Why do cats get sudden bursts of crazy energy and run recklessly?

[scott_alexsk]

RCM or Rapid Cat Movement. Has anyone with a cat seen this besides me? He, my cat, seems seized at random times to get very excited and run around, recklessly.
-scott

 

[Ouabache]

Yes I've observed that too.. They seem to be discharging energy. It would not be a stretch to say (in the wild state) they needed to have these quick bursts, in order to catch their prey (food). Perhaps the behavior you're seeing is an inherited carryover from their hunting habits.

 

[Danger]

With the exception of one that was 10 years old when I bought him, I've never had a cat that didn't do that.

 

[hypatia]

Yes if they don't do this, they will explode.

 

[scott_alexsk]

I think it is more linked to the old lifestyle of cats rapidly expending energy to catch prey. Everytime he gets in this state, he chases after people. Usually he runs very rapidly behind a chair or something, waiting there for a short time while moving his tail very fast. He then proceeds to move to another spot like under the rug, still pretending that we cannot see him. Its hilarious.
-scott

 

[Evo]

My cat will run head first into a bag with just her tail sticking out so she thinks she's "invisible". It's a riot.

 

[Astronuc]

Both our cats do it periodically, and the male particularly. They also playfully stalk each other.

Our male sometimes dashes through the house, up the stairs, into our bedroom and onto our bed. His pupils are usually dilated, like -
http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/Shrek_2_Cat-eyes_L-01.jpg

Then he flips around or leaps and rolls, and occasionally he catches his tail out of the corner of his eye and turns to go after it. Of course, his tail moves so he'll pounce on nothing and then look around, or he'll do a rapid 180-360° turn.

Last week he did a dash into the kitchen and set himself up to lauch himself up to the counter. Well, the kitchen floor is laminate (Pergo) and quite slippery for a cats paw, so when he started to take off, his back feet lost traction and he did a back-flip. He ended up sliding upside down across the floor while trying to roll himself right side up.]

Our cats are quite entertaining.

 

[Danger]

You really should have surveillance cameras in your house, Astro. That would be perfect for 'Funniest Home Videos'.
Reminds me of an incident with Snoopy when I was back east. Both of my cats were neutered orange toms, which are highly susceptible to getting build-ups of uric acid crystals in their bladders. Hence, they can't be let outside if it's cold or damp.
Our house had an external door to the basement as well as the inside one, and it was housed in a building extension that was only about 9 feet tall (the stairwell roof was just below the 2nd floor bedroom window). The house was done in those pebbled asphalt shingles, which had a good traction surface.
If something alarmed Snoopy when he was outside, and the porch door was shut, he'd run up the side of the house and jump onto the stairwell roof.
So... one winter we had the shingles replaced with aluminum siding.
The first day that he was let out in the spring, a dog barked somewhere and Snoopy came shooting out of the orchard full-tilt. He made his jump and started scrambling. He actually made it to about 7 1/2 feet up, and then suddenly realized that something wasn't quite right. In that split second when his vertical speed was zero, the most hilarious expression of complete bewilderment came over him. It screwed him up so much that he almost forgot to land on his feet.

 

[Astronuc]

The cat to whom I was referrring is a neutered orange tom named Chester. We have carpet upstairs, and the cats love to dig in and take off. Downstairs is mostly an older wooden flaw, which has a light varnish, but gives good traction. The kitchen is newer and much smoother, and in fact, if one is in socks or cotton stockings, one has to watch one's step.

Chester sometimes gets going on the old floor or on one of the carpets and dashes into the kitchen. But as soon as he's on the new floor, he looses traction and slides. He's spun out a few times. The funniest one's are where he's sliding backward trying to go forward.

Unfortunately, it's all spontaneous so I can't be ready with the video. When he did his back-flip, he had raced into the kitchen ahead of me, and I entered just as he did his flip.

More recently, I think having learned from his back flip, he aborted a take-off and ended up sliding on his behind across the floor (in a sitting position) until he got the rug. The look on his face. Utter incredulity.