# Cats and Paper **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085 "2015-12-10T16:12:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/41 "2015-12-11T16:25:10Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > now spending much more time in a plastic milk crate. Perseus enjoys the wimpy dog’s crate. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/42 "2015-12-11T16:54:47Z")
I’m convinced that my feline overload absorbs information through his backside and that this is why he lays on books, magazines, newspapers, and my journal. I also think he is contemplating writing the great American novel one of these days, as I often find my ‘lost’ pens in his most favored sleeping spot on top of my bookcase. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/43 "2015-12-11T16:55:34Z")
My cat is mostly uninterested in paper and dislikes boxes. If I put a box on the floor, hoping to tempt her, she will look at it disdainfully and then up at me as if to say, “Excuse me, but you dropped something exceedingly disgusting on my floor. Please remove it.” But plastic grocery bags are another story all together . . . ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/44 "2015-12-11T17:12:45Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > I also think he is contemplating writing the great American novel one of these days, as I often find my ‘lost’ pens in his most favored sleeping spot on top of my bookcase. You suspect your cat of moving things on to the furniture? If you can confirm it, this could be very helpful to the scientific community; it is previously undocumented behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/45 "2015-12-11T17:42:40Z")
When I was volunteering in a school in the 1980’s, a teacher told me that her husband had finished doing the taxes the night before and was about to put everything into an envelope when he left his desk “for a minute”. He returned to discover their cat had jumped onto the table, lay down in the middle of all the documents and forms, and hemorrhaged all over them. (They took him to a vet, and he was okay. The cat, not the husband.) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/46 "2015-12-11T17:47:04Z")
> [@jayrey](#): > > But plastic grocery bags are another story all together . . . A cat of mine tired of playing with a plastic bag, but he a front leg through the loop. As he began to amble away, he noticed that something was following him. As he fled in panic, I thought the inflated bag would make him airborne. The more the bag inflated, the more quickly he began to run… ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/47 "2015-12-11T18:22:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > You suspect your cat of moving things on to the furniture? If you can confirm it, this could be very helpful to the scientific community; it is previously undocumented behavior. I have never seen him put a pen on his sleeping pad on the top of my bookcase, but nevertheless, I have found one there several times. I HAVE seen him pick up a pen in his mouth, move it to another part of my desk, put it down and then knock it off the desk. I have also seen him carry a catnip mouse to his ‘lair’ and thrash about with it for a while. Who knows? Maybe all his ‘rump reading’ has taught him something after all. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/48 "2015-12-11T18:38:56Z")
The papers I bring home from the office are way more irresistible to our cats than any paper we keep at home. Still, aside from boxes, their favorite things to sit on are backpacks, suitcases, computer bags, and the like. These are the first cats I’ve had that are terrified of plastic bags. They were feral kittens from a big feral colony, and I wonder if plastic bags were involved in catching them. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/49 "2015-12-11T18:42:24Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A cat of mine tired of playing with a plastic bag, but he a front leg through the loop. As he began to amble away, he noticed that something was following him. As he fled in panic, I thought the inflated bag would make him airborne. The more the bag inflated, the more quickly he began to run… This happened to a kitten of mine, except it was her head caught in the loop. She nearly parachuted as she tumbled down a flight of stairs. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/50 "2015-12-11T18:59:25Z")
Cats like being annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/51 "2015-12-11T19:07:14Z")
Cats make good shop rags too. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/52 "2015-12-11T19:19:02Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A cat of mine tired of playing with a plastic bag, but he a front leg through the loop. As he began to amble away, he noticed that something was following him. As he fled in panic, I thought the inflated bag would make him airborne. The more the bag inflated, the more quickly he began to run… I actually anticipated something like this happening and cut the handles on the bag before I gave it to her. When you’ve lived with animals (but especially horses – who truly do the damnedest things) as long as I have, you learn that most animals are capable of getting themselves tangled up in the most mundane items. When my gelding was a wee baby, only about a month old, the farrier came out to trim his mother’s hooves. The farrier used