Do Cats Have a Sense of Humor?

[SoDesuKa]

All right, so cats don't laugh. Horses laugh, and monkeys laugh, and dogs just join in the fun. But I think it's species-centric to say cats don't have a sense of humor. They have one, but it's not the same as ours.

Cats will walk along the top of a fance simply because it amuses them. My cat Otis likes to sit in the bathroom sink just as a goof. He gives me this triumphant little smirk as if to say, "See? I just fit."

We think of a sense of humor as a higher order intellectual function, and we conclude that cats, being dumb animals, don't do things simply because they're funny. That's like saying British people have no sense of humor because they don't get our jokes.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Cats don't laugh out loud; their sense of humor tends towards the droll

and sarcastic. I sometimes suspect they are snickering at me behind their paws, especially when they do stuff like leap out and grab my ankle in the dark. "Silly, fat, clumsy human; you can't see me but I can see you. Heeheeheehee..."

[skygazer]

2. What's all this "we" stuff?

I certainly feel that cats have a sense of humor (of course, I love British humor too so what does that make me?).

My sister had a cat who had one eye just about knocked out of her head somehow - the vet managed to put it back in but it was glazed and had goo runnying out of it all the time. It was kind of gross and we had a friend who just got totally wierded out by it.

So naturally when this guy came over, the cat would sit right in front of him and just stare.

Tell me she didn't have a sense of humor. :rofl:

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. I'd say they have a sense of whimsy

which we, as silly humans, might interpret as humor.

[trof]

4. It's a dry humor. Sometimes black. Often ironic.

[SoyCat]

5. I really do think cats have a sense of humor. An example: A cat I had years ago

would play as though she was pouncing on the "animal" under the sheet (actually my arm) but she would only do it for a minute. Then she would give me a naughty expression and tackle my arm and bite the heck out of me. She knew all along that the "animal" was actually my hand that was attached to my arm but she played along to make ME laugh.

[ThomCat]

6. Oh hell yes, my cats have definite senses of humor.

I don't get the jokes. But they certainly seem to enjoy them.

[Blue-Jay]

7. I had one that used to puke in my shoe on occasion.

If that's not a sense of humor, I don't know what is.

[China_cat]

8. You'd know that they do if you could see the feral

that hangs out in my back yard. She'll lay about 6 inches from the fence when the neighbor's Rottweiler is out and just look at him as he goes nuts trying to get at her. She'll yawn or look over her shoulder as if to say 'silly dog'. When he's all lathered and has strings of drool hanging from his jowls, she'll get up and stretch in his direction and then slowly saunter off, tail twitching, to have a drink of water or a few nibbles from the food bowl.

[VOX]

9. Sure they do! Cats skid and peel out on the kitchen floor; they dive right onto the bed...

while you're trying to make it up; they go charging hell-bent out of the litter box after using it; they tap you on the head when you're trying to read in the overstuffed chair; they sit right in front of the computer monitor (knowing damn well what they're doing); if you sweet-talk a cat just right, he/she will tuck his/her head under and to the side, do a half somersault, plop down and roll on his/her back for you; and so on.

Their humor is manifest mostly in their sense of play, but yes, cats most emphatically do possess a sense of humor. :)

[MysticalChicken]

14. I LOVE it when my cat peels out on the kitchen floor.

I can almost hear the sound effects. SCREEEE! Skitta-skitta-skitta-skitta! So funny.

[Rosco T.]

10. Sometimes I think my furr is channeling John Cleese.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. kitty will give me this look when i used to come home late from a night out

i swear it says "hmph..now what have you been upto..." i think she has a dry/sarcastic sense of humor.

[Sanity Claws]

12. One of my cats laughed at a joke

Okay, it wasn't a laugh but he looked amused.
I was frantic looking around the house for him and calling his name. All the time he was lying on the sofa; he was kind of buff colored and blended into the neutral-colored sofa. When I finally saw him, I called him "camouflage kitty." He seemed to like that.

Cats do understand language, you know. It's much more than tone of voice. Have I got stories for you!

[RoyGBiv]

33. My departed Petey would do that ...

The reason I know he was amused by what was taking place is that he *always* came to me when I called his name. He could be buried somewhere, fast asleep, but when I called him, within moments he'd come running. It never failed. He's the only cat I've ever had who would respond to his name that completely.

Anyway, one day I was walking through the apartment and realized Petey wasn't sleeping in his bed, where he normally was when not near me somewhere. So, I called him, waited a few seconds, and heard nothing. I called again, this time a bit louder. Still nothing. I began a frantic search, looking under the bed, in closets, cabinets, and even the washer and dryer and fridge. Nothing. I got more frantic, thinking I'd let him outside and had locked him out. I wandered the apartment complex, calling for him, and nothing.

