Let me start by saying I love my cat, I would never give her up or punish her for this behavior but I would really like to know WHY she does it.
I try and always be careful not to assign human motives or emotions to cats, as I know they are not people and have different reasons for things...but Khaleesi (the cat in question) does something that can only be described as "trolling" (to use an internet phrase). Sometimes, usually a few times a week, when I get up to go do something Khaleesi will quickly run over and jump into the armchair I just vacated. It is a comfy chair, but it is one in a set of identical chairs right next to each other and the other one is vacant and she often sleeps in it. So it isn't like she just loves "my chair". Anyways, the seat stealing is the least of the issues. The biggest problem is her behavior when in the chair. She becomes really aggressive, if I try and touch her she will swat and attack me. She has even hissed and lunged towards me. If I even look at her when she is in my chair her tail starts to swish in a very irritated manner.
Let me make it clear that Khaleesi knows she can "escape me" if she is overwhelmed. Early on I established with her a special box that I keep out that is off limits to me, she knows if she goes in that box I will stop whatever I am doing and leave her alone in it. Believe me, she utilizes it whenever she has had enough of me so her chair behavior does not seem to be one in which she feels threatened or cornered by me as she would just run away to the box if she did. It really seems like she is doing this completely on purpose, almost like she is bored and stealing my chair amuses her.
I enclose a video of the behavior, just in case I am not interpreting her angry, aggressive seeming body language correctly. This is almost exactly what happens everytime, only difference being sometimes she is even MORE aggressive and angry with me. Also, those are serious swats with claws out. If she didn't have them clipped she would have drawn a lot of blood.
I try and always be careful not to assign human motives or emotions to cats, as I know they are not people and have different reasons for things...but Khaleesi (the cat in question) does something that can only be described as "trolling" (to use an internet phrase). Sometimes, usually a few times a week, when I get up to go do something Khaleesi will quickly run over and jump into the armchair I just vacated. It is a comfy chair, but it is one in a set of identical chairs right next to each other and the other one is vacant and she often sleeps in it. So it isn't like she just loves "my chair". Anyways, the seat stealing is the least of the issues. The biggest problem is her behavior when in the chair. She becomes really aggressive, if I try and touch her she will swat and attack me. She has even hissed and lunged towards me. If I even look at her when she is in my chair her tail starts to swish in a very irritated manner.
Let me make it clear that Khaleesi knows she can "escape me" if she is overwhelmed. Early on I established with her a special box that I keep out that is off limits to me, she knows if she goes in that box I will stop whatever I am doing and leave her alone in it. Believe me, she utilizes it whenever she has had enough of me so her chair behavior does not seem to be one in which she feels threatened or cornered by me as she would just run away to the box if she did. It really seems like she is doing this completely on purpose, almost like she is bored and stealing my chair amuses her.
I enclose a video of the behavior, just in case I am not interpreting her angry, aggressive seeming body language correctly. This is almost exactly what happens everytime, only difference being sometimes she is even MORE aggressive and angry with me. Also, those are serious swats with claws out. If she didn't have them clipped she would have drawn a lot of blood.
Last edited: