Odd meow and ball in mouth

[nels864]

We have a wonderful six year old tortoise shell who exhibits a wonderfully odd quirk. Two or three times a day she will pick up a small ball in her mouth and walk around meowing loudly. She almost never meows unless she has the ball in her mouth. I found her at work as an abandoned 8 month old stray. Any ideas on what this behavior is all about?

Thanks,

Three cat owner in Calif

 

[sophiec]

I have a cat who used to do this while she was playing with her mousie. She doesn't do it much anymore. I think your kitty wants to play.

 

[calico2222]

I agree she wants to play. Little One used to do that with one of those wand toys. We would hear this pathetic meow, and here comes Little One with the wand in her mouth and the cord and feathers trailing behind her, her eyes BEGGING someone to play with her! It's either that, or she is just so proud of her "kill" she wants the world to know.

 

[white cat lover]

I don't know, but Damita, my 7 y/o blind tortie does the same thing!

 

[kluchetta]

I've had my cats do this exact thing if they catch a mouse or other prey. I think the big bad hunter killed the evil ball!!!

I am assuming she is spayed. Strange calling out can happen also when a cat is in heat...

 

[strange_wings]

It's just her "look what I found!" meow.

I don't know about anyone else here, but I am incredibly paranoid about any sort of toy the cats can fit in their mouth. When I was a child I had one of my cats choke on a small mouse toy. Luckily I was there and able to get it out the back of her mouth/throat.

 

[rosiemac]

Rosie does it practically every evening. I can hear her meowing upstairs, and she ends up coming downstairs with a toy and drops it beside me, then i tell her what a good girl she is for mummy

 

[clpeters23]

My oldest, Rocky, will occasionally do the same thing while carrying a fuzzy mouse toy. It sure gets the attention of my other two cats!

 

[natalie_ca]

My Abby does that with a pair of rolled up socks that she adopted when she was 4 months old. She's now 9 years old. I'm hard pressed to wash them because she roams around looking for them!

My Abby doesn't want to play with them, and she isn't bringing me "gifts" or "prey" or "food". She uses them to announce herself. She will leave a completely good cuddle session in bed to go into the living room and get the socks. Only she seems to get lost on the way back and meows and meows until I call her name and she follows my voice. She drops the socks on the floor in the bedroom and then jumps back onto the bed to resume her cuddling.

If I'm in the living room she often goes into the bedroom and gets the socks and comes back to the living room meowing and meowing. She drops them somewhere in the room.

When I hear her meowing I know she has the socks in her mouth so I just call out "bring the socks! Bring me the socks!" and she follows my voice and gets cuddles in the end.

 

[mauld]

We have 3 cats, but only Tsuki (our grey female tabby), will carry around her 'babies'. We have 2 small chenille teddy bears that she will individually pick up, 'cry' and carry around-- waiting for me to call her. Then she'll either drop it on the floor near the bed, or come up with it and leave it near the pillows-- before going back and getting the second one and leaving it right next to the first. She never plays with them, and if I should put it near her when she's sitting around, she'll ignore them. If we hide them, she'll cry out VERY LOUDLY for them (this is usually around 2 or 3 am

), so we have to get up and put them in their usual spot.