Cats that bring you gifts: Why do cats hunt?

In the latest video in the Simon’s Cat Logic series, creator Simon Tofield and Cats Protection’s Behaviour Manager Nicky Trevorrow have teamed up to talk about Simon’s Cat’s behaviour in the video ‘Nut Again’ and explain hunting behaviour.

Simon describes once watching his cat Teddy running down the garden after a squirrel. “I’ve never seen him run quicker – I thought ‘What’s he going for now?’ and going even faster than Teddy was a squirrel,” he says. “Seeing Teddy running after this squirrel – it made it up the tree – and Teddy went up the tree after him, I thought, I’ve got to do an idea of a cat chasing a squirrel and what can happen.”

“Cats are perfectly adapted to hunting,” says Nicky. “They have excellent eyesight so they can see in low light levels, they have really good hearing for hearing tiny little squeaks of their prey species, they’re very fast and agile and they have an excellent sense of balance.”

A cat’s hunting drive is separate to the hunger drive, so cats will hunt even if they’ve just been fed. Interactive play, with toys like a fishing rod toy, will simulate this behaviour and release feel-good hormones.

If you want to learn more about your cat’s behaviour and why they act the way they do, visit our online behaviour hub.

Is your cat a hunter? Let us know on Twitter @catsprotection and use the hashtag #SimonsCatLogic.