Cats Who Were Caught In the Act

Eric Lund

Feb 5, 2022 6:00 PM EST

On general principle, cats have no respect for you or your things and they'll knock your full mug of coffee off the counter just to see what will happen. They'll sit on your laptop because it's warm and they'll throw up in your shoes because it's convenient. That doesn't mean they're inherently awful creatures. It's just part of owning one. Most cat owners are pretty certain that cats can feel genuine affection, while dog lovers typically argue that they're devoid of any conscience or feeling, just a bunch of furry little Patrick Batemans scurrying around your house, looking for the next thing to ruin.

The reality is probably something closer to "cats do have a sense of right and wrong, but at the same time they still don't really care." That doesn't make any of your houseplants or favorite mugs safer from being tipped onto the floor and utterly destroyed, but it's at least an explanation. It makes sense that there'd be a lot of evidence of cats and their crimes. Hey, they want food even when they have it. This point is driven home by the fact that cats probably talk like disparaged Victorian children.