A smaller creature is seized immediately by the cat in its sharp teeth, though sometimes it will place one or both front paws on it. It is primarily the movement of the prey, and to a lesser extent its shape and size, that make the cat drop its pouncing hold. Speed and direction play an important part in this. Only if the prey moves away from or across the cat’s path, is the cat prompted to chase and catch it. A prey that moves towards the cat, however, puts the cat on the defensive, and may even make it retreat.
The inborn predatory instinct must be developed by experience, which teaches the cat to recognize the prey even when it is standing quite still, and to distinguish between different kinds of prey, and also enables the cat to react merely to the sound or the scent of the prey. Inexperienced young cats will not attack immobile prey.
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