You’ve seen it happen—these cold, calculating creatures will—almost methodically—knock things like cups and vases off your table, seemingly just for the hell of it. 

And it’s not just an isolated issue.  In a post in Reddit’s Explain It Like I’m Five community, tons of Reddit users lament their cats’ bizarre behavior. 

But why must cats toy with your emotions in such a dramatic way?  Do they savor chaos?  Are they sadists who feed off your displeasure?  Or are they just cats being cats? 

“They do it because they can,” Cornell University emeritus professor of veterinary behavior, Dr. Katherine Houpt, jokingly tells Upvoted. 

The truth is, in many cases, they are trying to get your attention.  Rather than having a devious ulterior motive, your cat might just be really, really hungry. 

“This tends to happen a lot in the middle of the night—when you’re trying to get some sleep,” she says. 

In other cases, the behavior might be instinctual rather than learned.  Houpt says she observed lion cubs doing it, too.  Why?  To practice hunting. 

Domesticated cats exhibit similar predatory behavior.  They’ll use their paws to swat at rodents before capturing them.  Think about it—What better way to exercise their hunting abilities than by knocking over your most expensive items? 

The cats that seem to break things most often, however, are deaf cats.  Since they can’t hear anything, deaf cats are obviously not startled by the sound of a bowl shattering into tiny pieces on your floor.  So they’ll do it again.  And again.  And again. 

All in all, cats are not that evil and there are ways to rectify the problem. 

If you’re having some serious issues with a particularly destructive kitty, Houpt recommends covering your shelves and table with double-sided tape. “ Cats won’t go there,” she says. 

You can also buy fishing pole toys so that they have lots of opportunity to indulge in their behavior without breaking things. 

Or you can just let your cat do its thing.  As one Reddit user puts it: