# Cats **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735 "2000-08-17T16:08:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Colzee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colzee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/1 "2000-08-17T16:08:31Z")
I had a cat called Tesla who used to fetch small silver balls of foil paper when you threw them (the balls) across the room without requiring any treat to do so. I thought this was amazing. Has anybody else witnessed a similar phenomenon? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/2 "2000-08-17T16:09:47Z")
Was the cat Siamese, or part Siamese? I’ve had a couple Siamese cats, and it’s a trait of the breed that they fetch. ---
**Author:** ![Colzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Colzee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colzee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/3 "2000-08-17T16:12:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Athena \* > \*\*Was the cat Siamese, or part Siamese? I’ve had a couple Siamese cats, and it’s a trait of the breed that they fetch. \*\* No, just a black and white pawed moggie. ---
**Author:** ![Nekochan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@Nekochan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nekochan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/4 "2000-08-17T16:14:28Z")
My cat plays “fetch” too, with string. My sister’s cats play “catch” with those plastic things you pull off the lids of milk jugs - they’ll even jump off the ground to catch them in their paws. Really cute. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/5 "2000-08-17T16:15:19Z")
Peta Tzunami’s cat Tuner, who had leukemia and was euthanized several years back, used to go _insane_ for foil balls, chasing them all over the place. He was an orange tabby. We’d make up little foil balls, wave them in front of him, then flick them across the room and he’d rocket over and bat them around. Our cat Chestnut, who is a female tortoiseshell, loves practice golf balls (the little white and orange whiffle balls). If you throw them, she will definitely go fetch them and bring them back. It’s really hilarious. In our old apartment, I used to stand at the bottom of the stairs and throw them up into the hall. She’d tear up the stairs, you’d hear some rustling around, then she’d come trotting down the stairs with this orange whiffleball in her mouth, and she’d drop it near you and wait for another throw. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/6 "2000-08-17T16:18:15Z")
We had a Himalayan kitten years ago who LOVED Dunkin’ Donuts blueberry cake donuts, but even more than that, he loved when we wadded the donut bag into a ball and bounced it off the wall and down the stairs. He’d speed after it, occasionally crashing into the wall at the landing, and bring it back for another go. He was SUCH a cool kitty! ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/7 "2000-08-17T16:22:10Z")
my kitty (Mouse - I didn’t name her) looked like a Russian Blue, played fetch with cigarette packs and puff balls. I had an empty fish tank and would toss it in there, and she’d jump up and retrieve it from there, too. But I suspect that she was really training me, because she’d do this for a while, then start dropping the ball further and further away from me on the retrieve. she’d also wake me up in the middle of the night to play fetch. She had a streak where she’d answer the phone, too - the phone would ring and she’d knock the handset off. Found out one time 'cause it was my mom who called, she wondered what was wrong. Near the end of her life, she played this game with my b/f (he didn’t realize it was a game). He’d start to sit down in the kitchen chair, and she’d jump up just under him then squelch when he would almost sit on her, causing him to jump up and all. then, he started looking behind himself before he sat down, THEN SHE started waiting until AFTER he’d looked once, THEN jump up. I think she was trying to see how many times she could get him to look back behind himself… ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/8 "2000-08-17T16:30:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Athena \* > \*\*Was the cat Siamese, or part Siamese? I’ve had a couple Siamese cats, and it’s a trait of the breed that they fetch. \*\* Hell, they think they’re dogs. Mine meows whenever anyone new comes to the door, greets me at the door, doesn’t let me sit without settling in my lap, knows where I am at all times. She’s just looks like a cat, but I swear to God, she’s a dog. And she does a REALLY good impression of Yoda. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Colzee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Colzee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colzee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/9 "2000-08-17T16:35:29Z")
SwimmingRiddles, HOW does your cat do an impression of Yoda ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/10 "2000-08-17T16:37:39Z")
