This Reddit.com user, Mary, asks whether any other cat owned by the Reddit.com community sits by the glass shower screen when their owner is in the shower as you see in the photo below. And they are asking why this is happening. I think I know the reasons.
3 reasons why this Persian cat always sits by shower cubicle when owner showers. Image: Reddit user: u/Maryy_returns |
There are three:
- The shower and the surrounding bathroom have a strong smell of the person showering who is the human caregiver of the cat waiting outside the shower cubicle. This is because the warm water and steam distributes the body scent around the bathroom. It is the body scent of the person showering which attracts this gorgeous Persian cat to sit and wait. It's an attractant to him or her. Domestic cats are very involved with scents and smells. They connect with a person through their scent, and they identify a person by their scent.
- Another reason is that their owner (believed to me Mary) has gone behind a glass screen and therefore becomes inaccessible. It is almost as if the person has decided to leave their cat. It's as if from the cat's perspective that they have placed a barrier between themselves and their cat. This is slightly disturbing, and her is trying to figure out why it's happening. And he will wait until that barrier is removed which happens when Mary steps out of the shower cubicle.
- The third reason is an obvious one namely that this cat wants to be with their owner wherever they are within the home. They probably have a very close relationship and while Mary is at home, they are together a lot. She might be away during the day and therefore her cat has a particular desire to be with her when they are at home. This is a great motivator and a background reason which when added to the above results in this Persian cat sitting patiently outside the shower cubicle.
I guess it is 90% common sense. The fact that cats are so switched on to body scent is also another reason why when their owner goes to the toilet in the bathroom their cat might routinely or might occasionally join them at least briefly and then perhaps wait outside.
They are attracted to the odours from the bathroom. That sounds a bit rude but for the cat, it isn't. It's a world in which scent plays an important role which is demonstrated in these ways.
Some domestic cats go even further. For example, the wildcat hybrid cats such as the F1 Savannah sometimes like to go into the shower cubicle with their owner. They don't mind the water and it puts them in direct contact with their owner which they enjoy.