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Cats are Strange

The Menagerie
#1

But I love them anyway. Lol. We have 3 cats. Over the last year, a feral that is so wild it was practically a ghost slowly befriended our one cat that prefers to spend most of his time out (he’s a failed barn-to-house cat conversion). Feral still won’t let me touch her but has gone from running if she sees me 20’ away to tapping on the doors & zooming up onto the deck when I call her for food.

Last night, our indoor cat went out to lie on the warm sidewalk & refused to come back in. Even ran when he was called. While the door was open, feral cat snuck in as far as the scatter rug & stood there watching us, purring & rubbing her head on the door. I couldn’t help but wonder if Ashton Kucher and the Punked camera crew were hiding behind the bushes as I tried to drag 20 lbs of recalcitrant house cat who normally hates going outside back into the house while the feral cat who heretofore has been terrified of people & houses watched the proceedings from inside the other door. :rofl:

2 Likes
#2

According to my favorite vet, cats are aliens! :rofl:

I’ve had enough weird times with them, that I believe it!

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#3

“cats are strange.” Well, there’s an understatement. :rofl:

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#4

Yes, they are!!!

Sounds like you have worked your magic with the ghost feral. The magic of food. Lol

1 Like
#5

sometimes you just have to shake your head and chalk it up to “cat logic”

A few instances of Cat Logic:

  • refusing the cuddly cat cave in favor of a falling-apart cardboard box
  • loving a brand of expensive cat food so I buy a case, then as soon as they case arrives, decide to HATE the food and never eat it again.
  • 3am zoomies
  • begging and crying for the hoo-man to turn the tap water on, then just stare at it. Don’t drink it or touch it. Just stare at it.
  • turning down tuna since you would rather eat a ritz cracker (said cracker was not offered, but stolen).
  • you try to rescue your hoo-man from the water when she is taking a bath, but remember that you also hate water while mid-rescue, so you just end up scratching her during your efforts to abort the mission and escape.
  • becoming instantly OFFENDED if your hoo-man sneezes while you are on her lap.
    *yeowling around the house at / to absolutely no one
  • forsaking all cat toys for a tattered old drawstring stolen from a pair of sweatpants. Said drawstring MUST come with you everywhere. If string is hidden or moved, commence with rage yeowling.
9 Likes
#6

I have 2 very old, very ratty, falling apart scratching posts. Recently bought 2 new ones from Amazon. The cats won’t touch the new ones. :roll_eyes:

1 Like
#7

Tell them NO and that they are never to touch them. Surefire way to get them to use them. Of cats are masters of reverse reverse psychology and decide (for once) to obey you.

My cat Baler likes to play with sticks. Never mind he has a box of expensive toys - no, give him a stick or a dried up leaf and he’ll pay with it. Little dope…

4 Likes
#8

Mine has her mind in the gutter. Actually her whole body in the gutter. She spends a lot of her time on the roof - I guess trying to catch birds. And opening my second story windows and crawling in the house. She and her brother - the two cat burglars - are very adept at opening windows. One morning I look up and there she is sleeping in the gutter with her legs hanging down.

4 Likes
#9

@BatCoach Check, for all but the water & bath (I’m a shower person).
Funny how the rest of the list seems universal :laughing:

@SusanO My Cat Burglar was an older shelter adoptee who taught my younger cat to push out the screen in a window so they could spend the night out.
Getting back in required much loud morning meowing from another point of entry.

I am on my 5th set of Cats - 4 house (3 in/out, 2 in) & 1 barn - and the List of Quirks is lengthy for the 8 individuals involved.

1 Like
#10

My buddy Higgins (trapped/neutered/tamed Feb 2020) likes to sit in a box, and rip the edges, flinging pieces of cardboard all over my study. He only has about in inch of wall left…I need to get him a new box. He started this after watching an older cat rip a brown paper bag. He also likes to mimic his “big brother” Harry: Harry likes to play in the bathtub, and likes to go under the covers in bed at night. So of course Higgins goes in the bathtub…but then can’t figure out why. he also paws and digs at the covers to crawl under…but then just sits at stares at the “cave” when you lift the blankets for him. We have 8 tame cats total, but most come to us older…vet figures Higgins was a very stout 6 month old with poor social skills. Watching him trying to learn to “cat” has been entertaining!

4 Likes
#11

He can come and play with my Baler. Baler likes to do what the adult cats do, too. He is 4 but has not yet learned to “adult.” In his head he is still a baby and still tears around the house like a little idiot and wants to do wrestle-mania with the old cats. They are 14 and older and most certainly do not appreciate being mauled by him.

4 Likes
#12

The “best” thing Higgins does is knock the other cats (and our big dog) over when he does the “bum hug” thing all cats do…only most cats just gently tilt their bum at their friends to kind of brush their tail by them…not Higgins, in will swing his beefy bottom with gusto. It took a while for our cats to realize this was just is awkwardness and not an assault. Unfortunately he can take our dogs legs right out from under her!

3 Likes
#13

I’m laughing so hard - Baler to a T. He doesn’t realize that at 4 and larger (read FAT) than the other cats -no-one likes being knocked over by someone who wants to play very enthusiastically with them or that no-one wants to be awakened this way. Like having a giant toddler leap on you at 5am. This morning he was running thru the house and playing with…a piece of lint. sigh

1 Like
#14

Our cat took up a new hobby…bread sculpting. I have no idea why, but he started attacking bread at night. Not regular bread, only the deli loaves or baguettes we buy occasionally. He grabs it off the counter and drags his bread prey through the house. Then, he chews on the loaf through the plastic and leaves chunks missing. Of course the entire loaf is ruined and we have to throw it out. Freaking weirdo.

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#15

Rotfl!! The visual is so good!

My bff had a cat that would rip open a sleeve of saltines & remove as many as he could, taking a small bite out of each one.

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#16

Because he can.
You could stash your bread in a cabinet, but then you would have to add one of those toddler-proof locks.
One of my cats (I’m looking at you, Bounce!) opens various floor-level cabinets. He seldom goes in, but hearing the doors creak open at Dark O’Thirty can interrupt sleep X (

3 Likes
#17

haha this is my life as well. I have a massive cat who just turned 3 who desperately wants to play and rough house with his “uncles” who are 13 at the youngest. One is pretty good at humoring him, but the other suffers no fools and is quick with a swat when giant junior comes a knockin’. I think that is why he is SO enamored with the foster kittens.

#18

I have come to the conclusion, after over six decades of “cat experience” and having had dozens of them, that cats are just weird little people in fur coats.

7 Likes
#19

The only cats who would try to discipline Baler were Diva but she had no teeth. She would scratch and punch him and he would not back off. If she could have bitten him, it would have gone a long way,
Teddy at 15 lbs would tolerate it to a certain point but no further. Sadly Teddy passed away. I think Mr Baler needs a monkey. Or a loaf of French bread. g

#20

Gay friend - & catowner - used to say they are reincarnated bitchy old queens.

1 Like

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