Cat/ Kitten Habits

rachel

I've seen a few people mention the strange things their cat/kittens play with in passing on previous threads. So I started a thread about it as I think it's always interesting to see if there are common habits.

Despite getting a great scratching post with feathers & things that make wonderfully appealing to cat noises, my cats played with it once & have ignored in since.
Instead, they play with anything plastic (especially the plastic that makes a noise like cigarette wrappers, straw wrappers & straws themselves), string, paper bags, hair clips, bottle lids.
One of my cats, Boo, has a habit of 'clearing the table', she'll sit on the table & very calmy push anything on it off with her paw. She also loves diamonds, I've caught her trying to pick up my necklace & ring & run away & she regularly trys to chew on the stones when I'm wearing them.

The three of them are also obsessed with these foam mini- footballs I got in Pet Store. I highly recommend them because I've never seen cats get so much entertainment out of one toy. They now walk around carrying them in their mouths, drop it beside me & meow until I go and throw it up the stairs for them to chase!

One of my mums cats has really taken attention seeking to a new level - she had a plumber over recently & he was talking to her outside. The cat, Marmite, walked over & started meowing so much the plumber asked if the cat was having a seizure. He wouldn't stop until my mum picked him up & put him on her shoulders. He now does this every time anyone talks to my mum!

Do any of your cats have other funny/strange habits?

KTRIC

One of my two cats , a male called Henry is obsessed with a red cap from a WD40 bottle. He carries it around in his mouth and then bats it around the kitchen for hours. We've tried giving him other red caps from bottles but he doesn't pay any attention to them and just goes back to the one from the WD40 bottle.

Also someone might be able to explain this, at around 10pm every evening his pupils get dialated and he becomes very playful and affectionate. Can someone explain why this happens ?
And no its nothing to do with food because he would have eaten his dinner about 4 hours earlier.

galah

Funny, my cats (Bhubh and Elvis) are exactly the same...they'll play with bottlecaps, hairbands, jewellery, anything that's remotely "glitzy"...oh, and kitchen towels, loo paper, newspapers etc...

Woodie's DIY sells pretty cool "mice on a fishing rod" toys - so you can give the cats a little bit of a workout if they're not allowed outside...

Bhubh has an obsession with my boyfriend's armpits and his T-shirts - she gets really, really affectionate, almost ecstatic, sniffing for hours...And they both have their "weird" 20 minutes a day, where they just zoom around, chasing some imaginary animal or something - with a wild look in their eyes...very strange...

By the way - Aldi has pretty good cat treats - the cats are absolutely crazy for them! (those cat sticks, 79 cent for 6 of them - as a treat, they're really good - as long as I don't know what's in them...;-))

rachel

galah wrote:

.And they both have their "weird" 20 minutes a day, where they just zoom around, chasing some imaginary animal or something - with a wild look in their eyes...very strange...

My three do that as well. Similar to K-tric, like clockwork around 10pm all you can hear is them tearing around the place. As soon as I go find them they stop dead & look at me as if to say 'it wasn't me'. Then half an hour later they're sprawled out on the bed and sleep for the night!


Also remembered, Boo is obsessed with an old tatty oven glove.

WhiteWashMan

i used to have a cat that walked down the road behind me when i went anywhere.
i eventually had to put her on my shoulders where she would sit and do that little 'i love you' head butt thing wheni went to the local shops, or i had to put her back in the house if i was going into town.

and plastic bags. yet to met a cat that didnt like a plastic bag. also used to sleep on my pillow curled around my head.

and annoyingly enough, whenever it was time for bed, would play the 'im going to run around like a rabid dog in circles, making as much noise as i can and then sit on the stairs but run away everytime you come near me' game.

galah

another kinda funny thing Elvis does: at night, especially when it's colder outside, Elvis would sit on the bed, near my head, and "poke" me in the face with his paw until I wake up and let him under the blanket - he then sleeps curled up near my belly...

Bhubh would usually not sleep in the bedroom at night, but every morning, she comes into the bedroom, jumps on the bed, does a little "tour" to see if all is in order, greets us with a little headbutt, gives a loud "mmeeeeeh", and disappears again...

Ah, cat stories...;-)

LegacyUser

Rub catnip on the scratching post.

morgana

galah wrote:

By the way - Aldi has pretty good cat treats - the cats are absolutely crazy for them! (those cat sticks, 79 cent for 6 of them - as a treat, they're really good - as long as I don't know what's in them...;-))

As long as you don't have to eat them :-) - funnily, one of my two completely ignores them while the other goes mad for them - go figure.
And things cats do, while my male (now about 2 years old) must be the most vocal cat I've ever encountered. Of course, preferably, at 5 am. This morning he came in a bit later at around 7.15, succeeding in waking me up. But he doesn't do it only when he wants food, it seems to be a way of life. He mutters to himself when he wanders along the hedge, when coming in with a mouse in his mouth, even when asleep and one of us comes into the room, an enquiring mrrp can be heard :-))))

Kambika

Our cat has an obsession with pens. He loves playing with them and unfortunately chews on them. We have to hide all pens away from him and as soon we leave one of them on the table he finds it. Even if I have my handbag laying on the bed and there is a pen inside, he would go through my bag until he found it!

Ruu_Old

Kambika wrote:

Our cat has an obsession with pens. He loves playing with them and unfortunately chews on them. We have to hide all pens away from him and as soon we leave one of them on the table he finds it. Even if I have my handbag laying on the bed and there is a pen inside, he would go through my bag until he found it!

Yep our one moves the pen around the floor but doesnt chew. We got her all sorts of things but gave up because she likes the everyday household items, paper shreddings, clothes pegs or golf balls.

galah

yellow lighters are another of Elvis' favourites...but only the yellow ones, for some strange reason...

Wokie

WhiteWashMan wrote:

i used to have a cat that walked down the road behind me when i went anywhere.
i eventually had to put her on my shoulders where she would sit and do that little 'i love you' head butt thing wheni went to the local shops, or i had to put her back in the house if i was going into town.

One of my cats follows me down the road as well. She won't cross the road thankfully but goes and waits in a hedge until I come back from shop. Or when I'm going to work in morning, she'll follow me down the road crying until I walk back home and escort her into the shed:rolleyes: (which has a special opening in it for the cats!!! My neighbours think it's hilarious:D

Oh and the only toys they ever play with are rolled up foil sweet wrappers!!

Howitzer

Yeh our cat fires up around 10pm too. It's because she has slept all day, and that they are nocturnal. The dilated eyes can show that they are relaxed, but also that they are really trying to see everything they can, they are in hunt mode ready to strike.

I guess your cat might like the smell of the wd40 cap.

RandomOne

The little plastic ring that keeps 2-ltr milk tops from coming off keep mine amused forever. Even the oldest one who never plays any other time will go mad batting and throwing one of those around.

And my legs in jeans (or even not in jeans, but I tend to move very fast then!) are apparently a better scratching post than the one I bought for the newest arrival.

fabcat

My oldest cat is obsessed with cigarette wrappers too, she also clears tables with her paw, doesn't matter whats on it, anything on the arm of the chair as well, she loves cigarettes too, she has ripped apart a few of them actually, not an endearing habit when its 12 midnight and you discover your last cigarette is in bits on the floor :mad: