WHY DO CATS SIT ON NEWS PAPER?

Hi,

Funny question and one that anyone who has had cats in their house can completely relate to, lol. There are a couple of reasons you will see your cats exhibiting this behavior.

First like some of the other people who answered suggested it can be a plea for attention. Cats sometimes get a bad rap for not being very attached to their owners. In fact some cats become very attached and will behave this way when they feel your attention is elsewhere.

When it comes to the newspaper/book problem it's usually the combination of the noise and smell. The noise of course because as I'm sure you know cats love things that crinkle. So anything that makes this sound will interest them. Also you have the problem of it's smell. Cats depend heavily on their sense of smell when it comes to identifying people, animals, and even things that do and do not belong in their house. Since we are talking about a newspaper and new books this is a foreign smell to your cat. Anytime you bring something from the outside into a cat's territory they are going to make a move to get it smelling like them and the house in general. Which is why you see cats laying their whole body's down over the book/newspaper. This behavior is not just limited to objects I'm sure you've noticed that there are times your come home and the cat rubs all over you too, lol.

Luckily there are things you can do if this really starts to bother you. First try to figure out why it's happening. Usually the best way is to put whatever it is your trying to read somewhere away from you and where the cat can reach. If the cat goes after the newspaper then it's a smell or play thing. If the cat follows you it's an attention issue. If it's scent related sometimes just letting your cat rub on for a little bit is all it will take. It will smell like the rest of the house and the cat will quickly move on to something else more interesting. If it wants to play try crinkling up a scrap piece of paper and throw it for the cat. Believe it or not many cats LOVE to play fetch so don't be surprised if the cat brings it back to you to throw again, ;).

However if the cat follows you then it probably wants your attention. Here are some tricks to try to lessen the behavior:

-When the cat does try to jump up onto whatever your reading try firmly (but don't yell) saying"no", then gently pick it up and place it to your side or on your lap (or where ever you can that still lets the cat be close to you).

-Then pet the cat, tell it what a good boy/girl it is, etc. Basically you just want to show the cat that when it doesn't sit on what your doing it gets rewarded. Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool when trying to change behavior in animals.

-Finally don't underestimate the power of bribery, lol! If the cat jumps up and then jumps off after you tell it to- reward it with a treat. I would suggest for the first week or so giving the treat every time. Then as time goes on and the cats learns you can give it a treat every other time or every fourth time, etc. Don't worry about him forgetting the lesson as long as you give him positive reinforcement EVERY time, the treat doesn't always need to follow. By giving the cat a treat randomly it'll keep the cat on it's toes and it will continue the correct behavior because it MAY get a treat. It's sort of like what make the lottery so addictive, lol.

When it comes specifically to computers it can be a warmth issue and simply placing the cat on your lap maybe enough.

I hope some of this helps.

Have a great day!

Because you are paying attention to something else (not them).Cats often sit on papers because they like to have attention. Some cats think that if their owner is using it, it must be nice for them. Sometimes they want to be near their owner or are trying to get warm. Cats are a very attention loving animals and love to be with their owner.

Cats want to know why you are giving your attention to something that isn't them. My cat used to sit on my shoulder while i was on the pc, watching the screen wondering what the hell is so interesting that i've been glued to it for the past however many hours.

One day she'd had enough and went and sat right in front of the screen staring at it, as if to say 'I can do that too, boring aren't I?'.

My cats have always been fascinated with whatever I am doing. They are such egocentric creatures that I suspect they can't understand why you are looking at some bit of old paper when you have got gorgeous them to admire. Even while I'm typing my current 'sitting tenant' is determinedly wafting across my keyboard to try and make me stop and attend to him rather than working on my PC

Cats will sit on anything you are trying to do at the time. Last night, one of my cats decided she wanted to sit on my keyboard while I was typing. Don't try knitting around a cat. When I try reading a book, both my cats have tried to sit on my chest making it impossible to see around them to read. I gave up jigsaw puzzles cause one of them would jump right in the middle of the puzzle and it would take me days to find all the missing pieces. I think they just decide that you have ignored them long enough and just HAVE to get your attention.

LOL. My cat does this all the time, I kid you not. Now, I am sitting on the couch, typing this answer and she is looking to jump onto the keyboard. Whenever I am doing homework, or reading a book, or Im messing around on my phone, she looks to jump into my lap or on top of it, lol :)

LOL.... that's a good one. My 2 cats do that too. The other one is, they will sleep on anything they can find that has my smell on it. I have to store my bed pillows up on the shelf in the closet during the day ( I am allergic to cat hair), to keep them from laying on them. ( yes, they will go under the bedspread to lay on them)

Real question.

When I looked at this question, why did my cat run off my lap and onto the back of my chair?

Answer.

Cats can detect stupidity.

I have heard a couple of theories - you decide...

1. wet paws

2. cats have a third eye located (guess where) and like to read the sports section or cartoons.

Because of the smell of the paper. Know one knows why because of the smell but way hope I helped. :D