"If you’re on your laptop engrossed in your work, the likelihood is you’re ignoring your feline friend. Therefore, jumping on your laptop and getting in between you and the screen is the best way for your cat to get your attention," PDSA Vet Claire explained to Bored Panda.
"What many owners don’t realize is that they are unwittingly reinforcing this behavior by stroking or cuddling their pets when they do this. Therefore cats quickly learn that sitting or sleeping on a laptop gets them what they want—attention from their owners."
The vet noted that there are some logical reasons why cats sleep on laptops, even though it might seem silly to us humans because it seems like such an uncomfortable spot.
"Firstly, cats enjoy heat and therefore are drawn to the warmth that laptops generate, they also like the fact they can smell their owner’s scent on the keyboard. But cats are territorial, so they’ll often sleep on the computer to transfer their own scent onto it," she noted.
Meanwhile, Bored Panda wanted to learn more about how curious and adventurous animals generally are when it comes to exploring their surroundings. We were curious whether this varies from species to species and individual to individual.
"Every animal is unique and individual; you can have two Jack Russell Terriers with completely different personalities regardless of the fact they are the same breed, and this is the same with cats, rabbits, small animals such as hamsters, and even fish," the PDSA representative said.
"It’s therefore important to understand that some pets will be less keen to investigate new objects or people in the home and should be allowed to go at their own pace. Make sure your pets have a safe area to retreat to if they are feeling unsure and don’t make them do anything they don’t want to do," she said. "You may find your pet becomes less curious as they get older and this is natural, however, if you notice a drastic or rapid change in your pet’s personality it is always best to speak to your vet."
The ‘Animals Where They Shouldn't Be’ page has made quite an impact on Instagram. 194k people follow the account. Meanwhile, the memes it showcases consistently get tens of thousands of likes on the social media page.
Internet users love looking at animals. They also love good humor. Add the two together, throw in a dash of weirdness and meme formats, and you’ve got yourself the recipe for success online.
It makes a lot of sense that our pets and wildlife end up in weird places where we think they ‘shouldn’t be.’ They might be exploring their surroundings or looking for food.
They might be migrating. Or they might simply be moving around what they consider to be ‘their’ territory.
It’s only us, the people looking at these images, who might see it as bizarre that a wild animal is roaming around civilization. The animals themselves might have very different understandings of where they ‘should’ and ‘should not’ go.
They might consider things like the availability of food and other resources, as well as weigh the potential risks of going somewhere while avoiding other areas entirely.
Meanwhile, when it comes to our pets, it becomes slightly easier to distinguish between Places Where Animals Are Allowed To Be and Places Where They Definitely Shouldn’t Be. But it really depends on each household.
For instance, some dog owners might forbid their pets from jumping on the couch or getting into bed with them. Others, however, might love to snuggle up with their pooch.
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So the definition of what a ‘wrong place’ might be actually changes from person to person. And that makes the entire experience of looking at these memes something deeply personal. Someone might see a cat sitting on their laptop as a daily occurrence.
Others might find it strange because their catto spends all of its time sitting in an empty cardboard box (while totally ignoring the nifty and expensive cat bed nearby).
The sad reality is that, as the human population continues to grow and urban zones expand, we automatically cut into the land where wildlife lives.
It essentially means that these animals have less of their natural habitat available to them, meaning that they’re either forced to retreat deeper in-land, or to wander into ‘civilized’ and industrialized zones.
