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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Portland Metro Area
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    859

    Why Does My Young Cat Do This?

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    We adopted two older kittens in June. They are about 11 months old now and both females. This particular female has had kittens prior to being spayed (she was a stray). She jumps onto the kitchen counter and takes the sponge out of the holder in the sink. She either brings it to me or to places in the house where I spend a lot of time (although sometimes it's just in the middle of the living room or somewhere). She doesn't eat it or chew it or play with it. Just now she dropped it outside the office door then began meowing several times as if to alert me! Do you think she's bringing me a "gift"? I soaked the sponge in bleach water earlier today thinking that maybe it smelled or something. Anyway, she's super cute, but it's only the sponge. She doesn't do this with anything else.

    Ideas? Speculation?
    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls & looks like work" - Thomas Edison

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
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    4,066
    Well, many cats will present prey they've caught to their owners and draw attention to it, and I've heard that this is because they're bringing "food to the family", i.e. those dumbasses who can't hunt for themselves . Maybe the sponge is the closest thing that triggers that instinct. But if she had kittens, and they were taken from her early, I guess it could be something to do with carrying kittens around.

    If you don't want her doing this I'd try first praising her, then taking the sponge and hiding it for a few days, and if she does it again when it reappears try not giving her attention and then hiding it for longer. I think she'll outgrow it.
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    939
    One of my cats does something similar-- she'll walk around the house carrying a sock, making weird noises, then present it to me. From what I've heard, it's hunting/prey behavior. Does your girl speak while she's carrying her sponge?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Portland Metro Area
    Posts
    859
    Thanks for the quick reply. I was thinking the exact same things. Either she is presenting me with prey or since it's damp/wet and about the right size for a kitten maybe it's her "mothering instinct". Now she is laying behind a chair and she put the sponge about 6 inches away from her next to a wall. She's just lounging, and she's nowhere near where I'm at. So that makes me think it's a "kitten" thing. Yet when she brings it to me it seems like a "prey" giving ritual. She doesn't make sound while carrying it (I've never actually seen her carrying it) but when she brings it near me she does a multiple, quick "meow-meow-meow-meow" then looks at me.

    I don't mind that she does it, just wondering what you thought it meant and if it's common.
    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls & looks like work" - Thomas Edison

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    She sounds really cute

    If you behave like it's prey, toss it around a little, what does she do? Join in, or take it "into safety"?
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Central Indiana
    Posts
    6,034
    Quote Originally Posted by skhill View Post
    One of my cats does something similar-- she'll walk around the house carrying a sock, making weird noises, then present it to me. From what I've heard, it's hunting/prey behavior. Does your girl speak while she's carrying her sponge?
    Yep; one of cats did this with her toy mice. She would vocalize somewhat oddly as she was bringing it to me and then lay it at my feet. This happened almost nightly. She would also leave them in my shoes. She only did it with two specific toys, one of which was included in her ashes, it was so central to life with her.

    But I would add that most cats have some stance habits that can't really be explained. They're funny that way.
    Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Continue to learn. Appreciate your friends. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.

    --Mary Anne Radmacher

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    629
    I'd give her her own sponge; maybe then she'd leave yours alone.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    West MI
    Posts
    4,259
    We've had two cats bring us little wads of paper so that we could throw them...to play fetch. Both made cute little noises until we would pick up the paper and throw it. The game could go on for a very long time.
    Kirsten
    run/bike log
    zoomylicious


    '11 Cannondale SuperSix 4 Rival
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    '14 Seven Mudhoney S Ti/disc/Di2

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Beautiful NW or Left Coast
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    5,619
    let's hope she doesn't bring the sponge to you in bed. And giving her her own sponge won't work unless it smells the same.
    My cat had a mouse toy that she loved; she ATE it. when there was nothing left except bits of hard plastic, we tried to replace it with other toys. NONE were the same You can't fool them.
    I like Bikes - Mimi
    Watercolor Blog

    Davidson Custom Bike - Cavaletta
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Portland Metro Area
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    859
    So my cat was in the family room on the sofa and the sponge was near the sliding glass door, so I picked up the sponge, tossed it and "petted" it. Mila became very attentive, jumped down, sniffed of the sponge then walked over to our other cat. I guess it's just her little quirky nature.
    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls & looks like work" - Thomas Edison

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    the foggy wetlands,los osos,ca
    Posts
    2,860
    Oh my gosh my cat Bo did that same thing till he was about 2 and then just stopped all of a sudden. It was the strangest thing. I could never figure out why a sponge? Now my cat Aki brings me gifts all the time. and she is 7 now. When I leave the house she brings a toy outside and leaves it on the stairs for me. So funny.
    Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
    > Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    the foggy wetlands,los osos,ca
    Posts
    2,860
    Once Bo came ripping through the cat door meowing like crazy. He came running over to me with a piece of plastic bag in his mouth. It was so strange. Well he did it again. Ok well I was out in our yard and noticed a piece of the same plastic bag near our ivy wall. Well it turned out there was a nest of rat's in there!. It was like he was telling me. Turned out my other cat took care of the infestation (yuck). But how funny!
    Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
    > Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    3,176
    Try a pack of foam golf ball sized balls. She might love to chase them and carry them.
    Each day is a gift, that's why it is called the present.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Upstate of SC
    Posts
    197
    One of my cats was kinky for the potscrubber that I kept by the sink. She would get it and do the playing with prey act.
    Cycling is the new running.

    Visit my blog: http://www.riverofmuscadinespublishing.com/

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Riding my Luna & Rivendell in the Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,411
    My new cat brings us little sponge-foam cat toy balls, and also rubber bands. She drops them near us or on the bed for us and we are supposed to throw them for her. Then she brings them back for another throw.
    maybe your kitty is trying to teach you to play fetch!
    Here is our kitty with her sponge-ball.... http://youtu.be/WoHLcs0qiGg
    Last edited by BleeckerSt_Girl; 09-26-2011 at 06:42 PM.
    Lisa
    My mountain dulcimer network...FOTMD.com...and my mountain dulcimer blog
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