"What is the cat doing and why is the cat doing it?" The Cat Behavior Thread

[Antisocial_Worker]

A lot of us here are pet parents, and it is a given that our animals often do weird things. Let's talk about it here.

For instance, I have a cat who likes to play the "closet game." Here's how it works:

I or my partner are getting ready to leave the house. This means that we approach the coat closet by the front door to get either our shoes or our coats out of it. Timmy the cat senses this and comes running. We open the closet, Timmy shoots inside, we close the closet door. We put on our shoes or our coats or whatever, and then open the door. Timmy might or might not emerge. If not, we order him "Out!" and he usually obeys, although not without considerable backtalk. When we return from our outing and get ready to put our shoes or coats up again, Timmy is there and ready to play all over again. We open the door, in he goes, we close the door, wait a moment, and open it again, and out he comes... or if not, we have to order him out and we get more backtalk.

Why? What is the meaning of the closet game?

[Kittish]

The meaning is that it's a mysterious cave to the cat. It's not someplace he has all the time access to, so exploring the mysterious cave is an adventure!

Cats and toys- Mister Kitteh's current favorite toy to bat and throw and chase around is... wait for it... a rock. Nephew (who's 2) recently discovered pockets, and he likes to put rocks in them. He carried one into the house and Mister Kitteh promptly claimed it for his own. He'll knock it off a counter and spend hours happily playing with it.

The one that gets me is that a few months ago I made a felted wool cat bed that both cats flatly ignored, no matter where I put it. For months. I was gonna get rid of it since they didn't seem to like it. Tossed it on the floor in the living room while cleaning one day and the cats both started using it. I don't get why it's suddenly such a wonderful snoozing spot now, but whatever.

[EricKei]

It has been my experience that cats love to be where you don't WANT them to be -- as is the case with most humans, they find the forbidden to be irresistible. A room they've had free access to for years? Meh. Uninteresting. That same room, but with the door closed? An obstacle that must be surmounted at any cost (especially if one of their favorite humans is on the other side). In other words, the Bathroom Effect. When I had cats, they avoided the bathroom like it was filled with water (well, to be fair...) if the door was open/it was unoccupied. As soon as I go in and close the door...? I see little kitty paws, pad side up, stretching underneath it in a desperate bid to gain entry.

Same thing with the bed. If you want them to use it badly, it might as well be an open room. It's there, but there's no forbidden fruit to jump for, no challenge. Once you no longer care, or it's been out of reach for some time...? It's a prize to be savored.

My inquiry is into what I have sometimes heard of as the "rips" -- meaning, in this case, their tendency to turn into furry little NASCAR champions at Oh-Dark-Thirty on the morning. Granted, I have had trouble suppressing a chuckle when one of them *almost* makes a turn in time (*whap*) when running directly towards a wall at full tilt, but the reasoning for this is a mystery to me.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My boycat disappeared one night; my dad was convinced he'd gotten out and wouldn't survive the night. After about 15 minutes of searching, I found him in the linen closet where my parents keep spare blankets and pillows. There was a pillow on the floor beneath the bottom shelf, and the cat must have figured if he was trapped, he might as well take a nap. (He did get out once and stayed out all night. He did indeed survive, and even made a friend - they were on the porch when my dad got up but they ran off; he came back by himself a few hours later and ran for the food bowl - but he doesn't really try to escape anymore after that.)

When he was a kitten he managed to get himself shut in the freezer for a few minutes. Luckily I heard him thumping around in there. He didn't do that again, either.

[MoonCat]

The thing with the bed is that if you make a point of showing it to them, they don't want it. If you just drop it somewhere and ignore it, they will claim it

Every time someone uses the downstairs bathroom, Razzie has to run over and pull his claws on the door. He doesn't touch it when the door is open.

Maggie gets very interested in weird things for toys. She has a large wadded-up piece of thick plastic wrap that she plays with sometimes. She'll pick up a toy and walk around meowing her head off with the toy in her mouth. She gets really loud lately, too.

[protege]

The meaning is that it's a mysterious cave to the cat. It's not someplace he has all the time access to, so exploring the mysterious cave is an adventure!

That's exactly why cats enjoy "off limits" places. I know mine will take any chance they can get to get into certain rooms, cabinets (including the large ones downstairs), and other areas that they're usually not allowed into.

