# Crazy Cats. Do they actually trip? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849 "2004-05-06T16:35:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RainGrowsBrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RainGrowsBrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RainGrowsBrite)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/1 "2004-05-06T16:35:09Z")
For some reason there seem to be quite a few Cat threads as of late. I thought I would add to it… I heard from a few friends that cats hallucinate 70% of the time. I mean, I see cats freaking out and doing crazy things where hallucinations would be a excellent explanation. However, it seems a little far fetched. What do you think? Are our precious Kitty Cats actually on a permanent mushroom trip? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/2 "2004-05-06T16:46:41Z")
The long and the short of it is _ **NO** _ they are not hallucinating. Our cat’s stare blatently at a blank wall. Makes my wife think they are looking at spirits. Just the other day I awoke at 4 in the morning to our eldest Siamese on my bedside table staring directly at me. I stood up and went to the bathroom and Minmei kept staring at the pillow as if there was something still there i.e. me. I then swayed my hand hand in front if his face and he kept staring…go figure! ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/3 "2004-05-06T23:32:14Z")
Well, what’s a hallucination, and what’s not? That sounds like some sort of hippie 60’s pop psychology, but modern cognitive science backs it up. “Normal” perception is an arbitrary thing; we filter out the majority of what our senses encounter, and selectively notice and observe only about 5 - 10% of our surroundings. Who says that cat just doens’t have a different idea of what’s worth paying attention to? I once caught my cat staring intently at the ceiling over our bed. I thought he was spaced out, completely. (Hey, I spent lotsa time doing that in college.) But then I looked closer, and discovered a tiny, tiny beetle crawling on our ceiling. It couldn’t have been any bigger than a period at the end of a sentance on your newspaper. But he saw it, and it attracted and captured his attention. The OP Title reminds me of a song that goes something like: _Crazy cat peeking through a lace bandana Like a one-eyed Cheshire Like a diamond-eyed Jack._ ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/4 "2004-05-07T00:03:10Z")
Once, a few months ago, one of my cats was in the middle of the hallway outside my bedroom mewing his head off. I went to see what the trouble was and he was sitting on the carpet staring at the ceiling and meowing nonstop. I couldn’t see anything at all. He kept it up and I stared up at the ceiling while walking around him in a circle. Finally I spotted what he saw-it was a cobweb being blown about by the air currents from the furnace. I never would have noticed it on my own. I think that cats are attracted by things we think of as background and so ignore a lot of the time. Or that they like messing with us. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Low\_Key\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@Low\_Key\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Low_Key_1)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/5 "2004-05-07T12:17:07Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > The OP Title reminds me of a song that goes something like: > Crazy cat peeking through a lace bandana > Like a one-eyed Cheshire > Like a diamond-eyed Jack. You beat me to it. It’s from \*China Cat Sunflower \* by the \*\*Grateful Dead. \*\* Great Song. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/6 "2004-05-07T12:51:50Z")
As I have explained before, it is not spirits, but interior decorating: “You painted the kitchen _beige?_ Good gad man, the appliances are arctic white!” Or, in your case: > [@Phlosphr](#): > > Minmei kept staring at the pillow “You bought these at K-Mart from that woman who’s going to prison, didn’t you?” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay5396](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@jayjay5396](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay5396)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/7 "2012-12-19T03:45:26Z")
hi ive got a kitten doing strange things right now thats what made me look this up. my kitten has gone from quite to crazy shes looking at things as if they are moving i cant see what shes looking at but i know shes got her eye on something. shes jumping around the room even trying to catch things thats not even there. if i think about cats eyes and LSD eyes they very similar cats might have visuals i dunno for sure but it seems that way. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/8 "2012-12-19T04:22:18Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > Once, a few months ago, one of my cats was in the middle of the hallway outside my bedroom mewing his head off. I went to see what the trouble was […] Finally I spotted what he saw-it was a cobweb being blown about by the air currents from the furnace. I never would have noticed it on my own. I think that cats are attracted by things we think of as background and so ignore a lot of the time. It’s been said, only half jokingly, that [all cats have Asperger’s](http://books.google.com/books/about/All_Cats_Have_Asperger_Syndrome.html?id=3mZ0AAAACAAJ). