Shooming and Gronking

[theodorakis]

Ok, bear with me on this because I have just realised I have been using words that I thought everyone used but actually I may well have made them up. I have had about 50 foster cats in the last 5 years and they are all gronkers and shoomers. The definitions are:

Gronking, when they paddle with their front paws when you are trying to sleep. Latest is a champion gronker especially on my hair.

Shooming, front leg fully extended then swept in as if they are gathering invisible dust. Seems to be particularly rife amongst the little tinies we find under hedges or in bins. Shooming done around food area and also litter tray (or not as the case may be..)

Please, experts, tell me if there are proper names for these, the vet thinks I am mad!!

In our house it is padding and paddling. Ginge does the padding thing, mainly on me but occasionally on DD.
Greyhead does the paddling. He dips his foot repeatedly in their water bowl. Presumably to check whether there is any in there.

Not heard of those. I like shnorking this is the noise cats make that is half way between a sneeze and a snort Mike Lapin (very special cat vet in USA) uses this term so it must be real.

I call it paddling and the scraping paw.

Scraping paw is only done to biscuits, in "I'm not eating this shit" kind of way.

Being intolerant to maize cuts down on which biscuits he can have and we went off applaws as soon as I bought the biggest bag available.....

Never heard of either of those expressions OP but love them nonetheless.

Gronking is getting adopted immediately as it perfectly describes the noise coming from behind my bedroom curtain every night.

Tigger likes to perch there on his specially made window sill cushion (off cut of foam padding wrapped in a small towel) and he makes these weird noises halfway between a snore and a grunt.

Used to worry me but it just means he's supremely happy.

I shall ask him to keep his gronking down tonight