My cat has always played fetch with those little “real fur” mice that you buy at the pet store. She will bring it back to you everytime you throw it. Until she gets distracted and forgets about the game. Or until she think that you are enjoying it. She is a cat. ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/11 "2000-08-17T16:42:53Z")
Both my Bombays play fetch with silver tinfoil balls, shoelaces, mink tails, and lord knows they know the difference between a scratching post and a my old combat boots. Scratching posts are for sleeping next to, boots are for sharpening claws. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/12 "2000-08-17T16:49:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Colzee \* > \*\*SwimmingRiddles, HOW does your cat do an impression of Yoda \*\* It’s 90% visual. Basically, she strikes a good resemblence, especially with my holding her at the right angle, playing with her ears (which have tufts at the end) and saying in a Frank Ozzy voice: “Yoda I am. Strong the Force is in you.” Trust me, it KILLS. ---
**Author:** ![Lnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/fbc32d/32.png) [@Lnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lnix)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/13 "2000-08-17T17:00:40Z")
My cat, Hubbub, does bird impressions. She’ll sit on the widowsill and make noises like this: “ee-eee,ee-eee” which I guess to her hearing approximates a bird call. I think she’s hoping the birds will think ‘hey looka that big fat bird over there! With fur! Lets go talk to it!’ and then munch munch munch. Weird. I had a male cat once who would pee in the toilet. I swear, he would just climb on up, straddle the seat and let fly. ---
**Author:** ![KimKatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@KimKatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KimKatt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/14 "2000-08-17T17:03:19Z")
An old bf had a cat that played fetch with Q-tips. My current little furries aren’t ones for tricks. They’re quite good at eating, sleeping, and shedding, but not tricks. Although I believe Tiger may be trying to teach himself basic computer skills. Whenever my husband opens his laptop, Tiger either walks across the keyboard, lays down on the keyboard, or lays down on top of the hand using the mouse. Jealous little thing, he is. ---
**Author:** ![MamaHen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@MamaHen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MamaHen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/15 "2000-08-17T17:05:09Z")
Back in 1991 I had a cat named Spawn From hell who loved to fetch plastic Easter eggs. While my husband was involved in the Gulf War I spent my nights throwing plastic Easter eggs for her to fetch and watching the news. The odd thing is, the second my husband came back she never fetched again. She would look at me like I was retarded for expecting her to get these eggs. But I have the last laugh there I have a tape of her chasing the eggs. She was the strangest cat I have ever been around. She used to scare my husband at night by standing on her back legs and chasing him down the hall hissing at him. I would wake up hearing him screaming from the bathroom to help him. The kitten I got just last week has one of those feathers on a stick she loves to play with, she’ll carry it in her mouth over to me when she wants to play. If I won’t play with her she’ll fight it on her own. She’ll flip and flop all around the house with it. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/16 "2000-08-17T17:15:44Z")
My cat Buster fetches toy mice and those fuzzy felt balls sold as cat toys. Our favorite game is for me to sit or lie in my bed and throw the object out of the bedroom (through the doorway into the next room). Buster will chase it down, take it in his mouth, and run back to the bedroom and up onto my bed with it. Then we repeat. It _must_ be exhausting for him, but he’ll happily keep at it for twenty minutes or more without slowing down. Oh, and he’s a big tabby-and-white 15-pounder. I have two other cats, a male pure tabby and a calico. They’re all from the same litter, but only Buster shows any interest in fetching. And no interest at all in felching. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/17 "2000-08-17T17:26:47Z")
Ping pong ball in the bathtub. When they got tired, the smart cats would lie down at the drain end so the ball would roll back to them. And then there was Maggie… ---
**Author:** ![Qixotica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@Qixotica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qixotica)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/18 "2000-08-17T18:03:17Z")
I have a black cat that loves to fetch, but only the rings from milk jugs or the broken off buttons to Glade cans. It’s pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/19 "2000-08-17T18:15:24Z")
Good friend of mine has a cat who plays fetch with pennies. Funniest damn thing (especially on a tile floor). She’ll do it for HOURS. grem ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2000, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735/20 "2000-08-17T18:39:50Z")
One of my cats turns the lights on and off, and opens cabinets by himself. MR [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats/29735.md?page=2)