So I adopted this cat about two years ago now. I've had cats my whole life and they've always been so smart, graceful, etc. Well, this kitty just broke that little mold. I mean, she misjudges the distances on most of her amazing jumps (leaving her clawing up whatever piece of furniture she was attempting to land on).
So yesterday it was raining out so she couldn't go outside. She was in a really good mood when I got home from work which I thought odd bc normally when she has to stay in she bugs me all night long to let her out (which I refuse to do). Suddenly she was flying across the floor and rolling around playing with something. I thought, oh no is it a mouse or something? Nope-it was her tail! I mean this cat was REALLY into it...rolling around and grabbing it between all fours to chomp on it (yeah, unlike a dog she's flexible enough to catch it), going in circles you name it.
It cracked me up to watch her, but I'm wondering, is this normal? I've never seen a cat do this before-I've heard of dogs doing it, but cats?
Normal, maybe not - but I don't think there's anything wrong with her. I've had a cat who wasn't the brightest bulb in the box either, and was completely uncatlike. Cleo didn't even like washing herself, like most cats do. She had long, silky hair, and she would start to get kind of "greasy." When she started looking pretty bad, the older cat Sheba (who didn't like Cleo very much, but apparently didn't want her looking so dirty) would groom her (growling, hissing and bopping Cleo on the head as she did so - reminded you of an inpatient mom as she was trying to get the snarls out of an uncooperating daughter's hair).
Cleo would sometimes act like a child with nightmares. In the middle of the night she would run into the bedroom, jump on the bed crying pitifully and loudly like something was tremendously the matter. I'd pet her and she'd settle down. It happened rarely, so she didn't seem to be doing it just for attention (though who knows). She was a real character, and always entertaining.
omg this is great... you had me laughing out looud... my cats are like this too... i say it's normal for a kitty who's got a lot of energy bottled up... especially if it's use to going outside... but my cat satan is a bit cross eyed(the one on my avatar) and when he jumps from here to there sometimes he mis-judges it and completely misses which can be quite amusing when he's aiming for the back of the couch and face plants into the cushion instead... lmao anywho... i love it when my cats do this... quite entertaining and just proves that they're happy...
Oh, yes - very normal. Our Chloe did it a lot when she was a kitten. I thought she would hurt herself - she bit that tail so hard! They are fun to watch - enjoy her, she sounds like a gem!
Wow I didn't know there was a pet section on here!!!
My cat has started to chase her tail recently too!! I rescued years ago, I think she might be 5 or 6 years old. She just started doing that all of the sudden. She hasn't done it in a while though! I think it's normal unless it becomes pretty bad.
I love Satan's pic, I adore tabby point and other oriental shorthair mixes. I've always wanted a flame point myself, and my MIL has a cat that is a dilute torbie and calico mix with blue, slightly crossed eyes (betraying her oriental heritage).
Although, they're all each individuals, there does seem to be a "generic" personality that many cats share. But when you have one that REALLY stands out, it's just so special, isn't it?
Sheba was a very fine cat, but very much a typical cat. She spent the longest (that I know of) with her mother (a barn cat) of any cat I had, so maybe that was part of it. She was originally my parents' cat, and her only somewhat odd trait was her devotion to my parents' maltese. When she was a kitten, she adopted Caesar as her surrogate mother (which did not please him at all, as for a long time, he was terrified of the little gray and white tiger striped kitty). She tried to follow him everywhere, and he would tuck tail and run from her - even getting up on chairs to avoid her (which of course, didn't work for long). Eventually, they became not just friends, but buddies. They would chase each other around the house (and I mean each other, you'd see a flash of white following a flash of gray in the hallway and in a few minutes the pattern would reverse). Her specialty was playing practical jokes on the dog like getting him to chase her around the coffee table and then jumping up on the table to watch him make a few more rounds before realizing she was gone. Or running towards a spot on the wall just to the side of the doorway, and at the last minute dodging through the doorway - and the dog unable to make the swift corner would run face-first into the wall. Despite repeating the prank over and over, the poor dense dog fell for it every time.
By the time my cat, Cleo entered the household, Caesar and Sheba were like an old married couple (they'd sleep butt to butt on the back of the couch), and Cleo was the rowdy and bratty grandchild (or more accurately, the unwelcomed neighbor kid).
