Weird things cats have done

The things my friend sends me...

This cat spawned an International musical collaboration and brought untold joy to millions  ...that's pretty weird,


Original mix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG2JvYSqGR4


Here's the remix:




Thank you Alugalug cat (and to 'The Kiffness' for pulling it all together)!


If you enjoyed this, The Kiffness has an entire section of cat mixes for your listening pleasure:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqWxGh_2yxf8ZEvt2YgE7LEGJY9LV9Svm[/youtube]

My MM has developed a certain rep when she is inside of bringing us gifts. Normally these are wash cloths that we have no idea where they came from. It seems she has her own stash.  Anyway she upped the game yesterday morning.  Before I got dressed, she trotted over to me with 2 socks .... they were mine....and they matched!   Now, if I can teach her to do the laundry and iron..........

This morning I responded to a thread on Terriers and had a flash back.  We had a neighbor with  herd of Rat Terriers.   We had several cats including a rather large Maine Coon Cat.   All got along well.    Anyway, puppies appeared.   One day, the puppies were circling the Maine Coon with the parents supervising.   We watched with interest. The Maine Coon had dealt with much larger dogs with good results.  It was clear he wasn’t in trouble ....   then it hit us,  he was allowing the parents to use him for training their children.  Yes, when the training was done he calmly walked away, and the puppies going back to their parents.

Jay Angler's Muscovy Duck story reminded me of a cat I had who was equally determined.
I lived in a VW bus with her. We were parking out in the desert at night, she was very pregnant.  One night the coyotes came and sang around the van "Hey fat kitty! Come out and plaaaaaay with uuuuuus!"  She was trying to get out "I'm GOING to kick those dog's asses!" "No. No you are NOT!" She was quite upset.

When it was close to time for her to have the kittens, I made up a nest under the back seat of the van, with towels all arranged nice, and a sand box full of desert sand. She looked at it, pulled ALL the towels out, and put them ALL back in, arranged PROPERLY! Then had her kittens in the sand box. I moved them to the towels. She moved them back to the sand. I moved them again, she moved them back. It was sad, the kittens had sand on their noses all the time "mew! sniz!"

When they got big enough she started teaching them to hunt. I can handle that. And how to kill what they caught, still ok, but NOT when you bring them in the van to slaughter! A bleeding snake in my bed ended the lessons in the van, you do this OUTSIDE!!

And, incidentally, being alone (except for a cat with an attitude) out in the desert in a van surrounded by about 15 singing coyotes is quite an experience! I admit I was REALLY glad I had the van between me and them. They were about 20 feet from the van, in a circle all around us. Was awesome...

:D

I have a cat that likes to bring toads into the house.  The first time, he brought one in late in the evening and dropped it on the kitchen floor.  We turned on lights so we could follow it to try to catch it and return it to the great outdoors.  Nandi was fast though, and kept catching it, then dropping it to chase again.  Finally one time the toad just sat there when the cat dropped it.  I hoped it wasn't injured, but it was breathing, just sitting still.  Nandi reached down and licked it on the back, as if to say "Thanks for the game!" then walked away!  I was able to pick it up and relocate it outside.

A few months later, I was watering my Mom's African Violets, and saw a small toad sitting under the leaves of one plant on the soil, in a 3" pot.  I took the whole thing outside and prodded the toad to jump out near the creek.  I assume Nandi had brought the toad inside when no one was looking.

Just last week, over a year since the last indoor toad sighting, I found another toad sitting inside a glassed-in cage I had made for my Mom's orchid plants.  The cage has a rounded top which I could not fit glass to, but I have no clue how the toad managed to figure out that there was moist soil inside the cage which sits on top of a small chest of drawers.  So Nandi is still up to his toad tricks.  And the toads are pretty smart too!

I hate to admit it.

My cat is a crack addict.

Any crack, between the cabinet and the wall, between two boxes sitting side by side, between a door and the floor, any crack. She's not discriminating at all. All of them MIGHT open like a door, to a whole new place, if only she works hard enough at it! She tends to be under my feet a lot, and attempting to open things that couldn't be opened yesterday or every day for the last year, but it MIGHT open today! We spend a lot of time discussing cracks. She says "MRR! Open it!" Paw paw claw... I say "it's a crack, it's not openable!"  "MRR!!!" rinse and repeat many times a day.

My cat is a crack addict.

:D

There is a rule in our house, caught mice are to be taken to the basement.  For years this rule has been observed as we have seen cats dashing through the living room, into the dining area, and to the basement stairs.  Yesterday, my Master Mouser strolls into the living room with a mouse.  My wife tells her “You know the rules ... get to the basement.”  My MM drops the mouse on the floor, lays on top of it, looks at my wife and says, “ Mouse?  What mouse?  I don’t have a mouse.”

My wife throws a pillow at the MM.  The MM doesn’t budge.   My wife throws another pillow.  Still no movement.  I have to walk over to the MM and pick her up. Then another cat dashes off to the basement with the mouse.

I distinctly remember an elementary school teacher telling our class that only humans lie...animals don’t lie.

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Anna McIntyre wrote:
My previous cat used to deliberately put his paws in an ants nest, wait until the ants had covered his legs, and then lick them off. He would do that repeatedly for several minutes until he was satisfied.
These are the kind of ants that sting when disturbed.
I used to see him do it most days.
Anyone seen a cat do this, or knows why he did it?

Makes me wonder if those ants gather nectar. Some cats really like sweet things.

I had a cat that would come running anytime I cut a ripe pear. She also loved peaches, nectarines, pineapple, all kinds of fruit. I was puzzled, since I had heard that cats don't have the sensors to taste sweet things.

As I was sitting watching permaculture videos and having a snack, I was startled by a strange sound. My cat had taken advantage of the dark room and my focus being elsewhere so that she could stalk and capture a cookie from my plate!

In more adorable weird cat news, earlier this week, she decided to face boop one of the roosters. Perhaps equally surprising was that he didn't mind.

At 4:00 AM my Master Mouser woke me up in full crisis mode.  I got up and checked the house. Nothing unusual.  The dogs outside told me nothing unusual was going on outside. Back inside my wife had gotten up. The three inside cats had reported to the  bedroom.  The alpha outside cat was banging on the door to get in. I opened it and he ran into the bedroom.  I tried to check on what was going on, but my MM told me I should leave it to the experts.   I woke up in the recliner and made coffee.   When I sat back down in the recliner, my MM trots in with a very dead snake in her mouth.    I told her she was a good girl and undoubtedly saved my life. I tossed the dead garden snake outside.

I'm out working in the yard, the cat helps me. She gets beside me and gets in the way sometimes, gets on the side that I'm moving toward. But sometimes she's not in my way at all, on the side I'm done with. Figured out why. She hangs out in the shade of my shadow.
Not a stupid cat :D

I have always enjoyed having several cats on my farm.  They are great mousers and let's be clear, cats have great personalities.  Each kitty is an individual and has it's own peculiar traits.  One of my cats was a Tom and he caused a lot of trouble.  He seemed to want to fight anything.  I was always worried about what he might get into.  One night there was a terrible storm and it was in the evening so I was just on my bench press lifting weights and weathering the storm.  I couldn't understand why I kept hearing a thumping noise against one particular wall of my farm house.  The location is very remote (nearest farm about a mile away).  I decided to go out into the storm and investigate the noise because it was a consistent series of hard blows against my wall.  Into the storm I went...and the storm was such a distraction that my Tomcat and his foe did not notice me walking up on them.

I couldn't believe the scene that I had stumbled upon.  My reckless Tom had apparently decided to fight a bobcat.  I say decided because he had access to a kitty door leading into the home.  He could have easily taken refuge in my home like all of his female peers did whenever they felt it was necessary.  Not Mr. Tom...he needed to prove to the bobcat who was running the farm.  Unfortunately for Mr. Tom the bobcat was in the process of showing him who ran the farm because he was throwing my Tom cat into the side of my home, which is was was making the consistent thumping noise on my wall.  Unbelievably Mr. Tom charged back at the bobcat, who then simply threw Mr. Tom against the wall again.  Obviously the bobcat didn't want to kill Mr. Tom (for the time being) and wanted to make a point before killing him.  

I broke up the fight and the bobcat did what they normally do when seeing a human and the fight ended.  I then took Mr. Tom into the home and had a long talk with him.  He just wouldn't listen.  He never did.  I wonder if Mr. Tom reminds anyone of someone they know...

I just read a post where someone commented about needing a pair of cats to train a dog.   This, of course, triggered a flash back.  RugRat was a Blue Smoke Persian and the most brilliant cat I have ever known.  One day my wife glanced out the front window and motioned for me to come and look.  There was RugRat on her back in the driveway, surrounded by 2 half grown lab pups, and giving them a lesson in respecting cats.  Her front right paw was stuck on the nose of one pup, her left rear foot was stuck on the nose of the other. The pups were howling, and RugRat wasn’t even breaking a sweat. She was obviously enjoying herself.

Pearl posted a thread on the desirability for a homestead owners manual.  My reply triggered a memory of one of our  greatest cats who needed her own instruction manual.    At her heaviest, she might have been 7 pounds. But she refused to take guff from any one or anything. Yes, she got beat up a lot. There were many trips to the vet. But never would she back down. When crossed, her yellow eyes would glow brightly like a demon….and she give out a low rumbling growl.   One of the many things that made her special was that humans were not exempt.  

One day when my wife and I were at the kitchen table, my wife committed the sin of snapping her fingers at this cat.   The cat jumped on the far side of the table….eyes glowing and talking in tongues only satan would understand ….marched across the table to my wife.  Going nose to nose and clearly said “ Do you want a piece of me?!!”

We are convinced she is at Rainbow Bridge ….living under it.

My MM may have just taken 1st place among the most intelligent cats I have known.  She has long been known to bring clean laundry, such as a sock or washcloth, and drop it in front of us with a chirp.   Today it went to a new level.  My wife was taking a shower and the MM came into  the living room with my wife’s underwear.  She chirped and headed back down to the basement.  Then she came up with a bra.  Another chirp…. And back down to the basement.   Again she comes into the LR with a sock. Another chirp and back to the basement.  Then she arrives again ….With a matching sock!!!

John F Dean: What a good kitty!! I hope she was well praised and rewarded for that!!

I don't think I have talked about one of my super smart cats when I was young. He thought ahead, which few cats do. One spring Dad tilled down the leaves that had been on the garden all winter, and all the mice came running out. All of the cats caught a mouse, and took it away to torture it. Except this cat. Who looked at it all, grabbed a mouse, tossed it in a 5 gallon bucket, grabbed another, tossed it into his bucket. By the time the other cats were done with their mice, the tilling was over, the mice had quit running, end of game. Unless you happened to have a bucket with mice in it. Took him several days to get through them all.

That one also knew that after holidays there would be a whole turkey carcass in the fridge, and with 5 kids, it was just a matter of waiting till someone turned away as they shut the door. Then wait till the next kid opened it. You can eat a lot of turkey during that time.  :D  

John F Dean wrote:My MM may have just taken 1st place among the most intelligent cats I have known.  She has long been known to bring clean laundry, such as a sock or washcloth, and drop it in front of us with a chirp.   Today it went to a new level.  My wife was taking a shower and the MM came into  the living room with my wife’s underwear.  She chirped and headed back down to the basement.  Then she came up with a bra.  Another chirp…. And back down to the basement.   Again she comes into the LR with a sock. Another chirp and back to the basement.  Then she arrives again ….With a matching sock!!!

That's great....  unless you happen to have guests in the living room!

My kitten Smudge really wants friends.  The squirrels and birds yell obscenities at her (sometimes she comes slinking inside with a "they're being mean to me," look, so she made friends with a doe.

If ya can't get it at home you're gonna go looking.

Every morning after breakfast the doe comes looking for the cat, peering into the porch door.  When I let Smudge out she goes trotting over to start the flirting Come Here, Go Away game they play for about an hour all over the property.

Only one deer plays this game.  We call her Fanny.  The others stomp and whuff and try to scare scary 7 lb Smudge away.  The one time I saw Fanny with other deer, she ran between them and Smudge to protect the kitten from the other deer.

I've seen the cat-stomping deer youtube video but this is not that kind of relationship methinks.

I have been sure since childhood that non-human animals have a far more complex social structure and intellect than we bipeds give them credit for, and that it is pure convenience of justifiable domination that prevents us from acknowledging furred and feathered sentients.  I poo poo folks who dismiss me as an anthropomorphist, because I am an Anthro - what else would I do?

Cynthia Shelton wrote:The others stomp and whuff and try to scare scary 7 lb Smudge away.  The one time I saw Fanny with other deer, she ran between them and Smudge to protect the kitten from the other deer.

Awww, this is an adorable story and photo... BUT... are you sure Smudge is a 7 pound kitten?  She looks like a 15 pound adult cat in the photo!  My 13 pound cat looks smaller than she does, LOL!

We brought home a overgrown pup from a shelter. My MM observed it carefully for a week.
Then she gave it a kiss on the nose and sat still so it could lick her face.  It has her blessing.

Donna Lynn wrote:[quote

Awww, this is an adorable story and photo... BUT... are you sure Smudge is a 7 pound kitten?  She looks like a 15 pound adult cat in the photo!  My 13 pound cat looks smaller than she does, LOL!

I think it's a trick of perspective.  She's so small she can't reach the levers on the excavator when she's driving it.

A memory of one of my funnest cats, inspired by seeing a dog do the same thing today.

Me and Ms Cat were driving across town. Hot day, windows open, not a problem, she was used to the car, went places a lot, was looking out the window, watching it all go by. We were on a road that had fairly fast moving traffic for in town, speed limit 45, usual traffic flow was at 50 or so. I looked ahead, cars were slowing down to about 25, wonder why? I don't see anything. As I came up on it, I hit the brakes too! Someone was making the absolute best smelling barbecue I have ever smelled! If you can slow down traffic on that road, you need to be selling that, sir!! You'll get rich!

The cat stuck her head out the window, sniffed it well, and considered jumping out! She had more of her body out than in, smelling intensely! That was the ONLY time I ever had to tell her to get her fuzzy butt back in the car!

Today's dog was a hyperactive border collie, who was leaping all over the back of his truck, and I thought was going out as they passed the local barbecue place. He certainly thought hard about it.

I had a Guardian Cat. He was a Russian Blue rescue and never knew a stranger. Well he had been declawed when we got him, but that never stopped him from "protecting" me and my son from when our dogs got too rough in his eyes. One time my 125lb. Shar-Shep-Lab was getting rough with me and then running circles around the couch, well Shadow didn't care for that and took after him running around the couch...twice...trying to catch up...until he finally caught up and my dog Buckeye looks down at him surprised, because they always got along, and Shadow just proceeded to beat him about the face with his paws...Buck was like , What the heck was that for? But he didn't know he started right after he saw Buck jumping up on me...we had another dog he would do the same thing too when he thought he was getting too rough with his dad and brother. Never knew a cat would do that.

Someone asked a question in another thread about a Maine Coon Cat that jogged my memory. In Minnesota my wife motioned me to the back door of our cabin.  There, at the edge of the tree line was our Maine Coon  creeping along hunting field mice. Right behind the Maine Coon was our visiting half grown wolf/Husky mix creeping on his belly.   The Maine Coon seemed to be teaching the dog how to hunt mice.  

And yes, even though the wolf/Husky mix lived on his own in the woods  and only visited us a couple of times a week, he knew our cats and live stock were off limits.  We did take care to introduce him to any new members of our homestead to avoid tragic errors.

I just came back from the front porch where I had to check on the most pitiful howling, screeching , cry that has ever been heard this side of hell.   Our rescue pup, who is fearless against our boar, was getting a lesson in respecting cats.   Sis, our tiniest cat, was teaching her to keep her nose out of the kitty food.

