Things you didn't know about cats until you got one....

[Mumdiva99]

This is just for fun and might be interesting or useful.

I'll start - I didn't know cats played fetch. My beautiful blonde cat plays with a rubber orange bullet and brings it and drops it waiting for me to throw it. This can be a long game....

What have you learnt?

@HMSSophie

That they miss you. If I go out mine sits on the window sill waiting for my return. He gets excited when he spots me and rushes to the door to say hello.

Oh god yes.

After years (decades!) of aloof cats who didn't mind who was around as long as food happened, our new cat was frantic with relief when we came back from a week away, wouldn't leave me alone for days and slept on my head at night.

Talk about guilt trips.

One of mine is a carpet killer, so I have learned a lot about when-why-how cats like to scratch, and how to coax them into scratch behaviours that are less destructive of my carpet.

I grew up with cats but there was no carpet in that house...

ps: my cats don't have visible carpal whiskers.

One of ours is a brown tabby, the other is tortoise shell

That they love you holding their paws and gently separating and massaging between their pads. All cats.

That they all love their little foreheads being kissed.

That they show love to your little damaged 11 year old son by nibbling his hair in bed and drooling on him whenever he is sad. (Ex feral cat who gives no-one else the time of day).

They can play dead. Our kitten instinctively dropped to the floor and played dead to prevent an attack from our older cat. Really astonishing.
Also do you think it’s possible that cats are evolving or adapting to human ownership to be more like dogs? Our cats now follow us up the street, wait for us at the bottom of the drive, respond to our voices and behaviour much more than our cats 30 or 40/years ago or 40 did!

I didn't know how often some of them throw up !

I've got two and one of them throws up every couple of weeks - I think she bolts her food...
The other night I was just falling asleep when I heard the unmistakable sound of a cat chucking up.
She was in my wardrobe on top of a pile of folder up summer clothes (not envy!)

Cats can tell the time
Cats can suffer from PTSD
Some cats hate change soooo much
Cats can be trained - mine lift a paw to be fed treats and pat you when they want something - different pat for different things!
That even after 30+ years of being owned by many cats - I have found one who I’m besotted by like none who have gone before

I never knew how much I'd worry about him.
Hes controlling and manipulative 😂
He stands on the fireplace and looks sad and then looks at me and meows until I turn the fire on.
He knows that I'll only move him off me twice through the night before I give up and let him sleep on me/under the duvet.
Our stairs are in the kitchen, dcat will stand on the stairs and won't let anyone past until he gets a treat.
He begs for food like a dog.

But most of all I didn't realise how much I would love him. I just want to kiss his little forehead all day.

The cats I have now are very different from the cats I had as a teenager.

They are so loving and very like dogs. They follow me when I'm outside. They come home whenever they hear our car - so this means they can recognise the sound of our car over any other cars.

My female cat is my emotional support cat! Whenever I speak in a stern voice or have a rant she comes running to me to cuddle me. I was having a rant about Comic Relief the other week and she ran over to comfort me.

I've also learnt that cats are the absolute winners when it comes to relaxing. I love my cats so much.

And as I'm getting told off for calling my other cat Blonde

I have a blonde cat too. I'd never heard of it until the vet told us!

I didn’t know that girl cats could spray wee until our current one... she is exceptionally ladylike in doing it with one back foot delicately raised (for a split second until someone notices and shouts at her and she runs off at 400 miles an hour).

@ClammedupClam did you get the cat today?

@smismas thank you. Me either. (I'm not adverse to ginger.....she just isn't.)

Oh no @LizB62A not fun.

They are really like dogs. Mine aren't manipulative yet....but I'm sure they will learn all the tricks soon.

@Purplehatsandflowers thats so sweet. Does your son love him back?

@Santaisironingwrappingpaper

My dcat sits on command..

Mine too - although they expect a dreamie in return 🤣

@Mumdiva99 Yes we did! She hid at first but has just come out for cuddles and seems very affectionate. To be honest, initially it was DH who really wanted one and he had to win me round, but I am completely in love already.

And my new found cat knowledge is how amazing they are at hiding in funny spots, but I bet all you cat experts already knew that!

Murder button!!!

They they like to play games. Girl cat loves to play a game where if I open the door she sits down, if I close it she comes running, so I open it and she sits down.....

Ours fetish is pipe cleaners, dd1 came downstairs once to find surrounded by piles of them, he'd got the lid off her craft box and helped himself!

He now randomly offers his paw to me when there are no treats in the vicinity and it breaks my heart and I have to go hunting for a treat for him.

This is known as the paw of doom in my house. You have been selected to provide treats or strokes and there is no escape. If you try to leave and you haven't provided enough dreamies or cuddles, the paw of doom will reach out to stop you. Woe betide any slave who dares to ignore the paw of doom and leaves without being dismissed, you will be followed tripped over and loudly berated until you give in. If you dare to shut the door, he will hammer on the door with both paws of doom.

The eye squinting thing @Notapheasantplucker is a sign of trust. It's dangerous to close your eyes unless you trust the other cat not to attack you.

@clammedupClam congratulations. How wonderful. Can't wait for the pictures.

I always thought cats didn’t overeat like dogs.. was I wrong or what.. my greedy little ball of fluff massages my leg when he wants food.. which is most the time.

[quote Mumdiva99]@ClammedupClam did you get the cat today?

@smismas thank you. Me either. (I'm not adverse to ginger.....she just isn't.)

Oh no @LizB62A not fun.

They are really like dogs. Mine aren't manipulative yet....but I'm sure they will learn all the tricks soon.

@Purplehatsandflowers thats so sweet. Does your son love him back?[/quote]
Oh yes very much so Mumdiva. :) My son adores her. He spent his pocket money last week buying her a super soft fake fur water bottle from Sainsburys. :) It's wonderful to see, because Ds has a range of issues going on with him and is very emotionally fragile. Even when he is jumping up and down on the sofa playing roblox and getting overheated our cat is with him just sitting there and snoozing.

That they greet you outside the front door when you get home.

That they love seeing you in the garden and get all excited and run around and stalk you.

“Cat privilege” is real.

If you are chosen to be sat on by the cat, you are bestowed with cat privilege.

This means everyone else in the house has to make your cups of tea, or fetch anything you need. This is because you cannot disturb the cat unless absolutely necessary.