Every so often, someone will ask why cats seem to toy with their food. Why not, after all, simply pounce for a quick kill? Applied animal behaviorist Dr. Karen London supplies an answer:
….A study done decades ago investigated the playful behavior that cats often exhibit with their prey. The scientist Maxeen Biben presented cats with different sizes of prey. The small prey were mice and the large prey were rats. Some cats were hungry, others were very hungry, and some cats had recently eaten. Biben found that when cats were given a rat, they were more likely to play with it if they were very hungry than if they had just eaten or were only a little hungry. She suggested that cats have to be very hungry to attempt to kill large prey such as a rat, and that they must perform these playful behaviors in order to be able to make the kill safely….
The cat kills the way it does, in an ostensibly slow and hesitant way, simply because it’s the method most advantageous for the cat.
From the rat’s point of view, if there were one, the cat’s method would seem awkward, and in moments in which the rodent managed a bit of distance, almost ineffectual. And yet, those moments of apparent escape are temporary only, and part of a larger and useful feline strategy.
Cats don’t toy with their prey from malice; they behave the way they do because it’s an effective method. They take a while because it’s worthwhile to do so.
That’s why cats seemingly play with their prey.