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Snowshoe cat puts.......

post #1 of 21
10/29/09 at 5:58pm
Thread Starter 
I have a rescued Siamese cat that is thought to be 12-15 years old (according to my vet) that was just dumped in a parking lot of an apartment complex 3+ months ago. The poor thing needed 8 teeth pulled out when I adopted him because they were so rotted. His name is "Simon da Siamese" He is the sweetest.......and best lap cat of all time for me. I have 4 other Ragdolls + Simon. Simon has a habit of putting my socks in the dry food bowl 1 to 2 times a day every day. Mostly at night. I free feed my 5 cats with dry......plus 2 cans of wet per day. Simon only eats wet food and he will not eat dry food at all. Simon appears to do it the most if he either does not like the wet food or if the bowl is empty......but not always Why does Simon continue to put my dirty used socks in the dry food bowl while he only will eat wet food for himself? Many times my other 4 cats need to eat around the "sock" until I notice this and take it out. This has been going on for about 2 months now everyday? I am confused
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post #2 of 21
10/29/09 at 6:43pm
Well, your feet smell like you, so do your socks. If he likes something, he might be hiding it with his valuables - His food.

Meeps always puts mouseys in my roomie's shoes. Never in anyone else's, even if there's a pile of shoes - She finds his and leaves him treats.
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post #3 of 21
10/29/09 at 6:50pm
Hey Bob!!
He is covering the food from the "predators"
Some kitties have this habit... Lucky scratches the mat around the dry food thinking she is doing it........ and Bugsy will actually get toys, socks, rugs, whatever is at reach to cover his wet food leftovers - If I don't watch out looots of things would smell like tuna here
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post #4 of 21
10/29/09 at 6:53pm
hi,

nope not really- you've got a strange cat .

Do you see him carrie socks around all the time or does he fetch socks to specifically dump in the dry food? If he likes to carrie socks around he may just drop them where it's handy when he wants some wet food i.e. in the dry food bowl.

Why don't you try out setting his wet food bowl appart from the dry food bowl? I wonder if he would still drop the socks into the dry food then?

Or he checkes out the dry food first, looses the sock there and then goes to his plate- even if he doesn't like the dry food he will want to check out what the others are getting.

Used socks smell strongly of you which could be part their attraction for him. I've also had cats go crazy about shoes , one in particular would fall asleep hugging a shoe

So the used sock thing doesn't suprise me at all (socks are also one of the few clothes items a cat can carrie around easily- imagine him trying to pull that off with a pair of blue jeans )

The one thing I don't believe in is that he's doing it to annoy the others- cats don't think like that, they're not all that good at planing ahead long term.

regards,

Christine
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post #5 of 21
10/29/09 at 6:54pm
... quite frankly- I think you should do some serious cat watching, maybe even set up an infrared camera for night times

