Cat owners know all too well that their kitties have some peculiar bathroom habits.
Specifically, when your kitty takes a poop and then goes bonkers.
We’re sure some of you have seen your cat bolt out of the litter box like a bat out of hell. Just why do they do it?
There are a number of interesting theories…
Some say after post-poop freak outs, or zoomies, is simply a carryover survival instinct. Basically, your cat is running quickly from the smelly poo so that a predator can’t trace just who dropped it.
One veterinarian claims it might be a sign of discomfort stemming from food allergies or an infection.
Many others believe that the litter box might provide your kitty some fresh energy high, and they try to burn it off the best way they know how, running like an absolute nut case!
It may also be your cats trying to shake off some poo particles from their fur just so you can find them spread throughout your house later. Or, perhaps the poo just smells so bad that they just want to get the heck out of there.
“In humans, the vagus nerve, which descends from the brainstem to the colon and is stimulated during defecation, can cause all kinds of reactions, even feelings of exhilaration, according to gastroenterologist Dr. Anish Sheth, who is the author of “What’s Your Poo Telling You.”
A similar phenomenon could possibly be occurring in cats and could explain why cats seem elated and happy, running around and scratching their scratching posts with pure joy, Erin Willis, who is an animal physiologist at Oklahoma State University, told The Dodo.
“Dr. Sheth calls the pleasurable sensation with defecation ‘poo-phoria.’ Good name for humans I guess, but the term ‘poop crazies’ is much better for cats, in my opinion, since they essentially run around like crazy cats afterwards,” Willis states, adding that there is, to date, very little research on the matter.
Whatever the reasons truly are, just keep cleaning out litter boxes, humans.
