Learning! Why cats knock everything over all the time

Credit: @PhilJamesson and The Oatmeal

Everyone knows cats love to knock things off shelves. It's often cited as evidence of cats general jerk/bully/snobby behaviour, because who goes around knocking things over for no good reason? Evil geniuses who are too small in size to assert any real authority, that's who.

Well, turns out, like most living creatures, cats have a reason for doing what they do and that reason is not to be a jerk.

First of all, this is something lion cubs and other wild cats do in nature to practice hunting. It's kind of just instinctual for them, and since domestic cats have had all their hunting opportunities taken away, you know that pent up hunter energy is going to go somewhere.

Second, they might just want your attention. Not just for fun, but because they need something. When was the last time you fed them? Changed their litter? Maybe this is on you, dear cat owner!

Finally, apparently deaf cats are the most likely to knock things over and break them repeatedly, because they don't get startled by the sound of the breaking dish.

So if you want your cat to stop knocking your stuff over, maybe just keep it well fed and give it other ways to exercise its hunterly nature!

Remember: cats don't actually know that the thing you put in their path is an antique vase from your dead aunt.  It's just the thing you put n their path and they have not been able to chase anything for a very long time.

Source.