Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What do your cats do to annoy you ? Do they do it on purpose ?

102 replies

TheTecknician · 02/12/2023 21:02

I haven't been a cat serf for many years but I can remember irritations like demanding to be let back in the house ages after everyone has gone to bed and the doors are all locked. Said cat would already have been given adequate opportunity to come back inside. Also, turning nose up at whatever variety or brand of food was on offer. Most annoyingly of all, sitting or lying on the newspaper or magazine you had on the kitchen table (it was always the kitchen table), thus preventing you from reading it.

Deliberately being annoying or just normal cat behaviour ? Who knows!

OP posts:
LeroyJenkinssss · 03/12/2023 12:03

We have a dog and so a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. The cat will jump over it absolutely fine unless he sees you. In which case he couldn’t possibly manage it and needs the gate opening for him. Every single time.

pats your face when you’re in bed and he wants feeding. He knows it extremely disconcerting.

User43219 · 03/12/2023 12:06

DilemmaDelilah · 03/12/2023 11:04

One of my cats used to pat me whenever she wanted attention, quite often on my face. She did that A LOT! she was also very vocal. She died a few months ago and I miss her greatly.
Her sister hardly made a noise, but once the first one died all of a sudden she was really REALLY vocal, including in the middle of the night. She is also now asking for food every time somebody goes into the kitchen, even if she has just been fed and still has food in her bowl. She is around 17 years old and I think she is getting dementia, but she is still gorgeous.

This is what happened with my one, when her sister was alive she was the shy, quiet one. Now she's a demanding princess and very vocal but I wouldn't be without her. Even if she does wake me up at stupid hours wanting to go outside and traipses mud through the house ruining my nice rug or getting muddy paw prints on my clean bedding.

paulhollywoodshairgel · 03/12/2023 12:28

Mine feels the need to sit with his head half an inch away from my face. If I try to move him he's right back in 2 mins.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Cats
Original poster
TheTecknician · 03/12/2023 12:36

So far I haven't read of any cats that sit in front of computer screens and/or on top of computer keyboards. There must be some out there!

OP posts:
FloofCloud · 03/12/2023 12:43

My boy cats - Grey is adorable, sleeps til I get up then waits patiently for food - black is a piggy, he jumps on the bed and stands on me, on my face, chest, neck and bites me til I get up ... he's a monkey!!! ... but i love
Him lol 😂

OnionOnionH · 03/12/2023 12:47

At the moment scratching at a new fleecy blanket I’ve got on the bed, I’ve had to put another fleecy blanket over it to stop them.
Zoomies at 3:00am.
Kitten doesn’t seem to understand I’m not a scratching post, climbing frame that they can run up, dive on with claws either.

OverTheCountryClub · 03/12/2023 13:03

This is a timely thread! I was just complaining to dh! This weekend, now the temperature has plummeted and it's icy cold, the cat has perfected the art of gently batting open her cat flap with her paw and holding it long enough so that when she walks away, it STAYS open. She can also achieve this by pawsing (pausing - ha!) for a bit as she passes through so it doesn't swing shut behind her. Letting in all the lovely cold air Hmm I swear I just shut it for the millionth time and told her off and she immediately went and opened it again (maintaining stern eye contact as she did so). Honestly! Cats!!!

ILoveToads · 03/12/2023 14:30

Ah cats, they are loveable psychopaths.

Mine like to ignore any cheap clothes I might leave lying around, but as soon as I put something expensive on the bed (rarely) they are on it like a rat up a sewer. Clawing, licking, making a nest.

Wouldn't be without them though.

ilovebagpuss · 03/12/2023 14:34

My cat lies on the step outside and smacks the cat flap repeatedly so it sounds like something is stuck in there and fighting for it's life.
I go to check and she looks at me through the glass and then continues to smack it.
Why? I can only assume for a laugh at my expense.

ILoveToads · 03/12/2023 14:38

And another, which is my fault. One cat had a condition where she had to drink lots of water but went off her bowl, so I started giving her a pint glass so she didn't have to bend down.

No she is all better, but no drink is safe, she will wake me up at night by creeping onto the bedside table then loudly lap my water flicking it everywhere and knocking it into the floor.

I've bought higher water bowls now, but they are looked at with disdain, only a human receptacle is worthy.

TiredandLate · 03/12/2023 18:36

TheTecknician · 03/12/2023 12:36

So far I haven't read of any cats that sit in front of computer screens and/or on top of computer keyboards. There must be some out there!

Both mine do. The ginger will also headbutt my phone out of my hand when he's lay on me in bed, if I have the audacity to stroke him with only one hand and scroll my phone with the other.

marcopront · 03/12/2023 20:08

Girl Cat
Sits on top of me in bed and scratches the duvet.
Runs and hides if something comes within 5 m of her

Boy Cat
Pushed the plastic box we used to trap a spider until we could deal with it around the bathroom at 6 am. It was very loud
Refusing to use the cat flap to come in

Both of them
Trying to destroy the foam mattress a friend lent us

Stray cat
Screeching when she sneaks in and finds she can't get any food because the food bowl needs a tag.

