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Hello, you good Cat People, I visit your forum on occasion although I've been a devoted dog parent for almost two decades now. I grew up with cats and need cat stories now and again. Guess some of us are both cat- and dog people.
Anyway, I have a question: A close family member has a British Blue, a quiet, sweet kitty who all her life has had a peculiar habit: she will take a piece of fresh, dry cat food from her food bowl and plunk it into her water bowl. At the end of the day there will be 4-5 pieces of kibbles floating around in the water. We have not observed her "bobbing" for them, but who knows? If we remove them and put them back in her bowl, all soggy, she will eat them. I am convinced she is doing it on purpose, but why? She doesn't want her kibbles mixed with water--we've tried that. Her teeth are okay, so she doesn't need soft food. (It may be better for her, but I'm not the one doing the feeding.) Is she just playing with her food? Is she trying to tell us something? She came into the family at the age of 3 as a rescue, and she's around 13 now, and all we know is that she used to do it even when she was a kitten. Has anyone else encountered a similar behavior? Any explanation?
Cats are mysterious creatures and it's not for us mere humans to want to know "Why".
Seriously though, it's probably just her thing. Something she did once by accident, liked it, so has continued to do it. Animals, like humans, are all individuals and given the chance will usually develop their own idiosyncrasies.
I have a cat who goes around the house, picks up random items and puts them under my desk. I've never seen her do it, she does it only when I am not home. But I often come home to find some pretty interesting things under my desk. Vacuum cleaner attachments, a screw driver, my rain coat to name a few of the odder items.
My little Bridge Angel kitty always washed her paws in the water bowl after she used the litter box.
Another Bridge Angel of mine, a boy kitty, used to put his fur mice in my shoes, gym bag and purse. He wanted me to bring a piece of him where ever I went. he also would rub himself all over my legs and shoes before I left the house so to make sure that any cats I might encounter in my day would know I was already taken.
I used to know a dog who liked to dive for rocks. His people would take him to the lake for their picnic and the dog would spend the day diving into the lake and bringing up rocks from the bottom of the lake and putting them in a pile next to the blanket.
Animals are such amazing wonderful beings, aren't they?
LOL...your cats sound great. My, as you put it Bridge Angel, would carry things of mine downthe stairs to express his displeasure, i think, of my going to work. But only BIG things. Socks wouldn't cut it...but pulling the towel off the rack in the bathroom and dragging it downstairs was a perfectly normal thing to do. So, tossing a few kibbles in a bowl sounds pretty normal, LOL
My little Bridge Angel kitty always washed her paws in the water bowl after she used the litter box.
Yes, our other kitty did that too. Splashed it out as well, quite vigorously really. No amount of moving water of different types (two different fountains we tried) deterred her from splashing....
Love the dragging things around bit. This never happens here, quite possibly because from an early time Amber taught me not to leave out anything I didn't want her messing with.
Yes, our other kitty did that too. Splashed it out as well, quite vigorously really. No amount of moving water of different types (two different fountains we tried) deterred her from splashing....
Love the dragging things around bit. This never happens here, quite possibly because from an early time Amber taught me not to leave out anything I didn't want her messing with.
Yep, she splashed too. Both paws patting the water with vigor, Splash Splash Splash Splash! It made an awful mess, but I never cared.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thebunny
LOL...your cats sound great. My, as you put it Bridge Angel, would carry things of mine downthe stairs to express his displeasure, i think, of my going to work. But only BIG things. Socks wouldn't cut it...but pulling the towel off the rack in the bathroom and dragging it downstairs was a perfectly normal thing to do. So, tossing a few kibbles in a bowl sounds pretty normal, LOL
My girl who relocates things to under my desk has a very strong sense of how things should be ordered. And she is bringing things from down stairs to up just the opposite of yours, LOL!
Sometimes the things I find under there are things I haven't seen in years. Sometimes they are things I carelessly left out and should have put away, such as the vacuum attachment and the screw driver. The rain coat....I must had knocked it off the hook in my hurry to get out of the house, and she dragged it all the way upstairs to under my desk.
