Guardian of the Toilet Seat

[Pooka]

Every time, mostly, we I go to the little room, Pooka appears out of nowhere and is sitting right there, A large sentry.
He isn’t looking for pets, he isn’t even looking at me!
Is this normal?

 

[susanm9006]

Yes. Many cats are obsessed with bathrooms and us using them. They seems to find the whole process interesting. It’s good he isn’t looking for pets as it can be quite uncomfortable when you are sitting down.

 

[danteshuman]

Can you give him a small tv stand or something like that to be on instead of the toilet? With fully integrated cats & cat families bathroom times seems to be communal. I have a large bathroom and my shower chair got moved near my toilet so my twerp has a place to be (plus he kinda claimed my shower chair.)

Cats are notorious for bugging their humans while they try to go to the bathroom. I would just calmly move your cats and do your business.

 

[Maria Bayote]

In my home whenever I go to the bathroom Bourbon would sneak in like a flash. And so does Graham. While Bourbon walks around sniffing stuff while I do my business, Graham would either drop on the floor and ask for belly rubs, or just sits in front of me and stares. And stares.

 

[game misconduct]

Every time, mostly, we I go to the little room, Pooka appears out of nowhere and is sitting right there, A large sentry.
He isn’t looking for pets, he isn’t even looking at me!
Is this normal?

its better than what graycie does trying to swat my pee is not good nor is curling her tail onto the seat right before i sit to do my other business really wish i could get her to understand some things just cant wait or be stopped she also gets in the way while i clean her litter box by deciding to poop or pee when i am cleaning it

 

[danteshuman]

Jackie attacks my legs really gently.) I spent a year trying to get him to stop. Finally I gave up and hung a couple of wand toys on the handrail by the toilet. Now when I pee I distract him with a cat dancer. He is now 2.5 and now he often just wants pets. I have had cats rattle the door screaming their heads off as I tried to pee until I gave up and started leaving the door open a crack. Now I live alone, the bathroom door stays open 24:7 & my handicap shower is Jackie’s favorite place to play (& meow.... it gets a good echo. )

Why the toilet time is magically the time they want our attention I have no idea!

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

Cats are the weirdest. My Juno sits on the Litter Genie next to the toilet and oversees the whole process. She also likes to stand on the seat and watch the toilet flush. Whenever I try to remove her, she meows plaintively as though I were depriving her of something really special.

 

[fionasmom]

Lily, my avatar, runs in with me and watches. She then runs over and watches the toilet flush. If it is night time and I turn the light off as I exit, but before she is done watching, she starts to cry.

Zoe, years ago, trained herself to use the toilet which is not as desirable a thing as it sounds. She liked one bathroom and got upset if the door was closed.

 

[Caspers Human]

Casper always goes into the bathroom when his Girl-Human uses the toilet. He sometimes come in with me but, with her, he does it almost all of the time.

I always wonder why cats do this and I have some thoughts about it.

Mother cats and older cats often go to the litter box with their younger mates as a way to teach them how to do it.
Cats learn from other cats by example. I think that cats do it with their humans, too, because they see us as part of their clan. It's just a natural behavior for them.

I also think that cats know that bathroom time is one of their most vulnerable times. A cat that's in the middle of doing its business is less able to defend itself or run away if there is danger. So, I imagine that cats go to the bathroom together in order to stand guard for each other. Again, they see us as part of their clan so they stand guard for us, too.

I think the confusion happens because humans see the bathroom as a private place while cats see it as a communal place. When a cat comes into the bathroom with us humans, we think, "Hey! Buzz off!" but the cat thinks it's doing what it's supposed to do.

 

[ladytimedramon]

Delilah and I frequently have "synchronized bathroom runs". I'll be in the bathroom and she walks in with "Oh, so that's what you're doing. Well as long as I'm here..." and then she goes into her litter box.

She does have this weird obsession with the top of my hamper. Its a woven nylon with a lid. She will jump on it and begin rolling around on it almost rapturously. A few times she rolled herself off or knocked over the hamper. She purrs and it looks like she's having the time of her life. Even stranger, she loves to do it during my 3 am bathroom run.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

Neko-chan sometimes jumps into my husband's pulled down pants when he's on the toilet.

 

[Maurey]

Jumanji's evening ritual includes going to the en suite after I brush her teeth to look into the toilet. There's a cat fountain in my bedroom, but the toilet is just more interesting, I guess. She also learned to flush it when she was around 9 months old, and will still do so on occasion, which is fun

 

[susanm9006]

My former girl Murphy loved to visit with me in the bathroom while I did my hair or makeup. Until she was a year old she needed to be held and suck on a finger for a while every morning which I did with her in one arm while I used my other hand for my morning stuff. She was weaned off of that at one but she still needed to be near me in the morning. Her preferred spot was the toilet seat as long as the lid was down. When it wasn’t she learned she could hop up on the tank and use her forehead to push against lid until it tipped down. Then she would wait somewhat impatiently for me to finish my morning routine so she could get picked up for a cuddle and shoulder ride out of the bathroom.

 

[Caspers Human]

Delilah and I frequently have "synchronized bathroom runs". I'll be in the bathroom and she walks in with "Oh, so that's what you're doing. Well as long as I'm here..." and then she goes into her litter box.

Casper does that, too.

I have never been able to come up with a theory about why cats do that. Is it about territorial marking?

Dogs will pee on trees where other dogs have been before in order to leave their scent. They will leave a deposit on top of places where other dogs have deposited before for the same reason. Maybe cats do the same thing, just in their own way.

I don't know... Just a guess...

One of the funniest things I have seen cats do in the bathroom is when you clean their litter box.

You've just finished making the box all nice and clean when the cat comes in, takes one sniff and gets this look like he's saying, "Hey! You stole my poop!" Then, without missing a beat, he hops in and makes a big deposit.

Don't know but I figure that's a territorial thing, too.

Cats! Just when you think you've got them all figured out...