How to Tell If Your Domestic Cat is Still Wild at Heart

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There are many reasons that people love cats so much. Part of that reason, though, is the fact that they are wild animals. No matter how hard you try to train a cat or teach a cat to be appropriate and normal, that animal has no interest in what you have to say. These animals are much more interested in what you have to feed them or give them to play with. They’re wild animals that cannot be domesticated. Sure, they can get on well in your home, and they can behave in social gatherings, but they’re not always as ‘homey’ as people might want them to be. In fact, they are more likely to go crazy on you than many dogs, and that’s because they’re wild animals that have this overwhelming desire to be out in the wild.

Have you noticed that your cat likes to be up high? Or that he or she likes to sit by doors and windows and watch as the world goes by? There is a reason for this, and that reason is that cats like to be in charge. They like to know what’s going on, and they dream of being outside. The dog might come to the door and whine for a bit until it is let out, but the cat will do everything in its power to sneak right out of the house and enter the wild like it’s where he belongs. There’s nothing at all wrong with that by any means, but it’s just a good example of the fact that cats are still wild animals and they have the desire to be outdoors. It’s just one sign that your cat might be domestic, but is actually still wild at heart.

Read on to find out a few of the other signs that your domesticated animal is actually still wild at heart.

Hunting or Stalking

Cats love to hunt and stalk, even if they are provided with a buffet of fresh food on a daily basis (and please do not provide them with this much food on a daily basis; you’ll just make them fat and unhealthy and that is not what they need). You might not have other animals in the house, but you might notice that your cat goes a little bit nuts running from window to window and door to door to see other animals outside the window. You’ll see them get low, put their ears back and begin to stalk or hunt their ‘prey’ outside the window. This is very common when they see birds, squirrels and other small animals that they might attempt to hunt if they were allowed outside on a regular basis. Our old cat did this all the time when he saw lizards running by on our back deck. It made him insane and desperate to get to them.

Territorial urine marking

This is pretty gross, but it’s a reality for many people. Cats, like dogs, love to urinate on things to ‘mark their territory’ and it’s not okay. You might think, as many people do, that your cat is urinating on your curtains, bed or furniture throughout the house because there is an issue with the litter box. It’s been said that litter boxes that aren’t clean enough or that are too full make your cat not want to enter them, so they will use the bathroom wherever they can. This is not always the case. Cats are not social animals by nature, so what they like to do is mark their territory in a way that does not leave them socializing with one another. This might mean urinating on their stuff to let another cat know that this is where they live, and this is their stuff, so stay away.

Snooty Behavior

If your cat is very snooty about his or her food, there is a good reason for that. If you notice that your cat refuses to drink day old water even if it is clean and still looking good, it’s because he’s a food snob and that is from his days in the wild. Did you know that cats have a certain type of sixth sense that helps them understand and recognize the signs, smells and other factors that could tell whether or not a food or watering location is filled with bacteria in the wild? Cats know that they cannot eat or drink just anything because if it has been there for a long time, chances are good that it might not be healthy. They are smart enough to recognize that it’s a potential sign of death.

He sits up high

Cats that perch up high are still a bit wild at heart. Why? Because this is something that wild cats do to keep them above the fray. They are smart animals that know that they have predators lurking around them at all times, and they need to have the edge. That edge is the ability to perch above the crowd so that they can see what might be coming for them. It’s also a good way for them to see what is around them that might make a nice meal or snack for them. It’s their way of seeing the world and assessing situations.

Pheromone Marking

Cats have these glands on various parts of their bodies that release a pheromone that they use to mark their comfortable territory. They have these glands on their heads, their bottoms and other body parts. What this means is that they might use their glands to mark you and to make sure you know that they love you. Of course, they are not actually trying to show you that they love you so much as they are trying to release their scent onto you so that they recognize you as someone that they are comfortable with and that belongs to them. That’s what your cat is doing. It’s a wild animal thing that they do in the wild to mark safe and familiar territory.

Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images

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