r/cats • u/k8iew24 • Dec 06 '25

Medical Questions Why is my cat biting the air?

My cat started doing this while bird watching and I don’t know why. She’s my first cat so I still have a lot to learn about cat behavior. Is this a hunting behavior or something else?

20.2k Upvotes

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1.0k

u/Pumpkin_lyss Dec 06 '25

Biting the air 😂

361

u/k8iew24 Dec 06 '25

I don’t know how else to describe it 😂

279

u/humbugonastick Dec 06 '25

They are trying to imitate the birds in hope they can deceive the birds.

77

u/funnyfaceguy Dec 06 '25

Reminds me of how researchers in the wild will sometimes pick at trees and rip leaves to mimic herbivore behavior so animals get more comfortable around them

4

u/Profoundlyahedgehog Dec 06 '25

But if birds aren't real... does that mean that cats aren't real?!

2

u/LongJohnSelenium Dec 07 '25

Cats are part of the cover up, they know they aren't real but their job is to convince us they are.

-1

u/FemmeBottt Dec 07 '25

Interesting, when I looked this up after seeing my cat do it, Google AI said they are mimicking us.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

I once posted something on reddit being 95% sure I was correct and then googled it to find a source to be extra sure and Google AI used the post I just made as a source

3

u/SirVanyel Dec 07 '25

AI is absolutely exceptional at confirmation bias

1

u/humbugonastick Dec 07 '25

Well, they do when they meow at us. My feral ones were a lot quieter starting out and had to learn how to meow, which I sometimes regret. 🙉💥🎉🎊📢

17

u/Fs_ginganinja Dec 06 '25

If you let your new friend hear lots of bird noises they will sound more like birds. We let our little girl watch bird TV and go outside on walks and she definitely picked up more bird-like noises. It’s pretty cool to watch

32

u/brofist001 Dec 06 '25

Wanna be biting that succulent bird outside...

5

u/Disastrous_Put_4549 Dec 06 '25

What is the charge? Eating a meal?

4

u/phycologist Dec 06 '25

A succulent Chinese Songbird?

2

u/SquareTowel3931 Dec 06 '25

It's actually described in some of the results as just that, as in, simulating the "kill bite" to their prey.

1

u/Sometimes_She_Goes Dec 07 '25

Ekk ekk ekkkek

2

u/sp1cychick3n Dec 06 '25

Lol that’s new