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This is just a fun thread to help each other figure out our cat's odd psychological behaviors. I'll start off and throw this out to the hive mind to try and reach some consensus. I could never figure it out. My cat Maya has had this cat teaser since I got her going on 2 years now. Bought it right before I brought her home from the shelter when she was a kitten. It's a cat teaser with a stuffed lizard at the end of a stick and string (we all undoubtedly have one form of this). She loves playing with it. If I leave it downstairs and I go to bed and get under the covers, she will immediately leave the room, trot downstairs and bring it upstairs and drop it in beside my bed. This only happens at my bed time. I've even done the experiment of after she brings it to the room, grab it, and toss it back downstairs. She will leave the room, grab it and walk downstairs and bring it back and drop it by the bed. This happens every night the toy is downstairs. What do you all think is going through her kitty brain?
Seems like she loves the thing and wants it with her.
How close is it to her downstairs before going to bed? Maybe she thinks of it as we would think of something live. Or as a child thinks of a toy. It's something she find comfort in being near/relates to/loves and seems to want it on whatever floor she is on.
Some animals think of their toys as children do...and as adults think of real living beings in that the toy has real feelings and is good company and needs to be rubbed and cuddled. I've seen dogs rush to protect a stuffed animal that a person was pretending to hit. Another dog to worry and go after a stuffed animal someone dropped in water.
Seems like she loves the thing and wants it with her.
How close is it to her downstairs before going to bed? Maybe she thinks of it as we would think of something live. Or as a child thinks of a toy. It's something she find comfort in being near/relates to/loves and seems to want it on whatever floor she is on.
Some animals think of their toys as children do...and as adults think of real living beings in that the toy has real feelings and is good company and needs to be rubbed and cuddled. I've seen dogs rush to protect a stuffed animal that a person was pretending to hit. Another dog to worry and go after a stuffed animal someone dropped in water.
When I first saw the OP's thread title, I thought "Jeeze, nothing like a hard question to start off the week".
"What is the purpose of life?" might be an easier one.
But seriously, I would agree with petsandgardens theory. Always seemed to me to be a "security blanket" type of relationship.
Interesting question, and not sure there will be much of a consensus on it.
I have a bunch of crocheted balls that my mother made-originally Christmas decorations. Elvira & Josette claimed them and now they are all over the house-they bring them upstairs, downstairs, on the bed, and who knows where else. And they yowl when they are carrying them. I think Elvira brings them to me as a gift. At first when I found them in bed, I thought that maybe Josette was bringing me a gift. But, then I realized that she was bringing it to bed with her like a teddy bear. There was one time I woke up in the morning and Josette was in her place at the foot of the bed. One of those balls was next to her and her tail was wrapped around it. lol. Oh, and Electra is not interested in them at all.
This is just a fun thread to help each other figure out our cat's odd psychological behaviors. I'll start off and throw this out to the hive mind to try and reach some consensus. I could never figure it out. My cat Maya has had this cat teaser since I got her going on 2 years now. Bought it right before I brought her home from the shelter when she was a kitten. It's a cat teaser with a stuffed lizard at the end of a stick and string (we all undoubtedly have one form of this). She loves playing with it. If I leave it downstairs and I go to bed and get under the covers, she will immediately leave the room, trot downstairs and bring it upstairs and drop it in beside my bed. This only happens at my bed time. I've even done the experiment of after she brings it to the room, grab it, and toss it back downstairs. She will leave the room, grab it and walk downstairs and bring it back and drop it by the bed. This happens every night the toy is downstairs. What do you all think is going through her kitty brain?
Maybe your cat knows you're experimenting with her and is doing everything she can to ruin your experiment?
When I first saw the OP's thread title, I thought "Jeeze, nothing like a hard question to start off the week".
"What is the purpose of life?" might be an easier one.
But seriously, I would agree with petsandgardens theory. Always seemed to me to be a "security blanket" type of relationship.
Interesting question, and not sure there will be much of a consensus on it.
Easy!
Life's purpose is to live, love, learn.
As to "What is my cat thinking?" Lots of stuff. Kitties can be very busy!
