curious behavior

Since I got Junior in mid September he has occasionally acted curiously. He will sit up on his haunches in front of a vertical surface and start rapidly rubbing his front paws on the surface as if running in place. It's almost always a surface which will make noise when he does it, such as a piece of loose wallpaper in the kitchen, vinyl miniblinds, or the side of a nylon cube structure he has (both inside and out). I would notice him doing this once very couple of days, though of course I have no idea how often he did it when I was gone.

Thursday evening I put in a Comfort Zone Feliway plugin. I don't know if that is related or not but since then I've noticed him doing this more often. He does it when he gets up in the morning and also does it throughout the evening before we go to bed. There's no visible damage done to the surfaces in use and the only negative effect is the noise (especially when I'm still in bed in the morning). Sometimes he just walks up to the surface and starts doing it for 10-15 seconds at a time. Other times he will sprint to the surface, do it for 2-3 seconds, then sprint off someplace else.

What is Junior trying to accomplish when he does this? I know there are scent glands on his paws so is he just marking his territory? Is he just bored and entertaining himself by making noise? What other causes are there?

Mez

It's normal. Mine do it all the time. A few have their claws out so perhaps it's just to sharpen or trim their claws. Otherwise it's more like playing.

I would get him a (tall) scratching post, and check now to see if his claws are growing into circles (not good!) from lack of anything rough to scratch on. Cats need to do it to keep their claws in shape. If his are growing too long, ask the vet to show you how to cut them so you don't take too much (into the quick).

I agree... sounds like he needs a scratching post (or two). Cats can be vertical scratchers (like mine), horizontal scratchers (like on carpets), or both. Sounds like yours is a vertical scratcher. Do have his nails checked also.

It could also just be a weird obsessive compulsive thing that he will just do from time to time.

He has a 32" sisal scratching post which he uses regularly and he never uses his claws when doing what I've described. I had his claws trimmed Saturday morning but this behavior started before a few days before that so I'm not sure it's an issue with his claws.

Any other ideas?

Mez

I have a covered litter box - the cover is smooth, translucent white plastic. In another thread I posted how one of my cats, Piglet, liked to play in there - when I got the covered one, he started getting in it (whether it was super-clean or...not) and pawing on the lid, just as you describe Junior doing. I checked, and it wasn't he was trying to bury anything; he was just jammin. Now Myrtle has started to do it, too. It's a cat Zen thing.

My 10 year old cat also paws at the wall. (I call it Shadow-boxing).
Then he bolts to the other side of the house and crys a few times.
Always paws in the same spot. This is not a spot where he normally rubs, or shakes his tail at, but it's the only spot he paws.
I thought that was a significant clue.
Eventually, I determined, at least for my cat, it simply means
"come play with me".

So I do...

Mike - TurningColorz

Thanks for the replies. I knew it wasn't unusual behavior, I just was curious what Junior was doing and why. I'll just leave it at my original theory of Junior just being bored and entertaining himself.

Mez