jumping on high shelves and intentionally knocking over breakables.

Hello!
I've had 2 sister cats for a year and a half. Over the last few weeks, the smaller (thinner and more agile) of the 2 has started to jump high onto a bookshelf (which is above my head, I'm 5'5") and seems to INTENTIONALLY knock over the fragile nic-nacs on that shelf.

At first, I was coming home to find broken things on the floor, and then she did it in front of me. She literally pushes things down and watches them fall! It's like a game for her! She's already broken a few valuable things. I've put a number of things away, and now she's tugging at the books on that shelf! It's quite odd.

Is she bored? I have so many cat toys (and I recycle them, as in, hide some away for a while and bring back old ones, etc) and I play with my cats alot. She and her sister get along (they play together, play-fight, and sleep together)... I have enough things for them to climb up high. I am just stumped. I would like to know the cause of this so I can remedy it.

Thank you in advance for any help!

There are others with cats that do this, so hopefully they'll chime in here. Our Flowerbelle pushes stuff off tables to get attention, but we never had a problem with kitties on the shelves tossing breakables. *phew* For now, I'd just put all the breakables away. I don't know if she's doing it because she's bored or if it's just for fun.... Maybe it's time for some new toys? New games? Hide treats around the place before you leave for work? Maybe some interactive toys?

http://www.cattoys.com/flingamastring.html
http://www.cattoys.com/jwpetmagneticattoy.html
http://www.amazon.com/SmartCat-Peek-.../dp/B0006VMN4O
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...98&pcatid=9198
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...2&pcatid=19542

Good luck!

Laurie

Jake does this too. I have to always make sure I don't leave breakable things where he can reach them..That's my only solution. He absolutely loves knocking things down, I sometimes feel like it bothers him when small items are just sitting down on a shelf or table so he has to knock them down, kind of like an OCD because sometimes I catch him glancing up and seeing an item he wants to knock over, and as soon as he sees it up he goes and moves it over the edge with his paw, and then I kind of get a sense of relief in his eyes as soon as it falls and he goes right back to whatever else he was doing..

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I have to always make sure I don't leave breakable things where he can reach them..That's my only solution.

Click to expand...

One of my cats looks me right in the eye when he knocks things over, so I know he does it to get my attention. However, I also know he does it occasionally when I'm not around. Maybe it's entertaining to watch things fall to the floor (?).

The one thing I know for sure, unfortunately, is that all I can to do prevent him from breaking things is to take those things out of his reach!