Why does my cat stare at me? | Dr. Justine Lee

Posted by justinelee in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health, Pet Help

We love cats, and in the United States, 1 out of every 3 homes has a cat, with other 74-96 million cats owned. But when it comes down to it, we really know that It’s a Cat’s World… You Just Live In It, right? While we’d like to think that we’ve domesticated cats, they likely domesticated us.

While we think we’ve domesticated cats, we haven’t been able to take the predatorial drive out of our feline friends. If you’ve ever noticed an outdoor cat, they are able to stalk and hunt incredibly well (which is one of the reasons why I like to keep them indoors – so they don’t kill too many songbirds!). If your cat is indoors, you may notice your cat stalking a spider, insect, or cat toy also.

So when your cat stares at you, what is it doing?

Likely checking you out and stalking you. While we don’t want to anthropomorphize what’s really going on in your cat’s head while he stares at you, I often feel it’s due to their predatorial nature.

Chalk this up with their curious nature, and our cats are staring as they are literally checking you out. Personally, I believe they are trying to mind control us into feeding them (I’m staring at you so you feel guilty and feed me more). Don’t fall for it – give them some entertainment and environment enrichment instead, and let them take out their predatorial stare on a Buster Cube or Roll-a-Treat ball instead.

Rarely, medical causes can cause the staring appearance. Several of the leading causes of death in cats include chronic medical problems such as kidney failure, heart disease, and untreated hyperthyroidism. If untreated, severe hypertension (e.g., high blood pressure) can result. Normal systolic blood pressure for a cat should be approximately 120 mm Hg (similar to humans); if it climbs over 180-200 mm Hg, ocular injury can occur. With high blood pressure, the retina (the “film” of the back of the eye that causes the appearance of “red eye” can detach (called a retinal detachment), causing a dilated pupil. This can result in dilated pupils and may look like your cat is starring. So, if you notice constantly dilated pupils and staring, get to a veterinarian for a blood pressure check.

Otherwise, chalk it up to your cat’s predatorial drive and attempt to guilt you into something…

As previously published on www.PetHealthNetwork.com.

Photo by anaa yoo // cc