You're working at the computer and suddenly, “aaqurfsoaovmdvbfbfir”. The cat has settled back down on the keyboard and its paws crushed on the keys are speaking for it in an impossible language.
There's no place in the house where you can find a good refuge, you say to yourself, what's wrong with the computer, why does it have this mania for interrupting you? Let's hope your feline friend will let you read this without looking up from the screen, because we have the answer to so many mysteries.
Cat behavior is full of curiosities that don't seem to make sense to the human mind. However, research has proven time and again that these curiosities always make more sense than they seem to. Cats don't do things by chance, and if they do, they know they're doing them by chance. Their penchant for computers is more than just a plot to get your attention.
While it's true that no large-scale (and probably very impractical) scientific study has yet looked into this, feline behavior experts have a key theory to explain what a cat like this does in such a place.
The smell, the smell…
We're sorry to report that, at least, what seems clear is that this is not imitative behavior: your cat doesn't see you writing and wants to join the party. According to animal psychology expert David Sands, cats don't easily imitate typing. Try placing an old computer near him and you'll see that he won't be very interested.
So it's the heat of the machine that's to blame? Apparently not. “Yes, laptops give off heat, and warm spaces attract cats. But you have to ask yourself why your cat doesn't sit next to a radiator, for example,” suggests Sands in Science Focus.
What your cat really likes about your laptop is its smell – not the smell of the machine itself, but the smell you regularly deposit on it. “You can't smell it, but a cat can smell your scent all over the keyboard”.
It's also likely that your cat wants to deposit its own scent on yours, out of a sense of ownership and territoriality, which it's perfectly aware of.
It's nothing new that cats are scent machines, beyond the fame of dogs. Their world revolves around smell, and their survival depends on it: their eyesight is developed for night hunting, a time when, for obvious reasons, they must rely on a sense other than sight… And there you have it.
It's not the only possible reason, but your cat is also more likely to want to deposit its own scent on yours. A question of ownership and territoriality, of course. “People always think that cats rubbing up against you or objects you touch are expressing love. In reality, they expect the opposite”.
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