If you have a cat, you've probably noticed that they spend most of their day napping. That's why it's called a "cat nap" after all! But did you know that cats are lazier than other animals? Read on to find out why!
Contrafreeloading
In 1963, an animal psychology specialist conducted an experiment on rats. His results showed that between free food and food obtained through effort, rodents favored obtaining their food through effort. This behavior, which is referred to as contrafreeloading, was observed in several other species. Some of these included pigeons, bears, chimpanzees, cows, and pigs.
Mikel Delgado, co-author of the Animal Behavior Society Virtual Conference study, explained that "boredom in a captive environment" or the desire to have "a sense of control over the environment" are some of the factors that give rise to these results.

Are cats contrafreeloaders?
The same experiment was then conducted on eighteen domestic cats. These cats were given the choice between a food puzzle or a food tray. As you'd expect, the cats hardly ever used the puzzle and usually ate the free food available first.
Cats were the only animals to choose the free food. Who could blame them?
Source : Futura Planète
Maggie A