Pearl Sutton wrote:This one was me:
What I was woken up by: A Siamese cat up on my loft bed at 2 AM, crying, choking and spitting....

What I figured out happened: I was leaving town for a week. Made a batch of tempura vegetables, ate some for dinner, decided to eat the rest while I was driving the 50 miles to the airport the next morning. They get tough if they are refrigerated, so I put them on a plate, and flipped a metal mixing bowl over them for a lid. and went to bed.

Knowing the personality of all the cats involved, I'd say Jascha jumped up on the counter, and shoved the bowl, plate, and all onto the floor. All of the cats started having a tempura vegetable party. The skunks came in the cat door, said "Hey! Veggies!" and joined the party. Kesha, the Siamese, was eating on something, a skunk came up to join her. Kesha was a bitchy cat, she whacked it's nose. Skunk turned around and did it's business. Kesha ended up on my bed, crying and spitting.

I got up, figured out the mess, went to bathe Kesha, and had no tomato juice.... so I used Prego with mushrooms :D  She was NOT a happy cat, baths weren't her thing at best, and being Siamese Parmigiana did NOT amuse her at 2 AM. I went back to bed, got a couple more hours of sleep. Got up in the morning, could still smell skunk in the kitchen, made sure the skylight windows were opened, told the cats "Y'all started this, you live with the smell, I'm out of here! Hope it's aired in a week!" And left them to it...

Jascha was a shover, Kesha was a nose whacker, and the skunks were friendly as long as they weren't messed with (this was the only time the house got sprayed, in many years of high skunk population.) And I suspect, with how much she fought, that Kesha ended up with mushrooms in her ears.
I left town :D

I can't grow zucchini, cucumber or rock melon. They're all eaten on the plant by a cat, who is very well fed and loves his meat....

Heather Gardener wrote:I think my weirdest cat moments have been:

1. Walking into living room to discover my cats butt hanging out the chimney as he attempted to climb up it.
2. Discovering that the cat that refused to drink clean water from a bowl was more than happy to drink dirty water from a plant pot, or risk drowning to drink from the toilet.
3. Waking up to loud yowling from my car eager to show me his kill. He had thoughtfully brought the dead mouse onto the pillow next to me, and proceeded to wake me up so I was conscious when he started eating it right next to my ear. The crunching sound those bones made 🤮....oh and he left an organ and a foot on the pillow for me to clean up too.

That was a gift for you to eat!
Water in plant saucers and the toilet tend to be cold so he probably prefers cold water. Try putting an ice block in his water.

John F Dean wrote:When we first moved to this property we had an adolescent Bombay and Maine Coon who invented the greatest game.  A herd of deer would come through our yard at dawn and dusk.  The cats would hide under the leaves and wait until the deer were over them.  Then they would spring up out of the leaves and chase the deer. I kept waiting for them to get stomped, but they always got away with it.

I had a blind cat who loved to go outside. She even ventured into the horse paddock and would happily walk under the horse. Meanwhile, I was having a heart attack. Eventually, I decided they both knew what they were doing.  She was never hurt.

My wife recently had surgery. Our cats have taken it upon themselves to provide quality health care.   Our 4 house cats have created shifts for themselves where they sit beside her, on the side she had surgery, in rotating 2 hour shifts.

My husband is not a cat person though we took in a tiny kitty when her mother left her with us and did not come back.

The cat`s favorite person is dear hubby.

I take her into the bedroom to watch tv to give dear hubby some peace.

Rather than going into the bedroom she will get into the cat carrier which is her bed.  Dear hubby then latches the door so she is in bed for the night.

M Wilcox wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Anna McIntyre wrote:
My previous cat used to deliberately put his paws in an ants nest, wait until the ants had covered his legs, and then lick them off. He would do that repeatedly for several minutes until he was satisfied.
These are the kind of ants that sting when disturbed.
I used to see him do it most days.
Anyone seen a cat do this, or knows why he did it?

