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Odd attraction to bags...

post #1 of 21
12/10/09 at 2:49pm
Thread Starter 
My six month old kitties are totally attracted to bags.
It's so weird, reuseable bags, plastic bags and paper bags. As soon as I come home from the grocery store they can't wait to lie inside/on top of them.
Anyone have ideas why?

thanks!
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post #2 of 21
12/10/09 at 3:32pm
No idea why but my little guy has always had a thing for bags as well. Loves to get inside and hide. When he was littler my partner would wait until he got into this one bag and would hang him on a doorknob and he would sleep in his little hammock =)
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post #3 of 21
12/10/09 at 4:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toki View Post
My six month old kitties are totally attracted to bags.
It's so weird, reuseable bags, plastic bags and paper bags. As soon as I come home from the grocery store they can't wait to lie inside/on top of them.
Anyone have ideas why?

thanks!
...but do put all plastic bags out of reach, they're really dangerous (heads get caught in the handles or kitties like to try to eat them) and cut handles on any other bags... and then let the fun begin, because bags are often more fun than boxes - and I'm pretty sure cats come genetically programmed to love both.
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post #4 of 21
12/10/09 at 4:04pm
Cats *love* to play inside paper bags, especially pouncing !! Maybe it's the crinkly sound they make, who knows!

But I do know that plastic bags contain a chemical or pheromone that cats love!!! Hence why they will lie, roll around and play on them. Silly babies!!

As long they don't eat them or get caught in them it's ok!
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post #5 of 21
12/10/09 at 4:05pm
I'd have to say that's very, very normal.
Polly can't get enough of bags.
I think kitties like that they can be hidey-holes, toys, they like how it sounds and they're overall fun, fun, fun!
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post #6 of 21
12/10/09 at 4:30pm
Get your kitties a crinkle tube and/or a crinkle cave - much safer than bags. Crinkle balls and the cheaper mylar balls are really attractive to cats that love crinkly things, too.
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post #7 of 21
12/10/09 at 5:54pm
My girls LOVE bags, especially the big plastic ones! I cut the handles on them and let them play to their hearts' content. They lay on them, dart under them, get inside them and "hide", pounce on each other in them. It provides hours of cheap entertainment!
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post #8 of 21
12/10/09 at 6:08pm
Give a cat a toy, and you will amuse it for minutes, give a cat a paper bag and you will amuse it for weeks or until the bag shreds, whichever comes first.
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post #9 of 21
12/10/09 at 7:08pm
I have one cat who is in love with plastic bags. If you bring a bag home and set it down, Mr Grey immediately will climb in! He doesn't even care if you pick the bag up with him in it (I did that once or twice hoping it would discourage him). I always empty all bags right away and throw them away or put them in a drawer so he can't reach them.

Today someone took a pack of paper towel rolls out of the package they come in (plastic wrapping/bag) and put it on the floor for a minute... I looked down and there was Mr. Grey with his head and front feet inside! I took him out and reminded them not to ever leave any plastic bags out!

I also try make sure that no bags or totes with handles/loops are left out, especially paper bags... My family members would bring some groceries in one of those paper bags with the twisted rope-looking handles and once one of the cats climbed inside and then tried to climb out by sticking his head through a handle and got twisted up in it so I had to extricate him. Not safe! So now I either throw them out right away or I cut the handles off.

I have two of those cat tubes, but they don't like those half as much as a paper bag.
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post #10 of 21
12/11/09 at 12:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nekochan View Post
I have two of those cat tubes, but they don't like those half as much as a paper bag.
Paper bags are mostly safe. The problem with plastic bags is that many cats love to eat them. No amount of entertainment is worth surgery to remove an obstruction.
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post #11 of 21
12/11/09 at 1:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
Paper bags are mostly safe. The problem with plastic bags is that many cats love to eat them. No amount of entertainment is worth surgery to remove an obstruction.
Mine never tried to eat the bags. The one likes to climb into them to sleep though which is bad enough!
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post #12 of 21
12/13/09 at 12:30pm
All four of my adult (baby) cats love bags. I don't let them play with the plastic because I noticed that they like to chew on them. I do let them play with the paper bags. I think they love them so much because of the crinkly sound. I also notice that they love playing with tissue paper used for presents.
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post #13 of 21
12/13/09 at 9:20pm
Maia is obsessed with bags! She has to inspect every bag that enters the home, and she has this crazy trick where she loves to thread herself through the handles! I never let her do it out of my sight, but she will thread her head through the handle and walk around with it looped like a cape or a parachute!
Always important to keep an eye on them when they are playing with a bag and to not leave temptation out in the open.
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post #14 of 21
12/14/09 at 10:54am
My cats are afraid of bags. Especially the plastic ones, they run when you ball them up as they hate the sound. They hate sound when you move plastic bags.. or just about anything with a plastic bag.

Paper bags aren't so bad if you cut off the handles they will investigate but its nothing like other cats. They definitely will not play with any bags.

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post #15 of 21
12/14/09 at 11:13am
^ I have one that's extremely afraid of plastic bag sounds, too. It doesn't help that Tomas loves to wait till Sho is near the crinkle tube then race through it and scare Sho.
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post #16 of 21
1/13/10 at 9:47am
My four LOVE boxes. They will take turns getting in it - I still haven't figured out how they decide who goes first, who goes next, etc. It's different every time.

A really fun thing to do is after the box has been checked out by each cat, move it to another part of the same room. The ritual starts again!

I sometimes wonder if kitties find us as amusing as we find them
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post #17 of 21
1/18/10 at 1:22pm
I found the answer to a problem that has me perplex. Kato has taken to licking the laundry bag and the zipper portion of the needle bag, I received. For awhile I thought the laundry bag attraction as it is one of the few things we keep from the motor home. There must be pheromone on both that he likes. Thanks for the help.
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post #18 of 21
1/18/10 at 2:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheylink View Post
Maia is obsessed with bags! She has to inspect every bag that enters the home, and she has this crazy trick where she loves to thread herself through the handles! I never let her do it out of my sight, but she will thread her head through the handle and walk around with it looped like a cape or a parachute!
Mine do that too, with plastic or paper bags with handles. I don't leave plastic bags out but Spot almost killed himself once when he got his head stuck in a paper bag handle (the type of handle made of twisted paper) and apparently twisted it up around his neck when he tried to get it off. Luckily I saw him and got him out, and since then whenever someone brings a paper bag home with a handle I always cut the handle in half just in case.
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post #19 of 21
1/18/10 at 4:18pm
Taylor (my senior CH kitty) will paw at plastic shopping bags for HOURS. Literally, it gets to the point where I have to yell at her or push her away with my foot or hand (depending if I'm on the couch or not lol). Sorry, I've got absolutely no advice for you except to try and keep them all out of your ktties way.
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post #20 of 21
1/18/10 at 5:45pm
For the best kitty fun try puttnig out a paper shopping bag and toss a catnip mouse or a ball inside.

Aya recently tied to burn my apartment down so we're off the bags until its warm enough to stop using the space heater.
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post #21 of 21
1/18/10 at 6:57pm
Ah, paper shopping bags. I have yet to find a cat or kitten that didn't LOVE the darn things. My current fosters aren't interested in plastic bags, unless they recognize that there are food cans or bags inside!

But paper bags - yup. I just cut off the handles. They don't eat them.. so sometimes a couple of them will "deconstruct" cardboard boxes.
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