a small towel to wipe some mud of the mare’s hoof, then dropped the towel on the ground. Cody picked the towel up in his mouth, shook it playful and then started to trot away with it. Of course, it flapped around and appeared to be chasing him. He ran off, with the horse-killing towel clamped in his teeth, still chasing him. Of course, his mother panicked because he getting too far away from her so she had to go running after him. (Fortunately, we were in a fenced pasture so they weren’t going to get hurt or travel far.) He ran to the far end of the pasture and was on his way back before he finally started whinnying for his mother. The moment he opened his mouth, the towel dropped away. He did not stop running, however, until he was safely back in the barn, with his mother by his side. The farrier and I laughed so hard we almost fell down. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/53 "2015-12-11T20:06:30Z")
For video and pics of a cat in boxes, go to [cuteoverload.com](http://cuteoverload.com) and search for “Maru.” This is a Japanese cat who will squeeze his generously-sized butt in any box. Some of the videos are hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/54 "2015-12-12T03:21:28Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > For video and pics of a cat in boxes, go to [cuteoverload.com](http://cuteoverload.com) and search for “Maru.” This is a Japanese cat who will squeeze his generously-sized butt in any box. Some of the videos are hysterical. Oh yes, I’m a big fan of Maru. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/55 "2015-12-12T04:36:59Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A cat of mine tired of playing with a plastic bag, but he a front leg through the loop. As he began to amble away, he noticed that something was following him. As he fled in panic, I thought the inflated bag would make him airborne. The more the bag inflated, the more quickly he began to run… Because I’m an idiot, I tied the dog to a patio chair once when I went into a doughnut shop. As I was paying for the goodies, the cashier informed me that my dog had run off with their chair. I assume that she pulled on it bit, it made a noise and startled her and she took off running. The noisy, evil chair of course chased her. She eventually got snagged on something, and I was able to bring the chair back. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/56 "2015-12-12T06:02:32Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > We have a cat that like to shred any bit of loose paper she finds - newspapers, napkins, bills, magazines… If it is paper, it is soon confetti. My cat likes to chew on junk mail, such as those bundles we get each week with store flyers, coupon inserts, etc. She also has a semi-minor neurosis about small objects, such as keyrings or sheets of paper, on flat surfaces and will frantically paw at the object in question until it falls. Then she calms down about it. ---
**Author:** ![itsfunhavingfun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5e925/32.png) [@itsfunhavingfun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/itsfunhavingfun)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/57 "2015-12-12T22:15:39Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Actually my username is a mashup of a name of our Alpha male cat. Sadly, he crossed the Rainbow Bridge in 2013. His ashes are in a carved box on the fireplace mantle. And periodically, one of his sisters sits on the floor in front of the fireplace at breakfast, looks up and cries. She speaks at no other time. I pick her up so her paw touches the box. She then wants to be placed back on the floor where she scampers off. Your cat went to Canada? And caught fire? > **[Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_(Niagara_Falls))** > > The Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge, commonly known as the Rainbow Bridge, is a steel arch bridge across the Niagara River, connecting the cities of Niagara Falls, New York, United States, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. > The Rainbow Bridge was built near the site of the earlier Honeymoon Bridge, which collapsed in 1938 due to an ice jam in the Niagara Gorge. > Architect Richard (Su Min) Lee designed the bridge; a design also used for the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, approximately 10 ... ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/58 "2015-12-17T23:04:21Z")
Can’t explain paper-sitting, but the fascination cats have for plastic bags stems from more than their appealingly crinkly noises and wafting movement. There’s a depressingly mundane reason our cat likes to put his face into plastic bags and lick, lick, lick. Plastic bag manufacture involves “slip agent” so that the bags can be separated from dense stacks by human fingers. Slip agent is usually animal fat. One cite, from someone with an anti-plastic obsession, but this is generally not a secret: [cite](http://myplasticfreelife.com/2010/08/is-there-animal-fat-in-your-plastic-bag/) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085/59 "2015-12-18T01:36:24Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Slip agent is usually animal fat. I wonder if there is a Kosher problem there, buying dairy products and bringing them home in a bag that has a tiny amount of beef fat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-and-paper/740085.md?page=2)