There are many ways to keep away the blistering heat of summer. Some people (like me) eat copious amounts of delicious chocolate ice cream. Others try to drink plenty of water, fan themselves, and stay in the shade. But sometimes it gets so hot that all we want to do is to jump into a refrigerator for a bit until we stop melting. As it turns out, human beings aren’t the only ones who want to do this.
Meet Tali the silly cat who loves staying in the fridge. That’s right. In the fridge. Yes, I know, it’s bizarre, but it’s also very… cool. Every time Tali’s owner Christine opens the fridge, the feline jumps right in. One time, Christine accidentally shut the cat inside. But worry not! This wasn't the case of 'curiosity killed the cat' coming true. After Christine couldn’t find her adorable cat, she quickly realized what she must have done. That's when she found Tali chillin’ inside the fridge, as happy as can be. Read on and enjoy Bored Panda's interview with Tali's owner!
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However, that’s not the only weird behavior this particular adorable cat exhibits. Tali, the fridge cat, also has an unusual love of water. According to Christine, she was showering one time when her funny cat jumped in alongside her and splashed around. One time wasn’t enough, however, so Tali kept jumping in and out. She’s an extraordinary cat but in a wonderful way.
Tali’s owner Christine told Bored Panda more about the feline: “Tali is a 4-year-old barn cat, and we don’t know her entire breed, but we do know she’s half Maine Coon. She’s always been a water cat and absolutely loves sitting in the running shower and lounging in dripping sinks, but the fridge was a short-lived funny story.”
“I think she simply jumped in for the same reasons most cats would — to get into a place they’re not supposed to be,” explained the owner. “She’s now a huge and fluffy cat and couldn’t fit in the fridge very easily, but she really hasn’t tried in years. She’s content lounging in sinks these days, demanding we turn on the faucet for her!”
I racked my brain and came up with a few alternate theories (apart from the heat) that could explain Tali’s behavior. She might like enclosed spaces. She might think she’s playing a game with her owner. Or she may have realized the fridge is where all the food is, so it’s only logical to stay there. As it turns out, there are plenty of other cats besides Tali who love sitting in fridges. So it’s less of a peculiar cat behavior and more of a catspiracy.
One woman writing on Quora suggested that it’s curiosity that makes cats explore fridges. “I think the refrigerator is just a very tempting place to be explored because of its depth, compartments, drawers, shelves, things on the shelves and mysterious spaces behind the things that are on the shelves,” Kathleen Vilmure guesses. “And if all this were not enough, there are the various tantalizing smells of different foods to be investigated.” Meanwhile, Dorothy Peck thinks that this strange behavior has everything to do with delicious food. Stacie Taylor Cornett, on the other hand, feels that cats like fridges, in the same way, they like cabinets — because they’re “hidey-holes.”
Let me know in the comments below what you think of Tali the fridge cat and whether your pets have done anything similar. Be sure to write down all the theories about cats in fridges. And remember — stay out of the heat, and stay frosty.
Internet users had this to say about Tali the fridge cat
Bored Panda reached out to Imgur user FrozenFoodGuy who posted Tali the fridge cat’s story on the site, and got more than 7,000 upvotes and over 158,700 views! “I think for Tali, it’s a cozy, secluded spot. Cats like to hide. Why this cat chose a fridge as her favorite spot? Possibly because she associates it with a place she normally can’t go, that is forbidden to go to, or where food comes from.”
FrozenFoodGuy also explained why he thought the post about Christine's cat went viral: “Imgur loves cute cats! I think it [the post] also reminds people of another popular repost of a Husky that crawls into the fridge. But being a cat makes it a bit more unexpected.”
The Imgur user also has this to say about pets acting strangely: “I think once you start understanding their behavior, it all makes a lot more sense! Personally, I love seeing the interactions between adult dogs and kittens. They often seem really confused when the kitten acts like a cat and doesn’t want to play. What I also like is how chickens will adopt puppies and kittens. Also, parrots provide an endless source of entertainment!”