# Why do cats often "do nothing"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472 "2004-11-24T14:51:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/21 "2004-11-24T21:54:25Z")
_laughs_ I knew it! Cats have ADD! …so what happens if you put kitty on Ritalin? ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/22 "2004-11-25T04:12:30Z")
Listening to the termites? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/23 "2004-11-25T05:50:33Z")
Kitties can see through walls. They’re actually watching something several blocks away. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/24 "2004-11-25T07:10:43Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Actually, IIRC, cats don’t have object permanence, Don’t think so. They know their way around very very well. That means they have a mental map of where things are. They know whether or not they have food left in their bowl and will go back for it. That means object permanence. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/25 "2004-11-26T15:11:18Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > _laughs_ I knew it! Cats have ADD! > > …so what happens if you put kitty on Ritalin? Better yet, what if you put kitty on 10 Ritalins? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/26 "2004-11-26T16:39:59Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > They’ve got very small brains. Boredom is beyond their cognitive abilities. 😉 > > Actually, IIRC, cats don’t have object permanence, so it’s hard to imagine how they could be bored. [Freedom from the tyranny of short-term memory](http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/chickweed/archive/chickweed-20041114.html) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/27 "2004-11-26T17:16:25Z")
[Monty Python: Confuse-a-Cat] Your cat needs to be confused. [/Monty Python] ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/28 "2004-11-26T23:20:31Z")
> [@dre2xl](#): > > Anyone who owns a cat probably has seen that they spend inordinate amounts of time appearing to do nothing: e.g., they’ll sit down and stare at a blank wall for hours. What exactly are they doing when they do this? Being bored? Being content? Thinking deep philosophical thoughts? Snoozing? My dogs didn’t do this… when they were awake, they kept themselves occupied, even if it was by watching for squirrels. When you are asleep. they keep watch of their territory(your home) and see to it no one or thing is trying to steal or eat their property(that’s you and all of your stuff). ---
**Author:** ![pyrrthon1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@pyrrthon1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pyrrthon1)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/29 "2004-11-27T00:16:02Z")
> [@](#): > > What exactly are they doing when they do this? Being bored? Being content? Thinking deep philosophical thoughts? Snoozing? They’ re thinking about lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/30 "2004-11-27T00:36:33Z")
Our cat only comes in at night to sleep in the garage so most of the time spent “doing nothing” is spent viewing his territory from a vantage point. Maybe having the freedom to roam helps alleviate the boredom or what ever it is that makes some kitties stare at the wall. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/31 "2004-11-28T16:13:52Z")
You might also ask the age old question, “Why does a dog lick his (insert you own noun, czarcasm’s had a piece of me already this week)?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/32 "2004-11-28T19:25:40Z")
> [@](#): > > You might also ask the age old question, “Why does a dog lick his (insert you own noun, czarcasm’s had a piece of me already this week)?” Because he can. ---
**Author:** ![rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/33 "2004-11-28T19:54:35Z")
actually what people dont know is that cats are secretly the greates mathematicians in the universe. They had to develop this skill while calculating trajectories for leaping on passing birds and the occational human ankle. This simple trajectory calculus resulted in the evolution of a mind capable of calculating pi to 10 000 decimal places without the use of machines. When a cat is “staring at the wall” they are actually calculating the probability curve of every atom in the paint for fun and as the equivalent of mental weightlifting. (with appologies to terry pratchett 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/34 "2004-11-28T20:13:26Z")
One of my cats is either asleep, looking to us for attention, or running around like a maniac, playing with toys and generally getting into trouble. The other cat is either asleep, looking to us for attention or watching for the other cat to try and play with her, something she hates with a burning passion. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/35 "2005-02-12T15:13:15Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > They know whether or not they have food left in their bowl and will go back for it. That means object permanence. My cat doesn’t. He wakes me up between 3 and 5 AM so that I can show him that he has food left. Does the same thing a couple times a day. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/36 "2005-02-12T15:14:38Z")
Which reminds me, \ What’s the deal with my cat refusing to eat his food until you turn the bowl around. He watches you do this; is the thought process, oh! the food’s in a slightly different position than before, it must be fresh! ? ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/37 "2005-02-12T15:29:05Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > I wonder: are cats that have not been neutered more active? Nope. The thing about animals getting lazy when you spay/neuter them is utter crap. What tends to happen is that people get the animal fixed, then a couple months later it outgrows its baby bursts of energy, and the owners say, “See, I told you they’d get lazy if we got 'em fixed!” They didn’t get lazy; they grew up. You don’t expect a 16-year-old human to bounce all the walls like a 5-year-old, would you? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/38 "2005-02-12T16:20:57Z")
Your cat needs to be [confused](http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/confuse.htm). ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472/39 "2005-02-12T16:29:22Z")
They are daydreaming about the good old days when they were worshipped as gods, and plotting to bring those days back. [Brain]We’re going to take over the world[/Brain] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-cats-often-do-nothing/276472.md?page=1)