Top 10 quirky cat stories (is your story here?)
Music. Curtains. Envelope…
As Angie of the CatLadyLand blog says, cats are funny.
I don’t think we get to talk enough about how they surprise us.
A couple weeks ago we had a giveaway where everyone shared something odd their cat has done.
(We had one lucky randomly drawn winner, Julie with her cat Leo. She got the $50 gift certificate! Julie had a cute Leo quirk to report and you can catch it on that post.)
But there were so many good ones that I couldn’t let them all languish in a comments section!
So I had a secret team help me with the impossible task of choosing the top 10.
The envelope please… announcing the chosen in no particular order:
Julie S’s cat: Blesses you if you sneeze
Her cat Jimbo “says ‘bless you’ every time we sneeze. It’s not a meow, it is more like a three-syllable attempt to speak. He is very polite.”
Nancy‘s cat: Opened doors and took inventory
She had an extraordinary Maine Coon mix cat named Suckup (“husband named him”).
“He would open two kitchen cabinets doors (always the same ones) early every morning and sit & look in them like he was taking inventory. Medicine cabinets were were a snap, so we had to remove anything dangerous out of them (razor blades, medicine, etc,). I had a very neat and organized linen closet since he rearranged it on a regular basis.
He then advanced to other doors, and realized that he could stretch up and grasp the knobs. Then he would start swinging back & forth and the doors would open, even when they were locked. He often surprised guests during the night when he launched his 18 lb. body onto their bed. We had to install a deadbolt on the door into the garage, so he couldn’t go out there. Life was never dull with him and we miss him so much.”
Debi Lefever’s, Christina’s and Geo’s cats: Get musical
Both Geo and Debi told us about their singing cats.
Geo’s cat Valentino,”talks back by chirping his replies. And when I sing, he runs up to me, gets very close to my face, and meows loudly. He is full of quirky, humorous antics!
Debi has cat named Chrissy who, “as soon as I start to sing, immediately comes running and sticks her face into my face and even chirps a few mews with me.”
(Liz: Bastet used to do that too!)
Christina tells us about Ms Kali, a petite silver tabby going on 20: “When our lives merged she was 3, and we lived in a shared household where music jams were frequent in the living room. Kali would walk into the center of the action and ‘dance’ by batting her tail, often following the flute player or singling out another instrument to focus her attention on…
…more recently Kali was guest in the house of a friend while I was away. On the evening of her rehearsal, my friend said that Kali…climbed up on the piano bench while the pianist was playing and batted her tail back & forth like a metronome! Sweet old Kali- the girl’s still got rhythm!”
Melanie‘s cat: Sits in crazy position to watch television
“My cat, Stuart, is an attention hound…He’s not happy to sit next to me on my lap, he has to climb up on me and lie down on my chest, while I’m sitting! He seems to want to be as close to my face as possible.”
Liz: Stuart reminds me a bit of our cat Joel. He loves to tuck into the crook of your neck whenever possible. He didn’t outgrow that from kittenhood. Anyone who thinks cats are stand offish has not met Stuart or Joel!
Barbara L’s cats: Rearrange objects in the house
“When he was a young cat, Riley used to drag the rug in front of the kitchen sink through several rooms of the house then work on getting it up the stairs to the second floor. We learned to be very careful on the steps as we never knew when there might be a stray throw rug over which to trip!
Another cat, Puck…has a habit of “shopping” for interesting objects in the basement, then brings them upstairs through the cat door and deposits them on the wood floor. I have found dozens of nails and drywall screws, figures from a train layout, a fabric carrying case for a small hand tool, and many other interesting things. Life with multiple cats is NEVER boring!”
Kathi’s cat: Dives under rugs
Her cat Mooks “loves to dive under area rugs, burrow and face out, huge amber eyes peering out at me until I pick up his feather toy to dangle in front of him.”
Michelyn Garduno’s cat: Acts super smart
“My 14 year old Tonkinese is smarter than some people I know. From kittenhood he has figured out amazing things.
When I jingle car keys he jumps on my shoulder to go for a ride.
He figured out baby latches before I did.
But his most amazing trick is when he uses the toilet and then flushes it when he is done. One of my other cats, Calli Rose, will come drop toys in so he can flush and she can watch them spin down.”
Paula of Sweet Purrfection’s cat: Sticks head under fountain
“Truffle likes to stick her head directly under the waterfall in her water fountain. She’ll keep it under there and then stick out her cute little tongue as if trying to catch the water running off her nose. She’ll do this for about 5 minutes and finally stop when her head is soaked. She then goes to the regular water bowl to drink water.”
That last sentence cracks me up. Catch a video here.
Gia and Julie S’s cats: Love you if you’re in the bathroom
Both Gia and Julie have cats who basically prefer hanging out with them in the bathroom to hanging out with them anywhere else. As Julie says, “they think it’s party time” in there.
Does your cat do any of the above?
Or something else?
P.S. I also want to praise blogger Us4Cat’s great description of her gentlemanly hugging cat, Stripes, which I added at the end of my last post, When a cat loves a human.
Melanie’s siamese cat Misty likes to watch TV with her in the funniest position I have ever seen a cat hold for an extended time.
Here’s the description and the photo:
“She will settle down on my left side, curled up in the crook of my arm. Then, the acrobatics begin. She sits up right, slouches down, turns sideways a little bit, puts both back legs over her head, reaches one front leg through the back legs, and holds her tail with both front paws.”
Ellen’s cat: Has to be as close as possible