This is just a fun thread to help each other figure out our cat's odd psychological behaviors. I'll start off and throw this out to the hive mind to try and reach some consensus. I could never figure it out. My cat Maya has had this cat teaser since I got her going on 2 years now. Bought it right before I brought her home from the shelter when she was a kitten. It's a cat teaser with a stuffed lizard at the end of a stick and string (we all undoubtedly have one form of this). She loves playing with it. If I leave it downstairs and I go to bed and get under the covers, she will immediately leave the room, trot downstairs and bring it upstairs and drop it in beside my bed. This only happens at my bed time. I've even done the experiment of after she brings it to the room, grab it, and toss it back downstairs. She will leave the room, grab it and walk downstairs and bring it back and drop it by the bed. This happens every night the toy is downstairs. What do you all think is going through her kitty brain?
There was a neurophysiologist decades ago at U. Va when I was working there. He worked on cats and actually was very fond of them. (I couldn’t do it). Anyway, he was looking at brain signals in cats relative to something, don’t remember now. He was telling me he often wondered, when he saw cats sitting and staring off, what it was that was going on in their minds at the time. He said the answer really astounded him. He said, from everything he could tell, there is absolutely nothing going on. Ha! They’re in a like blank receptive state, just waiting for input.
I have a bunch of crocheted balls that my mother made-originally Christmas decorations. Elvira & Josette claimed them and now they are all over the house-they bring them upstairs, downstairs, on the bed, and who knows where else. And they yowl when they are carrying them. I think Elvira brings them to me as a gift. At first when I found them in bed, I thought that maybe Josette was bringing me a gift. But, then I realized that she was bringing it to bed with her like a teddy bear. There was one time I woke up in the morning and Josette was in her place at the foot of the bed. One of those balls was next to her and her tail was wrapped around it. lol. Oh, and Electra is not interested in them at all.
Cat
Reading this gave me warm fuzzies. How very adorable.
Our late Tucker fell in love with some crocheted yarn balls a friend gave us and he used to carry them all around the house too. After he died, we had him cremated with one of the balls. They are the one toy I can no longer have in the house--too many memories.
Cats were bred in Egypt to catch and deliver prey. Some cats do this now, leaving dead or dying mice on your doorstep or in the house! Perhaps this behavior you are experiencing is part of this instinct, but because she is not catching prey, she is bringing you her toy.
I love the direction and everyone's theories in this thread. This is why I brought this up! Figured this could be a fun discussion BTW, this isn't just all about Maya. If anyone has any other strange behavior for the hive mind to dissect, by all means!
Quote:
How close is it to her downstairs before going to bed? Maybe she thinks of it as we would think of something live. Or as a child thinks of a toy. It's something she find comfort in being near/relates to/loves and seems to want it on whatever floor she is on.
I live in a small 2 floor condo (about 680 square feet). My bedroom is upstairs and the living room and kitchen is downstairs (pretty much my whole home in a nutshell lol). So not far at all. I definitely don't disagree with that. Like I said, she's had this lizard from the day I brought her home from the shelter when she was a kitten. She gets bored of a lot of toys but goes nuts whenever I play with it with her. So I do think it has sentimental and security value to her. Heck, sometimes I have to fish it out from underneath the bed (as I dub either as her "cave" or "hidey hole"). She sometimes stashes her favorite toys there lol.
But I do have another theory now too (and this just came about as I was typing my response). While I was reading through everyones responses, I heard a jingle jangle coming up the stairs. She had her lizard in tow (tossed it downstairs for her). She dropped it on the floor and started darting around the room. Picked it up and tossed it down the stairs, sauntered downstairs and brought it back up. Perhaps she just wants to share it with me. Kinda like how cats tend to share kills with each other. Or, she just really prefers it being upstairs, as if to say "THIS BELONGS HERE DAD!!!". She does always bring it in tow when I'm in the bedroom though. Once in a while it comes from upstairs to downstairs while I'm on the couch. If I leave it downstairs and go to work, it's in the same spot when I get home. It is pretty cute when she has it in her mouth. Her tail is perfectly erect with pride. Sometimes she tows it around by the string or stick. It's hysterical!
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BTW, this isn't just all about Maya. If anyone has any other strange behavior for the hive mind to dissect, by all means!
