Cat sniffing outlets

pbellis

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Hi. My cats keep going to a certain outlet and sniffing it and sitting there and watching it. What is going on?
 

di and bob

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Most likely a bug/mouse that is in the wall behind it, or even in the box itself. Outlets also leak a lot of air from the outside, that may be what they are smelling too. But for them to be that interested, I would say a mouse. Sit nearby and listen closely for any scratching noises. Mice smell very distinctively, you might try sniffing yourself and see if you can detect anything. This is the time of the year bugs and mice are tryin g to get into the house.
 

tabbytom

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He could have heard some trickling sounds of water or some sounds made by bugs or saw something crawled or flew in.

Cats have very keen ears and response to very slight sounds like this and they are very inquisitive so they sit there and watch and hope that something will come out from the outlet.
 

FeebysOwner

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In addition to the ideas above, it could be arcing inside the receptacle box, especially if you have an older house/place with aluminum wiring. I have read that cats are intrigued by the sound and smell of ozone from the spark - which may be slight enough for you to not even notice. But, you might consider looking into it, just to be on the safe side.
 

rubysmama

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P pbellis : Hello and welcome to TCS. :wave2: I hope you'll stick around and tell us about your cats. :catlove:

About your cat's obsession with the outlet, I agree with FeebysOwner FeebysOwner to keep an eye on it, and maybe get it checked out, especially if it's an older house, or one that previous owner's might have done their own electrical work.
 

fionasmom

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Two things which have already been mentioned....if you suspect that the cat might spray the outlet, get some of those baby protectors that you can put into them.

One of my now deceased cats Eliot, was the master of finding things that were wrong in the house...water leaks, bugs in the wall, any suspicious sounds. I got to the point where if he looked suspicious, I investigated.
 

elliesvictim

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Yeah I’d say it’s probably a bug.
I’ve watched my cat watch walls many a time and pull out a bug/spider/insect.
One time I watched her watch a wall for about half an hour, then pull out a giant huntsman spider. And then run away from me to stop me from taking that of herbefore she can eat it.
 

canucksfan1

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wow these guys are dead on!
my baby Taz was always trying to dig through our basement drywall in 1 spot so much i looked behind the drywall n seen rodents just dug through where the foundation concrete met house n was building a nest?!
cats will do a freakout before earthquakes man northern british columbia is quake country n kitties always let u know
 
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