As a cat owner you’re probably familiar with their strange behaviors, but their love for your keyboard may be one of the strangest. While there are no concrete answers for why cats are drawn to your keyboard—aside from sending “interesting” messages to your coworkers—the following are some of the theories:
Your scent. You spend a lot of typing on the keys. Even though you don’t notice your scent, your cat does! They may be attracted to your keyboard because they’re drawn to you. After all, with over 200 million scent receptors, smell is the primary way cats identify people and objects.
Their scent. As noted, cats are all about smell, and they may be marking your keyboard with their scent to let other cats and animals know that they own the keyboard… and you.
Attention. Some cats meow for attention while others will invade your space, plunking themselves on your lap or in this case, your keyboard. And if you give them attention by playing a game or petting them, they’ll learn that sitting on your keyboard gets them what they want.
Stalking. Your cat watches you settle in at your desk, become quiet, focus intently on your screen and type away. All of these actions may trigger a hunting instinct in your cat. They may be watching and waiting for prey to appear, and your typing may represent the stimulus to chase. Your cat might also just think you’re playing and wants to join in the fun.
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Recent research suggests that cats imitate human behavior. Maybe your cat really is a trying to type a message!? 🤔
Want to keep your cat off the keyboard?
While lying on the keyboard won’t do your cat any harm, it can be annoying! To stop this behavior, try doing the following:
1. Clean your keyboard regularly.
2. Use positive reinforcement to bond with your cat before you sit down at the computer.
3. Provide environmental enrichment to keep your cat entertained when you must concentrate on the screen.
4. Create an area for your cat to relax that’s more appealing than your keyboard, such as a cat tree where they can perch.
If your cat’s keyboard surfing is occurring with other new behaviors like vocalizing and following you around your home, it could be a sign of anxiety and attention seeking. Make an appointment with your veterinarian to rule out a medical condition.
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