# What inexplicable things does your cat do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608 "2020-06-29T03:38:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/81 "2020-07-27T01:09:44Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Merlin steals challah. And eats it with every sign of enjoyment. Maybe he’s getting in touch with his Jewish roots?  That _is_ inexplicable. Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to steal the afikoman?? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/82 "2020-07-27T05:17:59Z")
You know how when you toss a cat a ball, she will bat it around, toss in the air and catch it, and so on? Very cute, right? But this cat did the exact same thing to mice she caught, like they were an AI squeaky toy, instead of killing and/or eating them. Then one has to take half-dead rodents (and sometimes birds) to the vet and rehabilitate them… (Assuming they are going to act like real cats, how does one teach them to terminate their prey instead of torturing them for a while?) ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/83 "2020-07-27T06:21:46Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Assuming they are going to act like real cats, how does one teach them to terminate their prey instead of torturing them for a while? They _are_ acting like real cats! Ever hear the expression ‘playing a cat-and-mouse game’? That’s what real cats do with real mice. It’s not that your cat is doing the same thing with mice as she does with squeaky toys - it’s the other way round. She’s doing the same thing with squeaky toys that cats naturally do with mice. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/84 "2020-07-27T07:40:08Z")
My 14-year-old tabby, Ebeneezer, no longer allows me to have bare feet in his presence. If he sees me without socks on, he will follow me and bite my ankles repeatedly until I cover up. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/85 "2020-07-28T01:25:43Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > That _is_ inexplicable. Doesn’t he know he’s supposed to steal the afikoman?? _slow clap_ ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/86 "2020-07-30T04:23:04Z")
Recently had a mama cat give kittens. Kittens are now old enough to eat food on their own and have been wandering around the house. We put out dishes with kitten food specifically for the kittens (we bought Purina Dry Kitten Chow and water it down properly for them) and notice the mama cat will upon seeing her kittens eating something, go to the dish, sweep her kitten aside and start eating that food for herself, then if she sees a kitten eating from another dish close by she will abandon that dish to eat from the new dish and so-on. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/87 "2020-07-30T14:10:59Z")
Pregnant and nursing mother cats also need kitten-type food, and lots of it. Maybe she’s trying to rebuild her reserves. I’ve seen that I-want-the-dish-she’s-eating-out-of! behavior in a number of species; including an occasional human. Probably more of us would do it if we didn’t get taught that it’s rude. (Time to get Mama Cat a spaying appointment . . . ) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/88 "2020-07-30T16:41:59Z")
I tried posting this earlier, but it disappeared for some reason. Some cats will definitely do this to other adult cats (abandon their own perfectly good bowl of food to steal the other cat’s), but I would have expected even those to spare kittens, at least until they got older. It is also true that many adult cats, not necessarily lactating, like to gobble up the small kitten food; maybe they like the higher fat content. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/89 "2020-07-30T17:49:56Z")
Our cat likes to stir his water before drinking, and his preferred method is to drag the water dish around in circles for a minute or so, generally resulting in most of the water sloshing onto the floor. I finally had to build a small wooden platform that anchors to the baseboard and holds the dish securely. He will still try to drag it but has to settle for a few pats before settling down to drink. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/90 "2020-07-30T18:24:52Z")
> [@moes\_lotion](#): > > Our cat likes to stir his water before drinking, and his preferred method is to drag the water dish around in circles for a minute or so, generally resulting in most of the water sloshing onto the floor Yep, I have one of those too. Tried everything, heavy crockery bowls, leaving a slow water drip in the bathtub. The anchored down wooden water bowl sounds like a good idea-how soon can you have one delivered to the Midwest? ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/91 "2020-07-30T18:46:39Z")
I had some left over 2x6 cedar so I carved out the center of a short piece to hold the ceramic water dish and put short dowel legs at one and, and fashioned a clip that attached to the aforementioned baseboard. This way everything could easily be moved out of the way for vacuuming and floor washing. He managed to drag the bowl up and out of the carved depression after about a day spilling everything in the process, so the the next step was to add 4 short dowel posts ringing the depression to prevent that. It looks like a little wharf sticking out of the kitchen wall with a ceramic children’s wading pool sitting on it. I’ll provide a picture if you’d like a project to pass some time. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/92 "2020-07-30T18:52:10Z")
Thank you for the photo offer. Your description was so clear my craft guy can take it from there😽 I have to laugh about needing the 4 dowels to hold the dish in-my water devil kitty would do the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/93 "2020-07-30T19:04:16Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’ve brought 3 baby kittens in to foster. They’ve never been out of their crate except when I’m feeding and cleaning. > The 2 resident Siamese are scared shitless of them. Many years ago we found a lost Siamese in our backyard and my sister brought it into the house, and my mother called the local radio station to get them to announce that we had it (did I say this was MANY years ago?) Meanwhile, our family cat marched out of the house in disgust, to sit on the front porch. My father usually came home from work for lunch, and not knowing about the Siamese intruder, tried to pet our cat on his way in. Our cat took a swipe and sliced open the back of his hand. Fortunately the owners came by to pick up their cat shortly after. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/94 "2020-07-30T20:17:16Z")
I can say without hesitation I’d like to see that contraption you built @moes_lotion. Please. The foster kittens went back Monday. The Siamese haven’t forgiven me yet ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/95 "2020-07-30T20:28:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > The Siamese haven’t forgiven me yet If your Siamese are like my Siamese they _won’t ever_ forgive you. Does royalty ever forgive commoners or servants for transgressions? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/96 "2020-07-30T20:41:10Z")
I had a cat who couldn’t figure out how to bury his poop. He’d go into the box, drop a deuce, then start scratching. He’d scratch the wall, the side of the box, random nearby objects, but never quite got the idea that he needed to scratch the litter towards the smelly log. Since he never covered the thing, he just kept scratching, as if the trick was to just keep scratching randomly until it didn’t smell anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/97 "2020-07-30T21:35:58Z")
Occasionally I get a favor because of my super bestist goodie homemade liver treats. Occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/98 "2020-07-30T22:02:24Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I can say without hesitation I’d like to see that contraption you built @moes_lotion Glad to oblige, but I’ll have to figure out a way to get the photo on-line somewhere to share it. Despite working in IT related jobs for the past 20 plus years I don’t really have much of an online presence. I will try to get the cat to pose with the dish once I’ve set something up. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/99 "2020-07-30T22:38:55Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Occasionally I get a favor because of my super bestist goodie homemade liver treats. > Occasionally. Mine won’t settle for anything less than bites off my plate and only when I’m still eating it. Setting my plate or bowl on the floor after I’m done isn’t good enough. Liver doesn’t come into my house and liver _sure_ isn’t going to see the inside of a mixing bowl or pan of mine. Maybe your recipe would work with tuna? Catnip mice and a toy called ‘Cat Dancer’ sometimes bends them to my will, if they are in the right mood and the stars are aligned in the heavens. [ [image] ](https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Dancer-101-Interactive-Toy/dp/B0006N9I68) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608/100 "2020-07-31T00:31:11Z")
I cut up into bits, chicken livers and boil them with garlic. It smells bad. But the Cats appreciate them. I cook them about twice a month. I had to get them off Temptations Treats. They quit eating regular food as long as the kitty krack was in the house. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inexplicable-things-does-your-cat-do/913608.md?page=6)