For example, the downstairs cabinets would be a favorite hiding place...if the kitties had access to them. These cabinets have sliding panels, which ride on an overhead track in the ceiling. Most of the panels are heavy enough that they cannot be pushed inwards. However, there's at least one that the cats can lean on...revealing just enough space to crawl inside. Problem is...that the cat(s) cannot get back out

Before I modified the floor rail with additional catches, I came home to loud meowing from that cabinet every night.

[CyberLurch]

Many years ago...

My little cat Pepper gave birth to her kittens.

In my bed. With ME in it.

She crawled under the blankets (which is something she normally did not do) and settled in while I was watching TV. A little while later, I felt something wet against my leg. Jerking back the covers, I discovered she had already delivered two kittens and was in the process of squeezing out the third of what would eventually be five.

Thing was, I knew she was pregnant. I had even prepared a box with some towels for her and put it in her favorite hidey-hole in the closet.

I related to my then-girlfriend that evening what had happened; plus a commentary on the 'ick' factor involved. She then gave me quite the lesson. Seems a mama cat when ready to deliver her young will locate the place she feels safest. I learned humility that day. My little cat decided that the place she felt safest was next to me.

[Seanette]

My inquiry is into what I have sometimes heard of as the "rips" -- meaning, in this case, their tendency to turn into furry little NASCAR champions at Oh-Dark-Thirty on the morning. Granted, I have had trouble suppressing a chuckle when one of them *almost* makes a turn in time (*whap*) when running directly towards a wall at full tilt, but the reasoning for this is a mystery to me.

I've more commonly heard this called the "zoomies". No idea why they do that.

My current cat (female Siamese mix, spayed as a kitten) has some interesting quirks. She seems to consider using the bathroom a social event if I'm involved (doesn't do that with DH), either simply coming in to check on me or coming in with me, then hopping into her litterbox and making use of it while I'm using the human version. She also seems a bit mental about small objects on flat surfaces (frantically pawing them OFF), steals small stuffed animals from me, and chews on the junk mail.

[Kogarashi]

I don't have cats right now but I've had them in the past, and plan to again soon-ish.

When I was in high school my family had a whole mess of cats that had adopted us (because we'd fed the clan matriarch once). They all lived outside out of necessity because my mother is quite allergic to cats, and it was just because my sisters and I took care of the cats that she let us keep them. The one in the bunch that I truly considered mine was named Houdini because he was the only one of the bunch who liked to sneak into the house. None of the other cats ever tried to do that, but Houdini was bound and determined to get in no matter what it took. It was always interesting waking up to him on my bed after my dad had made sure the house was as secure as he could manage before going to bed.

My inquiry is into what I have sometimes heard of as the "rips" -- meaning, in this case, their tendency to turn into furry little NASCAR champions at Oh-Dark-Thirty on the morning. Granted, I have had trouble suppressing a chuckle when one of them *almost* makes a turn in time (*whap*) when running directly towards a wall at full tilt, but the reasoning for this is a mystery to me.

We had an "illegal" cat in college (our apartment complex didn't allow furred or feathered pets, but we'd picked up a stray my roommates were convinced had once been owned and then abandoned due to how well-behaved and surprisingly healthy he was) who loved to run back and forth between one end of the apartment and the other like there were rockets attached to his butt. Just back and forth, back and forth, always skidding on the linoleum in the kitchen and thudding into the wall there. No reason we could ever figure.

[Seshat]

Point the first: they're nocturnal.

Point the second: it's FUN. They don't ever need to hunt, they're bored, their bodies are designed to sprint at least once every couple of days... it's fun.

They get most bored when their usual activity partners (the humans) have been asleep for hours and are likely to continue to be so.

[Kittish]

They're not really nocturnal. They're crepuscular, most active right around sunrise and sunset. Other than that, Seshat has it right about the why. Around here we call it 'zoom-time' and chuckle at the cats taking turns chasing each other through the house and going up the outside of the cat tree at speed (THUMP! as the tree rocks- this is why we've got 100 pounds of gravel weighing down the base). Then the dog jumps in (all that back and forth, she can't resist) and does the crouch in front and butt in the air thing that's dog for "I wanna play, too!" Mister Kitteh tries, but the dog doesn't understand that when you get to one end of the zoom you turn around and go the other way. She freaks when Mister Kitteh spins around and comes at her.