regards,

Christine
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post #6 of 21
10/29/09 at 6:59pm
Hummmmm I think these socks are close to the food bowl....
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post #7 of 21
10/29/09 at 7:24pm
Thread Starter 
OK you silly ladies........ Some times the socks are 10 feet from the bowl.........I also throw them about 25 feet from the bowl in the hallway........I live alone and have to pick up for myself No BS here Some males tend to do these silly things ya know Anyways......... Many times Simon will dip the sock in the water bowl before putting it in the dry food bowl? I am picking up a wet used sock out of the dry food bowl I just cannot figure out this weird behavior? I sometimes wonder if he is trying to starve the other cats as he does not eat the dry food at all? All 5 cats get along great
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post #8 of 21
10/29/09 at 7:49pm
Seriously, I do think it comes from the wild, trying to hide food from predators, as to not attract them as preys... My cats do this to each other's food too... I think this is pretty instinctive... Just my 2 cents for what it's worth...
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post #9 of 21
10/31/09 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you ladies for your opinions I have been keeping clean as well as dirty socks about 25 feet from the food bowl over the last 2 days. Simon still will drag the socks over the 25 foot run (clean or not) and drops it in the dry food bowl I am starting to think that it is more of a rebellious act from Simon when he dislikes the wet food that I put down for him for that day ( I have about 5 different variety's of wet food) ...... Personal smells prolly have alot to do with all of this. Simon will take a freshly washed sock and deposit it in the dry food as well as the dirty one. The sock may appear to be clean to a humans eyes......but cats with their much stronger sense of smells my still think the clean sock has the scent of me Maybe I should add more bleach in the washing machine eh ? Simon and I have a close friendship for a cat and a human I am still trying to figure this out
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post #10 of 21
10/31/09 at 4:12pm
lol... it is normal behavior coming from the siamese side of his heritage ...
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post #11 of 21
10/31/09 at 5:44pm
Simon sounds like a really neat kitty!!!!
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post #12 of 21
10/31/09 at 8:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by esrandall2000 View Post
Simon sounds like a really neat kitty!!!!
Simon is my best kitty..........I just have not figured out why Simon does the things that he does.....
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post #13 of 21
10/31/09 at 9:15pm
Simon is trying to get you to put your socks in the hamper!
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post #14 of 21
11/8/09 at 9:44pm
Thread Starter 
Simon appears to only put the "socks" into the dry food bowl when he is upset with his own food dish Simon only eats wet food. My original question still remains? Why does Simon put my socks in the dry food bowl when he does not even eat dry food? Simon does this 1-2 times daily?
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post #15 of 21
11/8/09 at 9:48pm
I am far from a behavior expert ... but the fact that he puts it over the dry he DOES NOT eat likely signals him burrying it
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post #16 of 21
11/8/09 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky View Post
I am far from a behavior expert ... but the fact that he puts it over the dry he DOES NOT eat likely signals him burrying it
I do not think that he is "burying it"..........IMHO........Simon only appears to do it when he is upset with his food dish Simon was a rescue and is about 12-15 years old according to the vet ? I have had him for over 3 months now.
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post #17 of 21
11/9/09 at 4:12am
Simon is providing you with mental and physical entertainment. What more could you ask for?
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post #18 of 21
11/9/09 at 4:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrblanche View Post
Simon is providing you with mental and physical entertainment. What more could you ask for?
I agree!

Simon is doing this because it's what he does! There is no 'why' to a cat's funny habits.

My Mazy cat relocates household items under my desk. Every night I come home to some odd thing under my desk. Even my rain coat a couple of times (she prefers to bring things up from downstairs) gloves hats, vacuum cleaner attachments, a screw driver, her harness and string, the list is endless. Hehe.
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post #19 of 21
11/9/09 at 5:03am
^That's her safe spot. She must feel that's the best place to keep all of her treasures. BTW - String?!

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As people keep telling you, it is a form of the hiding/burying food behavior. Cats can do this with food they like or with food they hate. Think of it sort of how you just don't throw you garbage loose at the edge of your lawn - you'd attract all sorts of creatures to that mess, many of which you probably wouldn't want to meet up with or startle.
It's simply the cat form of cleaning up. Since there's nothing else handy to bury the food under, your easy to carry socks work well for Simon.


If you don't want your dirty socks in his bowl, put them in a hamper. And put your clean clothes up... (the cleaning fanatic in me is cringing)
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post #20 of 21
11/9/09 at 5:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
^That's her safe spot. She must feel that's the best place to keep all of her treasures. BTW - String?!

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)
It's not really string. It's 1/4 inch polyrope. It's just easier to say "string" . Their drag toys are also called String, though none of them are. They are either thick boot laces, ties off my dresses (I always cut the ties off) or long strips of fleece. and they know the word.



Quote:
If you don't want your dirty socks in his bowl, put them in a hamper.
That wouldn't be fair to the kitty though! It's obviously something he enjoys doing! It's his Job!
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post #21 of 21
11/9/09 at 10:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by otto View Post
It's not really string. It's 1/4 inch polyrope. It's just easier to say "string" . Their drag toys are also called String, though none of them are. They are either thick boot laces, ties off my dresses (I always cut the ties off) or long strips of fleece. and they know the word.
Ok, some people really do leave string out. Be careful with the ties, though, I and another member have had cats try to eat them. My Tomas dragged my pj pants out from under my pillow and chewed the fleece cord/tie off - luckily I caught him and it was all accounted for.
The other member (Renovia, iirc) has a cat that gets into her closet and chews them right off her clothes there.
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