Cat Dunking All Of His Toys In Water

[SDerailed]

I have a 1 year old cat who constantly soaks all of his toys in the water bowl. I know some people say they store them in water bowls as a means to keep them safe. But he takes it right out and carries it to somewhere else once its soaked. He does this to all of his favorite toys. Never to ones he just happened to play with at that time.
He really loves taking his foam balls, soaking them then pushing them down the stairs to hear them squish against each step.
So, what exactly is is behavior? He has done it since we got him as a kitten.

 

[susanm9006]

My current cat is a toy dunker as well. I don’t know why, it just amuses them.

 

[FeralRussian]

Same here, mostly Gustav with sea sponges. It’s the bizarre logic of cats.

The two of them literally have over three hundred toys, ( mostly made by me, except the bouncy balls which are their current favorite and Anais is teaching Gustav Fetch!)* but they always are on the lookout for new things to “dunk”

*Yes, I am Obsessive, and so are my cats. We are quite content with our behavior. Flickers of guilt at social avoidance of non cat people occur occasionally, but overulled instantly with the sight of any part of their cute charming selves. Love love them, even as my eyebrow raises when picking a toy out of their water. Smiling like a lunatic when it is multiple ones.

 

[basschick]

our late cat, jeep, used to wash hair scrunchies whenever he could find them in his water bowl, put them somewhere to dry, then hide them. we moved the couch after he'd been doing that for a while, and we found more than 100 scrunchies LOL

 

[di and bob]

He is doing it for amusement. Inside cats have to find something to keep their minds going, and for your little one it is soaking toys in water. I have a feeling that even if you could find a way to stop it, he would put them in the toilet or your glass of drink! What a mess though! It woudl be a shame to stop his fun!

 

[Katie M]

Selene went through a phase like that. She would drop a toy mouse in the water and leave it for me to fish out

 

[Cat Buddies]

My cat doesn’t do that.. it’s interesting if they do that do me

 

[rubysmama]

No idea why they do it, but my friends have a cat who also likes to dunk his toys in his water dish.

 

[Lari]

Lelia did that when she was a kitten. I haven't actually seen her do it in a long time.

 

[SDerailed]

He is doing it for amusement. Inside cats have to find something to keep their minds going, and for your little one it is soaking toys in water. I have a feeling that even if you could find a way to stop it, he would put them in the toilet or your glass of drink! What a mess though! It woudl be a shame to stop his fun!

Oh, I dont intend to stop it. It's obviously one of his favorite things in the world and I wouldnt take that away. I'm just wondering what he is thinking. Lol

 

[She's a witch]

Oh, I dont intend to stop it. It's obviously one of his favorite things in the world and I wouldnt take that away. I'm just wondering what he is thinking. Lol

Maybe he’s unleashing his inner raccoon

 

[danteshuman]

A couple times a month I fill up my large Tupperware container with water, place it in the shower and toss a straw or two in. He loves it. He only dunks his straws and bats at them as they float. Here he is playing with his brother and sister as they play in the water.


Just make them walk on a towel on their way out and the mess is minimal.

 

[pearl99]

My daughter's cat does that. Now she leaves an extra water bowl out just for dunking.

 

[Maria Bayote]

That is hilarious. Maybe he just wants to add more fun in his play.

 

[Jem]

One of my cats used to dunk his toys also. Have no idea why.
The one that made me laugh though was he had a long, wide, thick fabric ribbon (about 4 feet long) that he used to bring with him wherever he went. He would take it and put it in the water bowl, and scoop and push at it with his paw until the whole thing was in the water. He made sure it was good and saturated, then grabbed the end with his teeth and pulled it out and dragged it around with him, leaving a trail of water behind everywhere he went. He was weird in so many ways, but it was always fun to watch him.

 

[danteshuman]

I thought the toy dunking was bad but your cat topped it with the ribbon!

Here hoping my boy never figures out his furry critters float. Stepping on them is bad enough, let alone a wet furry critter!

 

[SDerailed]

One of my cats used to dunk his toys also. Have no idea why.
The one that made me laugh though was he had a long, wide, thick fabric ribbon (about 4 feet long) that he used to bring with him wherever he went. He would take it and put it in the water bowl, and scoop and push at it with his paw until the whole thing was in the water. He made sure it was good and saturated, then grabbed the end with his teeth and pulled it out and dragged it around with him, leaving a trail of water behind everywhere he went. He was weird in so many ways, but it was always fun to watch him.

Yes, Salem loves to dunk his favorite "Sal Tail" ribbon, and his brother has started dunking his foam balls.

 

[tangers40]

Nope, Cheese doesn't know anything about toy dunking.

However, she hasn't done this in a long time. She's apparently grown out of this phase.