The weirdest little cat I ever had was our dear Keek (Miss Speckles was her official name, but we often called her Keek or Keekee). In April, she died unexpectantly after being sick only one day. We'd only had her 2 years (she was four and had an undiagnosed heart problem - her sitting in a chair like a person may not have just been a quirk, it might have been a position that allowed the fluid around her heart to drain, but except for that peculiarity, you'd have never guessed anything was wrong with her).
In May, we went to the Humane Society and decided that we'd pick the cat that picked us as Keek had. I have to say I wasn't prepared for the cat that chose us. An 8 year old torbie (orange faced) weighing almost 18 pounds with a growly meow. We say that if she were human, she'd be an overtanned, overbleached blonde sixty year old chain smoker.
In some ways she's stereotypically cat-like. She has this very serious expression on her face, all of the time. At first, she barely ever meowed. Now she's a talker, but even when she's happy her meow is so growly it sounds like a complaint (and usually, it probably is). She likes to lay on her back with her paws tucked in front of her like an otter (hubby calls her otter cat). It's funny, because she's so lazy that if you call her while in otter position, she doesn't sit up, she just lifts her head up and turns her head to see you - which only makes her look more like an otter.
She'll "demand" to be helped onto the bed when her arthritis is bad, but with some weight loss, and glucosamine and chondroitin snacks, she's getting alot more limber.
We just got home Wednesday night from a two week stay with my family. Our neighbor down the hall has kept an eye on her, and played with her for a couple hours every night (he has his own old-gal cat in his apartment) and he kept her on her diet regimen very well (we thought she might sucker him into extra treats).
She was so happy to see us (and not pouty at all like other cats I've had when you return from a trip). But it got a bit ridiculous on Wednesday night, because ALL night, repeatedly every 45 minutes or so, I would either wake to her plastered against my back, or more commonly trying to wrap herself around my head on my pillow (once even licking me between the eyebrows), or with her under my arm wiggling her head under my hand and nodding her head in order to "bounce" my hand up and down on her head (her sign that she wants to be petted - whether you want to or not). I did let her get away with it, because it was so obvious how badly she missed us, and we'd missed her terribly too (with us on disability, we spend alot of time with the cat, and there's seperation anxiety on the human side as well as the feline).
I could talk for days about critter stories. I'm so sappy sometimes.
Haha, it cracked me up to read about your cat tricking the dog! Sadly for Macy (my not so bright kitty) when she gets going on the linolium floor in the kitchen, it's often she who slides headfirst into the cabinet or wall. My other older and much more dignified kitty, Teddy, will just watch her in contempt. Much as Macy wants to play with Teddy, Teddy just isn't into it. So Macy attempts to ambush her. But at the age of 2 1/2 she still does that ever so obvious kitten butt wiggle just before she pounces, still "hides" out in the open before pouncing, and (heaven help her) gets stuck to furniture.
Like the time she was actually in a position to finally ambush Teddy from the arm of the chair she was straddling (it's how she likes to lay on furniture, no idea why), so as Teddy innocently and unaware walked under Macy, Macy made her move to jump-only her little paw was stuck to the arm of the chair. Needless to say the element of suprise was blown, and when she finally managed to exctract her claw from the sofa, Teddy whacked her good.
I think what I enjoy most about her antics is that she plays it cool after. Like when she's just run into a wall, gotten her head stuck through the handle of a paper bag, gotten stuck to a piece of furniture-or just fallen off of it, she just gets up and walks by like nothing has happened.
I'm glad to know she's not the only one who is, shall we say, special? haha, I must say having a cat like Macy is a lot of fun-she keeps me laughing anyways! And I love hearing your tales of your not so bright kitties too!
My cat didn't misjudge the distance, but still face-planted. He was aiming for the top of the open drawer of a lateral file cabinet. Only I didn't know. I shut the drawer just as he jumped.
He was soooo confused and embarrassed
He also loves plastic grocery bags. He puts his head through the handles and then wears it around the house like a cape. He'll even take a nap in it.
But he makes up for it because he likes to spoon. Seriously, he climbs in bed, crawls under the covers and turns around, then cuddles up and spoons, with his chin on my arm, just barely poking out from under the covers.
Not the brightest...