Crooklodge · 03/12/2023 20:13

He clearly doesn't like the snow but has the fear of missing out. Wants in/out/in/out every 10 minutes. No wonder it's so cold with the non stop draft he causes. He expects food every time he comes in too.

Wee bugger is 10, he's STILL not learnt to sleep in the middle of the bed, always half way up my side, no wonder my back and hips and goosed. Tbf dh is 46 and still not learnt his side of the bed either.

Roseyleaf · 03/12/2023 20:16

Lies on me and kneads my boobs.

Tries to chew carrier bags.

Makkacakka · 03/12/2023 20:17

We have one that pees on the (hard)floor fairly often. Not sure if he does it to annoy us but we do find he does it most often when we are home late and late for their usual dinner time.
(Yes he has been checked for infections. He's fine. He's been doing this behaviour for years, since he was a kitten!)

CatOnTheLap · 03/12/2023 20:39

Like @merrykittymass and @ILoveToads our cats won’t drink out of a water fountain or a bowl, but will drink out of the glass of water on DP’s bedside cabinet. I’ve replaced all their water bowls with glasses.

The older cat (who acts like she is the younger cat) likes to follow me into the toilet. She doesn’t go in with DP, just me. She likes to sit in the bathroom sink as soon as I start getting ready for bed. I’m sure I heard a little cat giggle when I had to brush my teeth using the bath taps.

She is very keen on jigsaws, she likes to sit in the box on top of the pieces, she really likes to sit on the partially-completed jigsaw, to make her point that you should be paying attention to her, not the jigsaw. However, her absolute favourite jigsaw-related activity is to tip over the jigsaw board and watch all the pieces fall onto the ground.

vidflex · 03/12/2023 20:46

Ours steals the worn knickers out of the laudry basket. I wouldn't mind if she just took them to her bed but after being puzzled for a few weeks at our missing knickers we saw her walking out the cat flap and down the yard with my dd pants in her mouth. God only knows where she's taken them all. We now have to put them straight into the washing machine lol

vidflex · 03/12/2023 20:47

Oh and I must note she leaves dh boxers well alone

RainbowZebraWarrior · 03/12/2023 20:56

vidflex · 03/12/2023 20:46

Ours steals the worn knickers out of the laudry basket. I wouldn't mind if she just took them to her bed but after being puzzled for a few weeks at our missing knickers we saw her walking out the cat flap and down the yard with my dd pants in her mouth. God only knows where she's taken them all. We now have to put them straight into the washing machine lol

Heehee. Eeh, this is Gold! Can imagine someone down the road: "Geoff! That funny cat is back in your herbaceous border again and it's got another pair of knickers"

vidflex · 03/12/2023 21:18

@RainbowZebraWarrior I dread to think lol!

SnowdaySewday · 03/12/2023 21:18

TheTecknician · 03/12/2023 12:36

So far I haven't read of any cats that sit in front of computer screens and/or on top of computer keyboards. There must be some out there!

Previous cat 🐈 did this. She would appear during Teams meetings and hang around until the other participants commented on how beautiful she was. She would also press the keyboard button to put the computer into airplane mode, with no internet whenever I was busy and neglecting her.

Current cat 🐈‍⬛ can’t be trusted in the kitchen as she can open the fridge. She also goes bin-diving, spreading the contents of my waste-paper basket across the floor overnight and bringing in food wrappers from somewhere in the neighbourhood. This week's annoying trick is to go out, then run back in and warm her cold, wet paws on me before running off out again.

samestyle · 03/12/2023 21:18

@vidflex oh no lol, could be taking them into someone else's cat flap getting people into all sorts of trouble Blush

9outof10cats · 03/12/2023 21:22

The only time my cat is not annoying is when he is asleep, which luckily is most of the time these days 😚

He is pretty old and I think probably has dementia.

He has a cat flap, but due to arthritis can no longer use it, so he will tap on the door to go out. I open the door, he stares outside, then decides he doesn't want to go out. I shut the door. 2 minutes later he does the same thing. This can continue about 10 times before I either carry him outside or just ignore him.

He drives me mad, but I love the little bugger.

C1N1C · 03/12/2023 21:36

Loud toys are ignored ALL DAY but are found from the depths of the darkest couch void and played with ten minutes after lights have gone off.

vidflex · 03/12/2023 21:37

samestyle · 03/12/2023 21:18

@vidflex oh no lol, could be taking them into someone else's cat flap getting people into all sorts of trouble Blush

Sometimes I see posts on here where someone's found some random knickers in their house and I do wonder if there's a local knicker nicker cat in their area

Swipe left for the next trending thread