cats' rituals

Hello!

My name is Natalia and I'm a new member! I'm studying cats' behavior and I wonder if you folks could help me with some cat ritual stories. Does your cat like to do something in a specific order, or does he/she knows some ways to communicate with you (like tapping your leg when he/she is hungry)?
Thank you very much,

Natalia

I've got a nightly ritual for you...
My three cats know exactly when it is time to go to bed. At 10 o'clock every night they lay right in front of the stairway that leads to my bedroom. When I get ready to head towards the door, I always say "Come on Kid's...lets go to bed" and they instantly jolt up the stairs. By the time I go up the stairs and walk in my bedroom, they are waiting patiently next to the bed. I've always given them a little treat when it's time to go to bed, so they are very eager to get me to go to bed. If I happen to go out on the town on a Friday or Saturday night and don't make it home by "bedtime"...Tiki (my youngest) sits on the top of the stairs and meows for me until I get home (at least that's what the rest of my family tells me!).
I just thought I share this with you and good luck on your research.
-Shell

Feeding time - everyone ALWAYS goes to the same bowl to eat!

Ripley always goes to bed with me, as well.

My hubby tells me that the cats just know when I am close to coming home after work - he says that they methodically wait for me at the door. I know this is true, as I usually trip my way into the house

My two also always know when I am coming home from work and try to trip me up

Corky also does the same thing each night at about 7.30pm when it's time for her to come in. All I need to do is open the back door and she will come tearing towards the house and then stop about a foot away from the door, and just sits looking at me with a look on her face saying "awww do I have to come in yet." She will then refuse to move unless I offer her some food

I've posted this before, but a few months ago. Alf rattles the front-door letter-box when he wants to come in, and Ronnie has also learnt to do this. The problem is that the neighbour's cat Mittens has also cottoned onto this trick and keeps on knocking to come in.....

When I get home from work my two cats, after a few rubs of the tummy, will go poop in the litter box. Now, this only a weekday thing. Weekends are poop when you want days. I've always wondered if they only poop when I'm home.

Lol Missy

My tow have a habit of always going in the litter boxes when I am trying to clean them out, even if they have only just used the box.

I think that is the only habit which does acually annoy me, but they are soon forgiven *sigh*

Sam lets me know when he is hungry (or, to be more precise, when it is 6:00 am and I should be getting out of bed to feed him fresh wet food).

First a gentle Meow.
Next, a more strident Meow.
Then MEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOW.
Now, if those have not worked, he scratches the box spring - to make it echo - much more satisfying than just the mattress.
Followed by - jumping on my chest and purring really loud in my face.
Followed by face licking, by which time he knows I am awake, because I turn my face away as he reaches my mouth - no kitty kisses on the lips, thank you very much.

Now, if I still want to sleep in, I get head butts - that is, he starts trying to shove me out of bed.

And if all else fails, he knows that I will give up if he lies across my chest with his tail in my face.

So I feed him, he sits on his piece of paper to groom after the meal, and then he goes to his little cat bed and sleeps for the next 12 hours.

Is that what you consider a ritual?

Fitzy is usually at the door when I get home from work--if he isn't he comes running out of the bedroom to greet me. Then we go into the kitchen and I give him his wet food while I make supper (he stands on a stool with his paws on the handle to the oven while I put his food in his bowl--I make his supper on top of the stove).
At night, I get ready for bed and give him a kiss. Then I go into the bedroom and put on my hand cream and turn on my sleep-mate noise-maker and go to turn the light off. By the time I get to the switch, Fitz is sitting just outside the door for his 2nd kiss. I turn off the light and go to sleep. Then Fitz goes into the kitchen and eats his dry food. When he's done eating, he comes in and sleeps between my feet. In the morning, he snuggles on my neck and after my 3rd snooze, he gets up. On weekends, he wakes me up at 7:00am by biting my arm or rattling the beads that hang on my bedpost.
He also comes into the bathroom doing his squeaky noises when I turn the shower off. My baby is all rituals.

I think that we can summarize: life is a ritual for a cat. Once we do something, the cat expects it to be done the same way, every day, over and over and over again.

My apartment is dotted with pieces of cardboard - there's the "wait outside the bathroom door for mom to finish showering" cardboard, the "dinner is over grooming station" cardboard, the "wait beside the bed until mom is all settled and I can have a good night cuddle" cardboard - which is actually a pizza box, the "wait on the dining room floor for squirrels to appear in the tree outside the window" cardboard.

When I got back from a week's vacation, Sam was happy to see me, but also spent the evening checking to see that his cardboards were all in the right place. He went and meowed at each one - I think he was saying "Thank goodness nothing happened to THIS".

Cooper poops on que...

6:15 am
5:35 pm

Makes clean up a "breeze"

I don't know why my girls do this, but when I walk in the door to my apartment, they come and greet me and then the run to the scratching post and start scratching. I think it is adorable. As if to say: "Look Mom, we know what this is for". Every time. They are adorable.

Ivo waits at the door for me every weekday. She calls, and when I open the door she goes out into the hall, to make sure no bad guys have followed me home. Then, after I put my stuff down and go the the restroom, she'll use her litterbox at the same time (it's right outside the bathroom).

Oh, and when I leave in the morning I have to tell her "Watch out for the bad guys and monsters, and don't let in any evil pigeons. I love you and I'll be back later. I'm going to work so I can buy you cat food." Well, maybe that's for me

I think I'm a full time mom to my four kitties now...I play with them all day in addition to caring for them as usual. And so they've grown jealous of me. If I go to scratch Major's head, Max will bite him on the ear and bat at me. If I switch to pet Max, Major will do a tiny little growl! The all love their bellies rubbed. Lucie is a general spazz and attaches herself to my leg, but Duke is still just a bit shy. Cats are the best- no dog would ever do this!

-Sixkitties