald now again that can be stress that can be allergies that can be food intolerances that could be something else that is stressing them but it can also be boredom so it's something to look for overeating is another one of those overs suddenly your cat is just snarfing their food and even more so snarfing and barfing that they're just eating so fast and so much that they just get so full that they throw up that they're eating all the time they're putting on weight again could be a sign of something else but boredom should be a main suspect in all cases when your cat's just doing something that they've kind of never done before again it's just something to look at the general framework of how your cat's expressing themselves if your cat is not known to be that sort of overture i mean maybe sometimes but now you're seeing them go into full gear it's boredom stress one of the above and and like i said i'll say it again it could always be a sign of discomfort i have seen cats act out this way when they had an abscessed tooth so just think about that for a second you know maybe one of those guys who just says go to the vet go to the vet but that's what i do so i'm telling you that's maybe what you should do as well [Music] and yes you know what i'm going to talk about i'm going to talk about playing with your cat play with your cat play with your cat make it a daily thing watch this video right here i'm not gonna go through the whole thing with you guys it's about like i said before pray equals play well let's lead that game cats actually really do respond to the emotional availability of the humans in their lives so play catification nothing like a cat super highway to get your cat going and of course then you merge that with play and you're leading them all over their catified world something like a cat agility obstacle course you have on the floor on the walls everywhere you want them to get into it that's a good way to get into it a couple of offshoots of catification catios i know you know that's on your list i'm going to build a catio for my cat it doesn't have to be a big deal you guys anything that helps to merge the indoors and the outdoors is a big plus for your cats it takes them one step over what i'm going to say next which is cat tv which is bird feeders outside the window or any kind of something outside the window putting beds in the window so that they can look out let their their hunter mind at least get going again it's all part of catification it's all part of books i have written videos i have made so check out all the links down below and you can get really going without much in the way of time or money investment believe it or not and then there's clicker training which is fun can be fun can be a whole lot of fun but it also just occupies the mind and it staves off the boredom demon let me tell you something you guys it is a huge payoff for your cats also what about taking them outside yep we've talked about that as well taking your cats on walks harness training them getting them out in the world if your cat is the kind that wants to go out there and explore the world you're not going to force cats out there but getting them trained into a harness and taking them out in the world let's go adventuring you guys it's something for a cat who is seeking that kind of constant stimulation it stops your boredom as well you're sitting there you've binged everything in sight you have days let's face it man especially during 2020 where you're like oh god routine busters in general is a great thing to look at yeah i'm a big fan of a routine i'm a big fan of cats being able to predict how the days are going to go every day but every now and again you throw them a little play curve ball there you go out of nowhere you just jump up and say it's play time just every now and again just breaking out and some stupid fun you can break out of boredom by doing any of the things that i have mentioned and that's my final sort of parting shot to you guys we're all in the same boat right now we are to some degree or another whether you're working full-time whether you're out of work whether you don't work whether you're just not used to having everybody in the house at the same time we have an opportunity but that opportunity is hiding behind our excuse making jackson i don't have time jackson i'm working too much jackson i've got a lot of zoom meetings i'm going to right now jackson i've got a house full of people i've got to deal with and and and yeah the cats can sort of take care of themselves no guys those are all excuses you're gonna make them that's totally cool but the next time something crashes down from the mantle from the bookshelf please don't go with oh my cat from hell or oh he hates me or any of that stuff that is the embodiment of you had it coming just saying you know let's just make sure we're backing away and remembering that if we don't want this behavior to happen we don't have to have it we can bust the boredom but that takes action we have to bust it ourselves not a electronic toy and not just cat tv or cadification this is about having the equivalent of a child in your house who is just about to start breaking out the crayons on the dining room wall stay into the action let's just remember that like boredom in our cats signals a job on our part as parents and there you have it all right you guys uh that's it for this time hey listen anything you want to see you got to let me know about it and the best way to know about this video or any other video is check out the little bell thingies and the little alert thingies and make sure you hit all the right buttons and stay tuned to all of these social media thingies all these stuff that's floating around right here that's the best way to keep in touch with me during what is a a different time in our lives right you guys right all right until next time we talk all right now loving all mojo to you [Music] meow

Channel: Jackson Galaxy

Views: 753,268

Rating: 4.9386268 out of 5

Keywords: jackson galaxy, cats, cat daddy, my cat from hell, cat whisperer, cat guy, cat guy animal planet, cat expert, cat advice, cat health, cat behavior, cat issues, cat care, cat training, cat psychology, animal planet, jackson galaxy videos

Id: pnF-34dviSI

Length: 15min 38sec (938 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 12 2020