About the bed- I had been ignoring it mostly. All I'd do was once every few weeks shift it to another spot. I have NO idea what changed that they finally decided to start using it. It's even in a spot it had been in for a while before.

[freeatlast]

One of our cats is obsessed with the garage - if the door is not latched properly she will paw at it until she gets it open. Once out there if we close the door and ignore her she will sit at the door and wail to get back into the house. She also will sneak into closets and pantries. Later, when we miss her and start rattling the treat jar she will usually start calling us to let her out of her hiding place.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

My cats are definitely developing their own personalities and quirks:

Gary - loves to get under the covers when I'm already in bed and wants to hide his face. Or if I'm Mom's bedroom, he'll come in (if the door is cracked open,) jump onto the big bed and try to hide his face in my shirt while snuggling as close as he can. Will also snuggle next to me when it's close to time for me to get up in the morning (especially on the mornings when I have to go to work.)

Pasquinel - loves water for some reason. If I'm washing dishes, she jumps onto the edge of the sink and will bat her paw in the running water and splash it around.

She also has a strange fascination with the fake rooster we have in our kitchen. This is a realistic looking one w/actual feathers. I've had to move it to a high shelf just to keep her from getting it - but she will jump onto the table, walk over to the butcher block stand that's in the corner beside it, over to the cabinet next to it (which is next to the fridge) and will try to reach that chicken (which is right now roosting on the shelf over the cabinet.) I don't know if this rooster holds some kind of magical powers that this kitty needs or what it is . . . but Pasqi just won't leave that bird alone.

Bubs (aka Bubbles) likes to get near the sink and play with the suds in the dishpan. I suspect his ears send out a signal to the others to come join him, and next thing I know I've got 3 or all 4 of them all wanting to play with the bubbles.

He also loves to come into the bathroom and jump into the sink and play while you're in there doing your business. Or if I'm in the shower, he'll jump onto the side of the tub and peek around from behind the shower curtain (Pasquinel will do this too - they are like a tag team in the bathroom.) I never have to worry about being lonely in the shower . . . I always seem to have at least one bodyguard around.

And none of our houseplants are safe . . . this is another thing Pasquinel is attracted to . . . we have one hanging basket we've had to move higher on the chain in the dining room b/c she will climb up on the top of the headrest on Mom's power chair and try to grab at a strand with her paw.

And one other thing I've noticed is that all four of them like to stretch their back legs when they get up . . . I think this is a family thing (Tinkerbelle does this too) and they've inherited a lot of her mannerisms.

And the only thing I can come up with on this trait: they like to brush the sides of their faces up against the end of the knives that are resting in the block. I think they do this b/c they itch and it feels good.

Oh, and I left out Gidget. She's a funny little girl at times. She sometimes hides out in the living room on the corner of the sofa on the pillows. I suspect she stays in there at times b/c she's wanting to be alone away from the others (I call this her Garbo mood.)

She also likes to hang out on top of the fireplace when I'm watching tv . . . and will proceed to take her bath and groom herself (she's really funny when she stretches her leg out . . . she looks like a little sexpot, hence her nickname LadyGooGoo.)

And she also likes to try to get close to the plants on occasion as well. She's not grasping the fact that she's not supposed to be a vegetarian.

I suspect they all have clocks built in . . . they're usually waiting in the back windows of the house when I get home from work. It's like they're waiting to see the car pull into the back yard.

And speaking of their mom, Tinkerbelle likes to ride in the car. If we're coming up the back way to the house and she sees the car, she'll come running toward it and Mom will stop and open the door to let her in and she'll either stand up in her lap or mine and we'll travel the last few feet to our driveway and pull in and get the car turned around in the backyard.

She also likes to sleep in the car if it's not too cold out, so we'll leave a window rolled down so she can get in.

[dendawg]

I've more commonly heard this called the "zoomies"

I always said my cats had the runs when they started doing that.

[MoonCat]

Years ago one of our cats used to run full-tilt at the closed kitchen door, turn at the last second to thump it with her back feet, and run like crazy back the other way