# Mysterious New Cat Behavoid **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-new-cat-behavoid/695876 "2014-08-19T05:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-new-cat-behavoid/695876/41 "2014-08-20T18:23:17Z")
Sounds like you are doing everything right. There’s no telling what smells your previous cat may have left. Maybe the bed is less “scented” because you wash and change the sheets and blankets fairly often, and get a lot of your own scent on it. Maybe the previous cat spent days on the side of the couch you typically sit on, and it is well-scented. You could try using an upholstery cleaner on the couch, or sprinkle some catnip on it, or just throw a clean blanket over it. That’s all I’ve got. Except, I have a black cat, and she it great. I was at the shelter picking up something, and decided to look in on the kitten room just for the “squee” factor. A black kitten jumped on my shoulder, and was not going to let me leave her behind. So, I had a new kitten. I’d had a black cat before, and lost her about a year earlier, when she was almost 17, so I didn’t think twice about her being black, because the earlier one had been a great car ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-new-cat-behavoid/695876/42 "2014-08-20T18:46:14Z")
I took in a very shy cat–the only thing that would bring him out from under the bed was catnip. So, I highly recommend you buy a big jar and use it liberally. Oh also Feliway seemed to calm my cats down considerably when we moved. ---
**Author:** ![Martha-Shumway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Martha-Shumway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha-Shumway)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-new-cat-behavoid/695876/43 "2014-08-20T18:47:56Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > If you ignore her in the living room, one day she’ll be up checking things out. It might not take a long time, but you never know. What a cat does today might totally change tomorrow. Lizzy likes to sleep stretched out beside me up against my back. Very relaxed and open. As soon as I wake up, she flies into her hut in the living room. I think she just likes to see if this is a shower, feed the cats, adn leave day or a fart around the house day. > > I’ll bet once she decides she knows YOUR behavior (sit on the couch for 30, or up and down, shifting spots, one place, music, no music, etc.), she’ll decide what her’s is. If all else fails, read a book and hold it in front of your face. Never known a cat who could resist jumping up and making you stop that. BeeGee - The only couch activity that draws Bessie over is if I’m eating something. I’m glad to give her a taste, but she won’t eat it if it is too close to me. I never thought I’d miss the day when a fuzzy buddy got between me and my book! ---
**Author:** ![Martha-Shumway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Martha-Shumway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha-Shumway)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-new-cat-behavoid/695876/44 "2014-08-20T18:58:13Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Sounds like you are doing everything right. There’s no telling what smells your previous cat may have left. Maybe the bed is less “scented” because you wash and change the sheets and blankets fairly often, and get a lot of your own scent on it. Maybe the previous cat spent days on the side of the couch you typically sit on, and it is well-scented. You could try using an upholstery cleaner on the couch, or sprinkle some catnip on it, or just throw a clean blanket over it. > > That’s all I’ve got. > > Except, I have a black cat, and she it great. I was at the shelter picking up something, and decided to look in on the kitten room just for the “squee” factor. A black kitten jumped on my shoulder, and was not going to let me leave her behind. So, I had a new kitten. I’d had a black cat before, and lost her about a year earlier, when she was almost 17, so I didn’t think twice about her being black, because the earlier one had been a great car Since my sweet old Hudson died I’ve gotten a new sofa and chair, so I don’t think any residual cat scent is there. I also got rid of all his cat stuff so that shouldn’t give Bessie any bad vibes (though I sure admit other scents may be lingering). Good idea, though! And what did you think would happen when you checked out the “kitten” room? You’re lucky you only ended up with one! And congrats on your new black kitty! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-new-cat-behavoid/695876/45 "2014-08-21T07:53:49Z")
> [@Martha-Shumway](#): > > Since my sweet old Hudson died I’ve gotten a new sofa and chair, so I don’t think any residual cat scent is there. I also got rid of all his cat stuff so that shouldn’t give Bessie any bad vibes (though I sure admit other scents may be lingering). Good idea, though! And what did you think would happen when you checked out the “kitten” room? You’re lucky you only ended up with one! And congrats on your new black kitty! Oh, she’s not new, she’s nine. She’s young at heart, though. She still requires exactly as much attention as she did as a kitten, so when we lost our big boy (he developed a liver mass as age almost-16), she got very lonely and extra clingy. About nine months later there was a tortie at the vet’s seeking a home, so we adopted her. The two cats turned out to be a great match, and play all the time. The tortie just moved right in, no issues at all. We went with the stereotype, and called the current black cat Morgan, but the earlier one was named Irene Dunne. The tortie is Lillian Gish. Husband calls her “Nougat” though, because we called her “New cat” for so long she was starting to respond to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-new-cat-behavoid/695876.md?page=2)