Aug 26, 2026 · 25 min · 8 segments
Most cat guardians know their cat loves to hunt—but few realize *why*. In this episode of **Cat Talk Radio**, Molly DeVoss explores the fascinating brain chemistry behind feline behavior and explains…
If I asked you what it is that your cat was designed to do, you would probably answer, "Hunt," and you'd be absolutely right.
Hopefully you're not free-feeding dry food, but let's say your cat just finished a big, scrumptious, wonderful, meaty meal, but they'll still spend 20 minutes chasing a bottle cap across your kitchen floor, and that's because hunting isn't just about food.
In fact, it's kind of only just a, a part of it, 'cause it's really about fulfilling one of the most deeply wired behavioral systems in that feline brain.
Nature didn't create cats to eat just once or twice a day, like we do, right? They've evolved as solitary hunters, catching many small prey throughout the day and night.
And sometimes not catching anything at all, right? Their, all of their attempts aren't successful.
And when they are, they might only get a mouse or a small bird, just enough for a snack.
And there's other podcasts on, about how to feed your cat, and dives in much deeper into, um, how many meals they eat a day, and so on and so forth.
But what all this means is that their brains evolved to repeat that hunting sequence over and over again every day, day and night.
And every successful sequence rewards their brain with beneficial neurochemicals.
M- maybe it's a bug or maybe it's just a feather toy, or a crumpled receipt blowing across the floor, right? It doesn't, it doesn't matter whether we're talking live prey or something else.
But what's happening in the brain? The primary chemical here at this stage is dopamine.
Now, dopamine gets called the feelgood chemical all the time, but that's really actually oversimplification, because dopamine isn't really about pleasure.
If I asked you what it is that your cat was designed to do, you would probably answer, "Hunt," and you'd be absolutely right.
Hopefully you're not free-feeding dry food, but let's say your cat just finished a big, scrumptious, wonderful, meaty meal, but they'll still spend 20 minutes chasing a bottle cap across your kitchen floor, and that's because hunting isn't just about food.
In fact, it's kind of only just a, a part of it, 'cause it's really about fulfilling one of the most deeply wired behavioral systems in that feline brain.
Nature didn't create cats to eat just once or twice a day, like we do, right? They've evolved as solitary hunters, catching many small prey throughout the day and night.
And sometimes not catching anything at all, right? Their, all of their attempts aren't successful.
And when they are, they might only get a mouse or a small bird, just enough for a snack.
And there's other podcasts on, about how to feed your cat, and dives in much deeper into, um, how many meals they eat a day, and so on and so forth.
But what all this means is that their brains evolved to repeat that hunting sequence over and over again every day, day and night.
And every successful sequence rewards their brain with beneficial neurochemicals.
M- maybe it's a bug or maybe it's just a feather toy, or a crumpled receipt blowing across the floor, right? It doesn't, it doesn't matter whether we're talking live prey or something else.
But what's happening in the brain? The primary chemical here at this stage is dopamine.
Now, dopamine gets called the feelgood chemical all the time, but that's really actually oversimplification, because dopamine isn't really about pleasure.
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