I went back to the apartment, and when I walked into my bedroom, I saw him. He was sitting snugly in a laundry hamper I'd allowed to become a bit too full, and thus made a perfectly warm and hidden bed. He was very alert, watching me, and I'm certain he'd been watching the whole time, laughing in whatever way cats laugh at the silly, unobservant human.

I asked him, "Petey, where I have you been?" He got up, stretched, meowed at me as normal, and leaped out to my feet, waiting to be picked up and petted.

[astral]

13. My cat certainly has one!

He's approximately 13 years old now (he adopted me when he was approximately 7 years old, according to the vet's investigation of his teeth). When I open the door to let him in (or when he pushes it open to come back in, as I usually leave it ajar while he's out) he'll make a mad dash past me feet across the livingroom and to the top of the couch (his throne / bed) and then look at me like, "whew! I made it!" He'll throw himself on the floor in front of me and roll back and forth just because when he's cute he gets picked up and snuggled.

Once in awhile he'll just have to run from one end of the apartment to the other, a couple of times, and dash for his throne at the top of the couch. And of course, there's the occasional surprise 'love bite,' where he'll bit my wrist when I go to pet him but just BARELY, very cute!

Isn't playing like a kitten a kind of sense of humor? Like chasing a fuzzy ball across the floor, wrestling with a catnip toy, turning into a wild growling claw-infested attack cat at the drop of a dime just because he wants to play-wrestle with someone or something (I don't have TOO many claw-marks on my arms!)

I think my cat is just too damned happy for his own good . . . . and I think he spends most of his waking hours laughing.

[zanne]

16. I'm glad he's too damned happy.

And congratulations for adopting a cat who was seven years old.

[zanne]

15. Underwear thief.

I have to be extra careful to keep my underwear drawer closed tight. If it's open just enough to slip a paw through, my little Bobtail cat will sneak one arm in there and pull out undies one by one. Most of them, she'll drop on the floor, but she always carries one around with her.

One time, my husband's aunt came down from Canada to make the rounds. I'd never met her and I was anxious to make a good impression. We were sitting at the kitchen table having tea when she heard my cat meowing in the bedroom. (We had quarantined her because she's socially awkward). She opened the door and my cat came out with a pair of frilly panties in her mouth. The cat's tail was actually wagging. The aunt was not amused. Later, I found the panties in her cuddle bed.

[MissMillie]

18. My cat keeps us all safe from the menace we all know as....

socks

Having no vermin to hunt in the house, she rounds up the socks (dirty and clean, singletons and pairs) and leaves them on my bed as tribute.

[ceile]

20. My cat did that too!

Except it was my roommate's bra-just one particular bra. She'd paw open the drawer (never figured out exactly how she did that) and then run around the house with the bra in her mouth. She was just a kitten when she started doing this and my roomie eventually just gave up trying to retreive it. It was her toy for a couple of years before it was in shreds and was just manky.

[Roon]

22. Your cat has arms?!?

:wow:

[zanne]

25. Of course she has arms, silly.

The front legs are arms. Your cat doesn't explain things to you, does he?

[Roon]

27. LOL

so cute!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. Cats have arms.

When they are walking on them they are front legs, but when they use them as arms, they are arms. And a bit of cat arm trivia: Did you know that cats can do a thing that dogs and most other four-legged mammals can't do -- they can pronate their arms, that is, turn them over (paw pads up). That's one reason why they are so good at doing mischievous stuff with their paws.

[Roon]

29. Awww, I didn't know that

cute!

[SoDesuKa]

35. Pronation

I'm pro-nation too. Depends on the nation. Canada's all right. So is Libya. I'm not so thrilled with the outcome of the election in Australia.

[Brewman_Jax]

17. Absolutely

the cat at my parents' house jumps in my freeper dad's lap, will eat the stale dry food mom puts outside (I'll eat on the veranda, thank you.) to name a few.

[radfringe]

19. you tell me...

This happened last night...

Our youngest cat - Calypso (Caly) was up on the bed.

my partner was filing her nails. She set the nail file on the bed - Caly picked it up and ran out of the room with it.

My partner went running after the cat and nail file. Caly dropped the nail file and ran back into the bedroom. Up onto the bed, Caly picked up my partner's lighter and went scooting out the door just as my partner was returning...

"CALY HAS YOUR LIGHTER!!!" I yelled.. My partner chases Caly down, retreives the lighter.

Caly beats her back into the bedroom, hops up on the nightstand and takes off with a pen.

"now she has your pen."