The only time I have ever seen her in action was one time when I was very sick. I had pneumonia and was in bed for days. I could barely manage to stay upright long enough to feed them every day, going down stairs to clean the litter boxes was impossible.
On the fourth day I got up and sat up for a few minutes, to take a phone call. As I was talking she sat at the top of the stairs trying to catch my eye. Every time I looked her way she said urgently "prrt! prrrt!" and went down a step, looking back at me. I continued to sit where I was and talk on the phone, though I suspected she was telling me their bathrooms were in serious need of attention (She is The Litter Box Police, after all).
She disappeared down the stairs and suddenly I heard this rustling and thumping on the stairs. I peeked over the half wall to see my funny girl dragging the "Used Litter Bag" up the stairs. (grocery store bags, doubled up) It was about a quarter full, but still must have been kind of heavy for a 9 pound cat. She was so determined to let me know the boxes needed cleaning. They had made do while I was down for the count, but now that I was up and about, I had better get down there and do something about it!
could be any number of things! She could like the flavor it gives the water, or she uses the floating kibble to show her where the level of the water is (hard for a cat to judge a still bowl of translucence!), she could be a messy eater and after eating she gets a drink and a piece falls off the edge of her mouth and lands in the water. or.. she could just get her jollies out of putting a piece at a time in there to drive you crazy! cats can be silly creatures.
Yep, she splashed too. Both paws patting the water with vigor, Splash Splash Splash Splash! It made an awful mess, but I never cared.
My girl who relocates things to under my desk has a very strong sense of how things should be ordered. And she is bringing things from down stairs to up just the opposite of yours, LOL!
Too funny. If it wasn't nailed down, he would drag it down. Towels (I would keep the bathroom door open as he liked to lay in the bathtub), stuffed animals. A computer mouse. (No clue on that one, LOL)
Sometimes the things I find under there are things I haven't seen in years. Sometimes they are things I carelessly left out and should have put away, such as the vacuum attachment and the screw driver. The rain coat....I must had knocked it off the hook in my hurry to get out of the house, and she dragged it all the way upstairs to under my desk.
Amazing. They sure do have their way of making sure that we know we are not doing what they think we should be!
The only time I have ever seen her in action was one time when I was very sick. I had pneumonia and was in bed for days. I could barely manage to stay upright long enough to feed them every day, going down stairs to clean the litter boxes was impossible.
I saw Wills once...dragging a stuffed animal down the stairs and YOWLING like his kitty life was ending. I was actually afraid he wasn't ok. I ran up to him, took the animal and all of a sudden he was fine. Amazing.
On the fourth day I got up and sat up for a few minutes, to take a phone call. As I was talking she sat at the top of the stairs trying to catch my eye. Every time I looked her way she said urgently "prrt! prrrt!" and went down a step, looking back at me. I continued to sit where I was and talk on the phone, though I suspected she was telling me their bathrooms were in serious need of attention (She is The Litter Box Police, after all).
Maxwell, the cat I have now, tosses his litter out of his box when it isn't as clean as he thinks it should be. This actually annoys me the most of his little kitty behaviors, as I scoop it once per day, and if I am home when he uses it, I scoop right after. His box gets clean more often than the human bathroom, yet he complains. LOL
She disappeared down the stairs and suddenly I heard this rustling and thumping on the stairs. I peeked over the half wall to see my funny girl dragging the "Used Litter Bag" up the stairs. (grocery store bags, doubled up) It was about a quarter full, but still must have been kind of heavy for a 9 pound cat. She was so determined to let me know the boxes needed cleaning. They had made do while I was down for the count, but now that I was up and about, I had better get down there and do something about it!
I would say so. I have a cat who sleeps in the dish drainer. Really. Not all the time, but he has been in there a couple of times. Oh, and on top of the refrigerator. A little kibble tossing is really normal, LOL
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Guess some of us are both cat- and dog people.
