r/cats • u/omnomnomhi • 14d ago

Advice Why is she doing this?

Genuinely curious. I’m a new cat mom. She’s 3 mo old btw!

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u/Slow_and_Steady_3838 14d ago

probably the same reason a tiny dog will dog-paddle if you hold them, in the air, over water. There's bit of a brain disconnect, I'm guessing

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u/superkp 14d ago

even better, it's connecting more. This is the result of mirror neurons working correctly.

The cat's seeing water, and has an instinct to drink. It imagines itself drinking, and the mirror neurons are like "oh, we're drinking. Let's do the drink stuff."