[jrandom421]

21. Most certainly they do!

My big Maine Coon kitty discovered the joys of static electricity at a young age. He found, that by rolling around and dragging himself along the carpet, that he could build up a substatial charge and that it was fun to zap us with his nose at a most inopportune moment, like dozing off in the recliner. He'd scamper away, waving his tail, and smirking for the rest of the day.

The old man cat, also a Maine Coon, was our alarm clock kitty. He discovered a method of opening doors, climbing onto my chest, and letting out a screeching, wailing, caterwauling MMMMEEEOOOWWWW! ten seconds before the clock radio would switch on. And he'd also wave his tail and smirk for the rest of the day.


Cats do have a sense of humor, but it seems like it's mostly at the humans' expense!

[Jokerman]

23. My cat played a practical joke on me once.

My girlfriend and I were in my bedroom doing what consenting adults do behind closed doors when we heard a strange sound coming from the living room. My roommate had a "Joker Ball" which was a little round plastic ball with two metal contacts on the outside. When your finger touched the contacts it played an electronically recorded laugh.

I immediately recognized the sound but the mystery was who was setting it off. My roommate was out of town so I knew it wasn't him. Then we heard the laugh again and again with the sound getting louder each time. My girlfriend was convinced that someone was in the apartment and was starting to freak out. It sounded as though they were moving slowly down the hallway toward my room making this thing laugh every few steps.

Finally the sound was just outside the door. I jumped out of bed an opened the door ready to take on whoever was doing this. To my surprise the only thing I found was my cat, batting the Joker Ball back and forth. He had figured out that each time his paw touched the side it made the sound and he was obviously very pleased with himself.

[zanne]

34. That's adorable. nt

[Dangerously Amused]

24. "All right, so cats don't laugh."

Rosemary finds your premise hilarious.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. Mandu used to select my most peaceful morning paper moment

to jump up on my lap, bat it, and run away in a flash. It was so amusing to watch me jump and listen to my shriek.
He was such a brat! I really miss him...

[havocmom]

30. Some cats plan jokes exceedingly well. Others plan their revenge

Our big, beautiful marmalade cat, Havoc, was getting annoyed at his elderly cat pal napping most of the time. She was tiny, very old, gray & tan like camo. He brought in a gecko. Held the reptile gently in his mouth for some time, then placed it on the floor next to the sleeping gray cat. The gecko just froze.

Then, Havoc, a very big cat, lifted a mighty paw menacingly over the gecko. I was stunned as he had never hurt a flea. He brought that big foot down right next to the gecko. The reptile dove under what he thought was a nearby rock.

The old cat's eyes popped open and nearly out of her head. She jumped straight up and landed a couple feet away. The gecko, having served his purpose, was retrieved and taken back out to the garden.

Cats have humor.

The revenge:

Havoc was a handsome lad and he loved his quiet, adoring reflection in the framed door mirror I leaned against a wall. The old, sleepy cat just wasn't much company anymore, so the handsome reflection was a good friend.

One day, after some time lounging by the mirror, the big cat got up to visit the cat box. The old cat sprang into action, opening one eye to check that he was indeed out of the room. She raced across the room and got behind the mirror, tucking well in and holding very still.

My marmalade lad struts back in, gives a big yawn, looks at his reflection then settles down by his image to catch some zzzz's. Just as his eyes shut, the little old cat behind the mirror let out a mighty cat roar.

Revenge, served up by a master. Funny and poetic.

Cats are very sophisticated.

[Generic Brad]

31. My cat is a wit

Last weekend she insisted on getting fed an extra meal about 30 minutes after she was fed. I said aloud to her, "The answer is no. What part of 'no' don't you understand? The 'N' or the 'O'?" Without hesitation she replied "N".

At least it sounded like "N" to my anthropomorphic ears.

[RoyGBiv]

32. Oh, definitely ...

One of my cats when I was younger had a running battle with my grandmother's poodle (vicious little creature). The dog would always bark and snap at Pepper, my cat, whenever she came anywhere near the dog, so Pepper tended to stay away from the dog as much as possible.

Little did I know she was also during this time plotting revenge.

One day I was sitting in the living room, and I heard a ruckus in the dining room. I went in there to see what was about, thinking the dog may just have caught Pepper, and the war was truly on. But, no. Pepper was there, and so was the dog, but Pepper had found a perch just high enough that the dog could jump and get at her. She sat there, precariously on the edge, and dangled her tail down over the side. When the dog would jump and snap at it, Pepper would lift it just so, and the dog would miss. Rinse, repeat. I watched this going on for a good ten minutes before the dog's shrill yapping started driving me insane, and I ran her out of the dining room.

After that, Pepper curled up and went to sleep, tail wrapped around her.

And I swear she had a slight grin on her face.