• Cats are the most popular pets in America, but some domesticated felines have a hard time adjusting to the great indoors. Yowling, pacing and ripping up the furniture might seem like symptoms of kitty hysteria, but Wild Chronicles reveals that these cats aren’t crazy—they're just misunderstood.

    1. Domestic cats have the same instincts as big cats in the wild. What instinctual behaviors can domestic cats not usually practice?

      Show Answer

      Domestic cats cannot usually act on what Steve, the pet expert, calls "the prey drive"—stalking and hunting.

    2. Animal behavior experts say most "crazy cats" are just bored. What do they recommend to pet owners?

      Show Answer

      Animal behavior experts recommend that cat owners give their pets plenty to do—toys, games, and hidden food. This gives the cats an "outlet for their wild nature."

  • Images

    Interactives

    Websites

  • Term Part of Speech Definition Encyclopedic Entry
    domestic animal Noun

    animal that has been tamed for work or to be a pet.
    domesticate Verb

    to tame or adapt for human use.
    pet Noun

    animal kept as a helper or companion.
Credits

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Producer

Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society

Page Producer

Tom Kist

Last Updated

Oct. 7, 2015

User Permissions

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact natgeocreative@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please visit our FAQ page.

Media

Some media assets (videos, photos, audio recordings and PDFs) can be downloaded and used outside the National Geographic website according to the Terms of Service. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the lower right hand corner (download) of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.