Makes me wonder if those ants gather nectar. Some cats really like sweet things.

I had a cat that would come running anytime I cut a ripe pear. She also loved peaches, nectarines, pineapple, all kinds of fruit. I was puzzled, since I had heard that cats don't have the sensors to taste sweet things.

Yes, pears are a great favourite with 2 of my cats. Have to keep them in a cupboard. Avocados are a GREAT favourite with them all.

John F Dean wrote:My wife recently had surgery. Our cats have taken it upon themselves to provide quality health care.   Our 4 house cats have created shifts for themselves where they sit beside her, on the side she had surgery, in rotating 2 hour shifts.

And that's when the REAL healing takes place!

John F Dean wrote:Pearl posted a thread on the desirability for a homestead owners manual.  My reply triggered a memory of one of our  greatest cats who needed her own instruction manual.    At her heaviest, she might have been 7 pounds. But she refused to take guff from any one or anything. Yes, she got beat up a lot. There were many trips to the vet. But never would she back down. When crossed, her yellow eyes would glow brightly like a demon….and she give out a low rumbling growl.   One of the many things that made her special was that humans were not exempt.  

One day when my wife and I were at the kitchen table, my wife committed the sin of snapping her fingers at this cat.   The cat jumped on the far side of the table….eyes glowing and talking in tongues only satan would understand ….marched across the table to my wife.  Going nose to nose and clearly said “ Do you want a piece of me?!!”

We are convinced she is at Rainbow Bridge ….living under it.

Talking in tongues only satan understands - I can't control my laughter

John F Dean wrote:There is a rule in our house, caught mice are to be taken to the basement.  For years this rule has been observed as we have seen cats dashing through the living room, into the dining area, and to the basement stairs.  Yesterday, my Master Mouser strolls into the living room with a mouse.  My wife tells her “You know the rules ... get to the basement.”  My MM drops the mouse on the floor, lays on top of it, looks at my wife and says, “ Mouse?  What mouse?  I don’t have a mouse.”

My wife throws a pillow at the MM.  The MM doesn’t budge.   My wife throws another pillow.  Still no movement.  I have to walk over to the MM and pick her up. Then another cat dashes off to the basement with the mouse.

I distinctly remember an elementary school teacher telling our class that only humans lie...animals don’t lie.

That definitely wasn't lying. That was MM telling you, in no uncertain terms, that cats do things their way, a way of saying "don't tell me what to do, I decide"

John F Dean wrote:My wife recently had surgery. Our cats have taken it upon themselves to provide quality health care.   Our 4 house cats have created shifts for themselves where they sit beside her, on the side she had surgery, in rotating 2 hour shifts.

I've heard that the vibration of cat purrs is a healing frequency, for the whole body, but especially for bone.  

A dog I used to have could smell an injury even when none was apparent from the outside of the body.  After I tore two knee ligaments, he sniffed at that precise spot for a long minute, then look up at me with concern in his eyes.  So probably cats can smell or sense injuries as well.  

I'd say that providing quality health care is exactly what your good cats are doing!

What about a variation of the title? What weird things have you done for your cats? I planned my new kitchen to have enough counters for cat beds.

My cat was asleep on the bed.
Quite often when I walk in the room and she's asleep, she wakes up, stretches out, chirps at me, I pet her, and she goes back to sleep.
Today I walked in, she reached her hands out, waved them a bit, looked very happy, made little noises. I petted her, she JUMPED! She had been deep asleep, dreaming, took her a sec to orient where she was, then she sniffed around behind her, looking for whoever she'd been dreaming about that made her so happy.

I felt bad :(   Didn't mean to wake her from an awesome dream, I know how much that sucks.

In case anyone doubts that cats can understand human language…. Last night my wife asked if I could bring her up some socks from the laundry when I got up in the morning.   This morning there were at least 25 socks laying on the living room floor with our Master Mouser proudly beside them. I know I am creating a problem, but I had to praise her for being so helpful.  And yes, she only brought up socks.  

I did mention to my wife that I need to change the oil on our truck …. Maybe I will get lucky.