Concerned owner takes their cat who's been limping for 3 days to the vet, only for the cat to suddenly be meowgically better and for the vet to tell them that the cat fakes injury for attention: 'When we got home he immediately started limping again'

Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor

Aug 15, 2026 11:00 AM EDT

Cats will get what they want, no matter what they have to do for it.

All cat owners find this out in one way or another - cats are way smarter than people give them credit for. People who don't own cats only know them from the internet. They know them from funny and cute cat videos online. They know them from the silly cat memes online that constantly go viral. They don't know cats on a day-to-day basis. They don't know the chaos that they bring. And we're not talking about cats knocking something off the table every once in a while. We're talking about cats showing just how smart they are in the most ridiculous ways.

You think that the cat in today's story, who was faking a limp to get treats, is the only one who does it? Not even close. Every house cat will have something like this that they do. My cat? She has found out that the best way to get me off the couch and toward her food bowl was by smacking the empty bowl against the ground over and over. My fault. I know it's my fault. Because the first time she did that, I remembered it had been a while since I gave her food, and I jumped off the couch so fast, I was nearly dizzy. And that is it. That's all it took. That one single time, one reaction, one mistake, and it was game over. Now, she does this multiple times a day, and the noise is so bothersome that I really do get up and give her what she wants. All cats are like this. Don't underestimate them. Don't be surprised by it. Cats outsmart their humans every single day. It is a good thing that we love them as much as we do.

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via @ok6ixx
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via @ok6ixx
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via @ok6ixx
The beautiful thing about this story, and the one thing that you are going to learn the hard way… again… is that you have been trained. The cat knows limping equals treats now. It's going to keep doing this until the end of time.
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via Unsplash / Bari Spears

Picture of a cute calico cat walking on grass and raising its front paw.
_{Model portrayal.}
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via @Crampedsultana
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via @fightInjustic_e
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via @humanbeastie
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via @UAPIntel
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via @SimonBernard1st
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via @SimonBernard1st
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via @SimonBernard1st
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via @SimonBernard1st
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via @SimonBernard1st
Of course so many people have similar stories to share. Sigh. We love cats so much. Life would be so boring without them.
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via @NanoTigger
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via Unsplash / Andy Luo

Image of a cute cat walking and raising its front paw.
_{Licensed media provided as editorial context.}
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via @DHevicon
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via @Figrin75
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via @n7_nanc
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via @Baconpwn
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via Unsplash / C - thecurlyone

Photo of a very fluffy calico cat raising its front paw.
_{Photo is a representation of scenes.}
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via @Emma_h_mua
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via @LuccaLudovica