It’s normal to be curious about why our cats do certain things. If every time you open your laptop, your cat seems to climb right on top, you might wonder what the lure is. While no extensive studies have been done on the matter, as you can imagine, your curiosity might still be getting the best of you.
After all, it takes a lot of work to do schoolwork or browse on the Internet when your cat is taking up all of your keyboard space. Here we will discuss a few reasons why your cat might pick up this behavior.
The 3 Reasons Why Your Cat Sits on Your Laptop
1. Your Cat Likes the Warmth
Laptops and other forms of technology can get warm. Sometimes cats like the warmth and vibrations that laptops put out. It’s comforting to them. You might notice that they show similar behaviors with other things in the household like air vents or a sunny window.
If your cat is acting very content on top of your laptop, it might be a comforting thing for them. Of course, it isn’t so great for your laptop and it can cause it to overheat. So, even if you don’t mind letting them have 5 minutes of fun, make sure they don’t make a habit of it.
If you want to appeal to their need for cozy warmth, maybe get a heated cat bed to appeal to their senses!
2. Your Cat Wants Attention
Let’s talk about another pretty obvious one. One possibility is that they really just love being next to you. Clearly, they think your laptop gets more attention than they do, so they’re going to weasel their way in between.
Marilyn Krieger is a certified behavior consultant and author who explains that your cat just wants to be the center of attention. And isn’t it working? It’s kind of hard to browse online or do much else with a purring kitty sprawled across your keyboard.
If you give in and pay attention to your cat while they sit on your laptop, it will just tell them that the behavior is okay. Instead, divert their attention. Give them a toy, some catnip, or a treat. Or, you can even pull them away from the laptop and give them scratches elsewhere.
3. Your Cat Enjoys the Height
It might be a height attraction if your laptop sits on a desk or other higher surface. Granted, they might love the warmth and the attention, but you know how some cats just love perching up high.
So, if you want to get creative, you could try to make them a spot near your workspace or close by that appeals to them more.
Conclusion
There’s really no explanation for some of the things that our felines do, even though we can speculate. According to animal behaviorists, it is because of one of these three key points we made in the article. However, not even our kitties can explain why they like certain things sometimes.
If your cat sitting on your laptop is becoming problematic, you can try to divert their attention or keep them out of the room whenever your computer is in use. After all, it would be a shame if the laptop broke or malfunctioned because of it!
Featured Image Credit: Simon Hrozian, Unsplash