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/9 "2012-12-19T04:41:58Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > The long and the short of it is _ **NO** _ they are not hallucinating. Our cat’s stare blatently at a blank wall. Makes my wife think they are looking at spirits. Just the other day I awoke at 4 in the morning to our eldest Siamese on my bedside table staring directly at me. I stood up and went to the bathroom and Minmei kept staring at the pillow as if there was something still there i.e. me. > > I then swayed my hand hand in front if his face and he kept staring…go figure! Quite possibly he was asleep; cats can sleep with their eyes open. They can even lie in wait for prey and sleep at the same time; they can apparently turn their “pounce” reflexes on automatic and go to sleep eyes open in front of something like a mousehole. > [@jayjay5396](#): > > hi ive got a kitten doing strange things right now thats what made me look this up. > > my kitten has gone from quite to crazy shes looking at things as if they are moving i cant see what shes looking at but i know shes got her eye on something. > > shes jumping around the room even trying to catch things thats not even there. She could be chasing things you can’t see, like dust motes or tiny insects. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/10 "2012-12-19T05:19:40Z")
Humans are so judgmental. We are gifted with the understanding our own perceptions are limited to some relatively weak senses, and yet we dare to accuse those who can sense what the rest cannot of ‘hallucinating.’ Face it, we keep animals around precisely _because_ they compensate for our own blindness. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/11 "2012-12-19T09:29:50Z")
I am convinced that my cats have vivid imaginations and fantasy lives, but really, as others have said above, cats are capable of perceiving very concrete things that humans just don’t notice. A cat staring at nothing may really be listening to the rustle of a mouse on the other side of the wall, or smelling a trace amount of urine the creature let behind. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/12 "2012-12-19T09:54:51Z")
Or sometimes they might just have nothing better to do. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/13 "2012-12-19T10:07:43Z")
They’re actually looking at _ **zombies!!!** _ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/14 "2012-12-19T11:59:58Z")
Eh. Cat Mysteries are eternal. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/15 "2012-12-19T13:06:04Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Humans are so judgmental. We are gifted with the understanding our own perceptions are limited to some relatively weak senses, and yet we dare to accuse those who can sense what the rest cannot of ‘hallucinating.’ Face it, we keep animals around precisely _because_ they compensate for our own blindness. We have much to learn from them. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/16 "2012-12-19T15:13:50Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > We have much to learn from them. I was raised by cats. _That’s_ why nobody gets my sense of humor. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/17 "2012-12-19T16:15:40Z")
Cats have amazing hearing. What smell is to dogs, hearing is to cats. When they’re staring at the wall it’s probably because they can hear a rat or a giant colony of spiders crawling around inside of it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/18 "2012-12-19T16:42:35Z")
Of course cats trip. Mine tries to trip me all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/19 "2012-12-19T16:49:13Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > \ I think that cats are attracted by things we think of as background and so ignore a lot of the time. > > Or that they like messing with us. 🙂 Why the “or?” 🙂 > [@Terraplane](#): > > Cats have amazing hearing. What smell is to dogs, hearing is to cats. When they’re staring at the wall it’s probably because they can hear a rat or a giant colony of spiders crawling around inside of it. Well, _that’s_ reassuring! Cats can see so much that we can’t - their frame refresh rate for vision is much higher than humans, plus as has been noted, their hearing and sense of smell is so much better than ours. If we could look out through their heads, we might feel like we were hallucinating, too. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849/20 "2012-12-19T17:58:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Why the “or?” 🙂 > > Well, _that’s_ reassuring! > > Cats can see so much that we can’t - their \*\*frame refresh rate for vision \*\*is much higher than humans… 'Splain what I bolded, please? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-cats-do-they-actually-trip/243849.md?page=2)