If your cat sits on your lap while you’re in the bathroom, you might be annoyed or confused, but it’s a part of their love language. It’s the only place they can get your undivided attention and snuggle up in all your distinctive body odors while you’re not occupied with everyday life.
Cats might sit on your lap in the bathroom because:
- They know you can’t get up
- They want more attention from you and the bathroom is a convenient place to cuddle
- Your scent is comforting to your cat, and they can find it in the bathroom
- They want to mark you as “theirs”
- Your cat wants to ensure you aren’t attracting predators with your poop
Over the years, cats have gained the reputation of being independent and unaffectionate animals that treat their owners like peasants. The cat is the king of the house, and we’re there just to please, feed, and pet them. They couldn’t care less about what we do with our lives in the meantime.
However, experienced cat owners know that’s not always true. Cats can be the sweetest and clingiest sweethearts ever. They follow you everywhere around the house to demand your attention, and by everywhere, I mean literally everywhere, including the bathroom.
Cats’ strange obsession with accompanying us to the bathroom has always been difficult to prove by scientists and animal behaviorists. A given behavior doesn’t always mean what we think it means, but this one can be especially confusing to figure out.
After all, cats are supposed to be private creatures that value their alone time. So, why don’t they value ours in return?
1. They Know You Can’t Leave
The truth is, we’re just so busy focusing on our everyday lives that we barely notice our little feline friends always on our tails wherever we go. No pun intended. They are trying their hardest to tag along to all our activities, but the toilet is the only place where we have no choice but to let them.
So, the bathroom isn’t such a special place for them; it’s just the only place where they have the chance to join their favorite human. That’s why even the cats who aren’t usually that cuddly are willing to jump in your lap while you’re trying to do your business.
The clinginess makes the biggest impression on us when it’s in the bathroom because there are way fewer things to distract us there. We’re way more helpless, and it’s way more difficult to get rid of the cat in your lap when you can’t exactly stand up at any point and leave.
Most likely, your cat has also learned that you can’t.
In general, cats feel safe and securely protected when snuggling in someone’s lap. Being the typical opportunists that they are, cats will want to find the warmest spot in the house and exploit it for their own benefit.
They kill two birds with one stone – relaxing somewhere way better than their bed, but also being in the presence of their favorite human and having their undivided attention.
2. Cats Want Your Undivided Attention
We’re constantly busy, distracted, on the way to the next thing to get done, engaged with a computer, phone, book, TV, cooking, cleaning, getting ready to go out, and so on. There’s no time left at the end of the day to give to your pet, and even if there is, you’re tired from all your other worries.
However, when your body needs to go to the toilet, it just needs to go. So, don’t judge your cat for wanting to spend some quality time. If they are looking for it while you’re trapped on the toilet seat, then it might be possible they’re not receiving enough attention throughout the rest of the day.
One of the most crucial parts of taking care of any domestic animal is to help them exercise energy, and that’s especially true for attention-demanding pets such as cats.
They Might Need More Attention Throughout the Day
If you see them snuggling in your lap while you’re more or less trapped in the bathroom, that might be a sign they’re frustrated in other parts of the house when they’re looking for someone to play with and no one responds to their calls.
That short period of time in the bathroom is when the cat has the upper hand, which makes them feel better. Finally, they can manage the encounter instead of the other way around.
Abigail of AskMyCats shares that, from the cat’s perspective, you can’t flee quickly, so they can approach or stay out of reach whenever they please. The best part is that we, as helpless as we are sitting on there, can’t do anything about it.
And, besides that, it’s a big compliment. Your cat wants to be the closest they could get to you in order to take in all of your personal aromas.
3. Cats Can Smell Our Unique Body Odors
Cats’ sense of smell is way more developed than humans’, so our pets are bigger experts at identifying and distinguishing between people’s individual odors. The odors they’re the most familiar and comfortable with are the ones of their owners.
They associate them with feeling safe, protected, and taken care of. In the bathroom, this smell is the strongest, for obvious reasons – more flesh is exposed. It may sound a little strange, but it makes sense.
To them, it’s not seen as anything gross or unsanitary. It’s simply your unique smells, and the bathroom is where they’re the most prevalent.
They also love to mix in their own smells with those of others as a sign of affection and care. That means wanting to sit in your lap is part of their love language.
In addition to that, it’s also their way of marking territory. You are their territory, and they want to make sure everybody knows that you’re taken.
4. Cats Are Territorial Animals
In your vulnerable state, your lap is the perfect place and time for your cat to come and reclaim its territory over and over again.
All the bath soaps and shower products we use take our odors away and make them less recognizable. They diminish over time.
So, the next time you go sit on the toilet seat, it’s time for your little feline friend to re-establish dominance and ownership over you. It’s instinctive, even if the cat is domesticated. It sends the message to all the other cats around in case they try their luck – this human doesn’t belong to anyone else.
It’s an important part of their lifestyle. That’s why sometimes they really go out of their way to annoy us by constantly meowing, jumping on the door, and begging to come in.
This territorial nature created the famous cat curiosity – the one we’ve heard so much about. The minute you close yourself in the small bathroom and shut the door behind you, you’re limiting your cat from reaching part of their territory, and their curiosity is officially sparked.
5. They Are Worried About Predators
If you are in their territory, your cat has the right to know everything you’re doing behind closed doors so that they make sure you’re not attracting any predators, according to Dr. Marty Becker of Vet Street.
Why do you think housecats always want to bury their feces? For the same exact reason – so the smell doesn’t catch the attention of predators. It’s a defense mechanism for survival.
They might want to make sure that you’re doing the same. The only way for them to know is, of course, to check for themselves.
Whenever your cat is eliminating in their litter box, you are obliged to give them privacy and a quiet environment so that they feel safe and calm. Please, respect all their wishes and don’t make eye contact while they’re doing it.
They’ll meet you later in the toilet, though.
Writer: Georgi Petkov
