You may have seen videos on social media of cats turning around to find a cucumber sneakily left by their owner, and jumping feet into the air! It’s hard not to admit that these extreme reactions are humorous, but why do cats seem to be so scared of this harmless vegetable in the first place? And more importantly, is this something we should be doing to our jumpy kitties? 

Snakes or Surprises?

The pranks seen online usually involve someone quietly placing a whole cucumber behind their distracted cat – when the cat turns round, they appear terrified at the sudden sight of the green menace, and jump away. Why is this?

There are a few theories bouncing around online. The most popular being the cat believes the cucumber to be a venomous snake, and hastily jumps away. Expert animal behaviourists have made this claim, and it would make sense; we would all jump 10 feet in the air if a deadly snake crept up on us! In fact, there is evidence that humans instinctively fear snakes and snake-like objects as a means of protection, so cats may have the same instinct. However, the evidence is spotty. There also aren’t any studies that have proved a cat’s association between a cucumber and a snake. Furthermore, some cats appear to show no reaction to the cucumber at all!

So the jury is out on that one.

The other main theory is that the cat is simply surprised! 

Anything can be scary when it suddenly jumps out at you. Think how many horror films make you jump early on with something innocuous before the real monster appears. Cats are creatures of habit and do not like change, furthermore, although they are predators. Wild cats must still be on the lookout for danger at all times. Both of these traits have been passed down to domestic cats and could perhaps explain their cucumber-hating behaviour.

Turning around and suddenly being faced with a large green object is not what they were expecting, so it is no surprise they are… surprised! Some evidence for this is that some videos feature a wide variety of objects causing cats to leap into the air, and not all are snake-shaped. Perhaps these cats are just shocked by the sudden appearance of something unexpected?

You can test the theory with your own cat by showing them a cucumber openly, rather than hiding it (please never hide it, as we will discuss later). Chances are your cat will give it a sniff and be disinterested. Surely if they thought it was a snake, cucumbers would be a source of fear regardless of how it was presented to them?

The above theory does not exclude the possibility of cat’s being both surprised by and afraid. Whether they think it’s a snake or just something that has caught them off guard. But it makes more sense for the viral videos to be demonstrating how a cat responds to something they did not expect to be crept up on by.

Stress-Inducing Cucumbers

Okay, so whether the cucumber makes your cat jump because of its snake-like appearance, or just because it’s a surprise; is it a good idea to be making them jump for the sake of a viral video anyway? We don’t think so. Every time an animal is scared or surprised, their body creates a stress response. This releases chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline in a fight-or-flight reaction. Stress is needed to keep an animal safe (because one day that cucumber might be a snake!) but repeatedly high levels of stress, or chronic low-grade stress, can be harmful to our cats.

The harmful effects of stress

Long-term stress in cats can lead to behavioural issues such as anxiety, aggression or destructive behaviour, toileting issues, hair loss, weight loss, high blood pressure, lack of sleep and other signs. In extreme cases, stress can start to damage the body and cause serious disease. Vets often have to work hard to diagnose the causes and manage the symptoms of chronic stress in cats. It can also make concurrent diseases harder to manage as well. Cat owners should always do their best to reduce their cat’s stress as much as possible. 

Now, of course, we aren’t saying that one quick shock with a cucumber will cause serious disease in your cat; but is it fair to be causing unnecessary stress at all? We would strongly discourage trying to make your cat jump with any object, green vegetable or otherwise. There really is no need for it, and the stress response is never a nice one. We especially discourage this in older or younger cats, where a stress response could have even more of a negative effect on their welfare. If you are looking to make a viral video with your cats, please consider their wellbeing ahead of the number of likes you may get, and avoid scaring them.