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Hi, I’m Dr. Lauren! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller.
The Cat Burglar may indeed be an apt description of certain feline propensities. Their ninja-like abilities to stalk, sneak, and silently pounce allow cats to get away with all forms of mischief. Enter today’s topic: the odd things that cats like.
Growing up, we had a cat named Mr. Kitten. Or Kitten, for brief. He began life with a much fancier and more creative name, but we also thought he began life as a lady. After we came upon he was a boy, it was obvious he needed a brand new name, but we’d run out of steam, and names, and nothing stuck, so he became Kitten.
Kitten was a little bit of an oddity, whilst cats go: he liked to hop into the bath with me and walk around within the water, he loved pulling toilet paper from the toilet and trailing it throughout the home, but his absolute favorite was the beloved oven mitt.
Mr. Kitten & The Oven Mitt
Go to remove something hot from the oven and no oven mitt in sight? Locate the cat, and also you had higher odds at also locating the mitt. Trying to scrub an oven mitt was nigh not possible—he’d pull them out of the hamper, and burble while carrying them across the house. And in the event you did manage to successfully clean and dry one, chances are high that he’d sneak into the basket before it made it back to the kitchen drawer, and he’d be off and running, oven mitt in tow.
But why do cats like these odd items? It’s a mystery. Some suggest that cats could have a certain attachment to such items and that they could experience a mothering instinct, treating these random objects like kittens, herding them throughout the home, and taking good care of them.
Tiller’s been fishing again!
Tiller & Her Fish Toys
Tiller began life with a small slice of stuffed pizza and now has a series of stuffed fish toys that she routinely rounds up every night, to go away in various positions: grouped outside the bedroom; clustered at the underside of the steps, sometimes placed neatly in my shoes. It was a bit disconcerting the primary few times, as I wondered in the event that they were a vague cat threat (more food otherwise you’ll be sleeping with the fishes!); to this point, nothing seems to have come of it. Colloquially, when Tiller starts rounding up the fish in the home, we now say she is off “fishing” and leave it at that!
Pancake & Coins
Pancake, in contrast, used to essentially like coins. If a penny or a nickel fell on the ground, she was on it- batting it around until she could pick it up along with her mouth. She’d then run across the house, carrying said coinage in her mouth. As a vet, all I could think was: foreign body! And quickly, that activity was curtailed!
Are There Risks Involved With These Behaviors?
Which ends up in the downsides of this odd behavior:
There are some risks. Foreign bodies from ingesting these odd items cats appear to like is an actual concern. A number of the more common foreign bodies that fit into this category include:
- Hair ties
- Coins
- Rubber bands
- Silicone (e.g. bottle tops, reusable straws)
- Pieces of froth shoes (e.g. Crocs, flip flops)
- String/yarn
- Fishing flies/lures (especially with hooks, that represent a brand new level of danger!)
One other negative is a possible behavioral aspect. I remember once a colleague saying that though her dog loved chasing the laser pointer, she refused to make use of it. Similarly, our university course on behavior echoed this concern. The considering was that if the cat or dog could never actually catch the red dot, would that result in ultimate feelings of unresolved frustration? For me, I just at all times think that the cats benefit from the experience as much as their way more frequent naps, but they burn much more calories in the sport of chase, so I’m within the pro-red-dot camp.
Along those lines, I actually have heard discussion that allowing cats to partially act out these supposed mothering instincts (if that’s what they’re doing), is similarly damaging to their psyche if the offspring aren’t actually completing their end of the cut price, and feeding back appropriate physical and emotional stimuli.
At the same time as a kitten, Tiller was at all times in search of odd things to play with.
The Story of the Cat Burglar
There’s also the rare risk of reprisal. Enter the discussion I had with a recent law-abiding cat owner, who truly had a cat burglar. I used to be examining her moderately lovely short-haired cat, and complimenting her on what an incredible cat she was. Yes, said her owner…more often than not! But she’s been stealing things from the neighbors again…. The client went on to elucidate that her cat had now totaled various food items from the local street, including a number of bags of microwavable rice, a number of crusts of pizza, and a number of days later, a complete slice of pizza.
Apparently, there had even been some neighborhood spousal accusations that some husband was throwing out various food items behind his wife’s back…when really, it was a neighbor’s cat thief at work! (Although I cannot condone illegal activities, I can actually condone the cat’s alternative in pizza!)
You would possibly say that cats are truly odd, at heart, but isn’t that one in every of the explanations we love all of them the more? Perhaps such odd behavior simply matches like a glove (or oven mitt). For me, I let Tiller have her fish, and check out not to fret an excessive amount of in regards to the why so long as she seems comfortable. Pancake, nonetheless, just isn’t allowed her coins. But that’s just my 0.02 on the matter…