Cat-chy Cat Behaviors
Published June 22, 2011
Jo Singer
Cats can exhibit some odd behavior, like the pictured cat climbing in the chair. What weird behaviors do your cats exhibit?
Cats can exhibit some odd behavior, like the pictured cat climbing in the chair. What weird behaviors do your cats exhibit?
Over the 17 years Marty and I have been married, we have developed some weird habits. For instance; sleep eludes me if I don't eat chocolate pudding every night as a bedtime snack. And while Marty doesn't exhibit any unusual ritualistic behaviors, he does have one particularly annoying habit that, even with my most gentle protestations, I have not so far been able to change: he'll read all his mail before he hands over any letters to me, and it drives me nuts!
Since our cats watch us like hawks (constantly following us around to check out what we are doing), I got to wondering if we may have, in some way or other, inadvertently set an example for them. I wonder whether they may be picking up on our eccentricities, emulating our behavior in their own weird feline way.
While it is true that Sir Hubble Pinkerton, whose strange habit of walking around the bathroom, jumping into the litter box, quickly exiting, and repeating the pattern precisely three times prior to actually using the box was diagnosed several years ago as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (for which he is being treated), he has recently developed an odd piece of behavior that my husband considers disgusting.
Sir Pinkerton loves to chew and suck on toys. He has already decimated most of our Rosie Rats and catnip-filled mice, leaving only a small trail of remnants behind. To prevent any major medical complications, we have taken all of these toys away, leaving him anxious and frustrated. But since he is thoroughly into chewing and sucking on soft furry objects, lately he has been sublimating this behavior on Dr. Hush Puppy’s ears.
Initially Hush Puppy protests his overtures by threatening to throttle him. But he eventually succumbs to this outrageous humiliation, allowing Sir Pinkerton to wrap his paws around his neck with an anaconda vice-grip. In just a few minutes, Hush Puppy’s ears are sticky, smelly and soaking wet, but Sir Pinkerton continues the onslaught.
On the other paw, often when Marty and I are at the dining table, inevitably Hush Puppy will jump on the arm of my power wheel chair. With a glance I have learned to correctly interpret, Hush Puppy commands me to take him on a ride around the house. If I don’t comply quickly enough to suit him, his meows of protestation are loud enough to wake our neighbors. And while their unique purrsonality traits may sometimes be slightly disturbing, they can also be quite entertaining.
What kind of “weird” behavior do your pets exhibit? Do share in a comment.
Shortly after retiring as a social worker and psychotherapist, I discovered my "writer's voice"…
Training & Behavior
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Comments (9)
I have kitten who is about 14 weeks now and he drives me nuts with his succkling but I know its a habit that wont break anytime soon. Hes been doing it since day one. I thought at first it was because he was so young. Just turning 8 weeks. But weeks later hes still doing it. Only to silky things though he will succkle my pillow thats kind of silky till he passes out. And I have a certian night gown he will go after if i am wearing it. Morning when I get the shower and toss it on the towel holder he will grab it pull it down and lay on it to suckle. I read this is not uncommon for some cats but it can be very irratating when a cat is chasing you down to suck on your night dress or trys to push you off your pillow to suckle it. Jasper is not allowed to sleep in our room though, after the first week we allowed him to but being woken up at all hours of the night to him tryin to suckle he is put out of our room at night. Plus having asthma one thing that allows me to keep my cats is fact they do not sleep in my room at night. I feel guilty but as long as I get to keep my babies.
My other cat Zoey likes to race me and so many times i have almost fallen cause she will stop short if im not going fast enough. Like if I head to the kitchen she takes off running in front of me to beat me there. But when Im not going fast enough she just flops over in front of me on the floor. Awwww the joys of owning cats but I love them to death!
I have a cat name Patches who is a long hair something or other. lol She insists on giving my Rottie mix a bath every chance she gets when he lays down for a snooze. Another habit is standing on her hind legs and rubbing against him for attention. Luger (Rottie) doesn't seem to mind at all and will walk away when he has had enough of her.
Our animals do sometimes display funny things that may amuse or confuse us.
One cat in particular (Bart) that I am owned by, invariably jumps up on the bathroom counter whenever I wash my face, hands, or brush my teeth. I have to keep pushing him away until I'm done, at which time he feels it his duty to clean the sink with his tongue.
I can't leave any Q-tips, used or unused, lying around because he has a habit of grabbing it and either putting it in the water dish or food bowl. He also feels compelled to watch me scoop the litter boxes at night and "make a deposit" once I'm done. How on earth he can urinate that much on demand is beyond me.
Gracie, another cat, drinks water with her paws so you can imagine the mess around the water bowl when she decides she's thirsty.
I have found toys in the water dish, food dish, in my shoes, and various other places around the house. I have 6 cats inside so I think a couple of the younger ones participate in this hide and seek game.
My deaf FIV+ kitty Marbles will leap to the top of the fridge and roll around and do sumersaults while chirping at me until I come over to pet her and love on her. It's quite cute to watch.
MOL! Where would I even begin, with 7? Tarifa does the litterbox jump, too -- I've never counted the times, but she does love to check, especially after I've just done KP. Sammi, our resident Maine Coon man, invariably comes in when I'm finishing the first part of my workout and plants himself in front of me. Sometimes he mews until I pick him up and snorgle him. Maryam loves to play in her water fountain (she has a thing for sinks, too, water or not). Rani broadcasts to the world whenever she makes a "kill" of a sparkle ball; Maryam has started doing so, too. These are just a few of our family's interesting and amusing traits! <3
My Stella has OCD, I'm sure. I may have to speak to the vet at some point about it. She paws around the litter box and sometimes just inside it (but not in the litter itself....) over and over and over and over again before and after using it.... it can go on for a long time. She also paws at the food dishes and until I found a big and heavy enough dish for water, she used to tip it over from pawing at it. I am concerned about her moving the food dishes around because I worry that my hubby, who is disabled, will trip over one some day. But we love her, she's a sweetie!