Cat Wants Something, but I Can't Figure Out What

[ZimPyre]

So, for context, I have a year-old male cat named Yui. I admittedly wasn't the best owner for him when he was a kitten (nothing abusive/neglectful, mainly just let him form some bad habits), and I've been working on getting him out of some old bad habits the last few months. Things have been going great for the most part and I've officially managed to teach him that my arms aren't chew toys, but I've ran into a bit of an issue lately.

The last month or so, I've been transitioning over to feeding him wet food instead of just free-feeding him dry food like before. It's been going pretty well, and now he's gotten into the routine of letting me know that it's feeding time by jumping up on my computer tower, pawing at my leg, and giving my leg a small bite if I don't respond within a few seconds. Over time, this has shifted from just being something he does to show that he's hungry to just being his general way of getting my attention and letting me know he wants something. All-in-all, I think it's pretty cool that he now has a pretty effective way of letting me know he wants help with something that doesn't involve being violent or a major nuisance. It's pretty cute honestly.

But here comes the issue. Lately (think the last week or two roughly), he's been coming up to get my attention, but I haven't been able to figure out what it is he wants. I'll give him food, but he'll barely touch it. I'll open the door to my room to let him roam the hallway for a little while, but he won't be interested. I'll try to play with him for a while, but he won't participate. All he does is get my attention and then lead me to a random corner of my room like he expects me to do something with it. The issue is, there's nothing in that corner of the room that I feel like would interest him. All it is is a shoe rack, a broom, and a swiffer. Then, when I don't give him what he wants since I have no clue what that is, he'll start to get angry and I sometimes even have to put him outside of my room for a few minutes to let him cool off so that he won't latch on to my arm.

He's been doing super great other than this one thing, and he only does it every now and then, so I'm honestly just very confused. This might be a long shot asking you guys for help, but do you have any idea what I could do to stop him from doing this/give him what he wants?

 

[Maria Bayote]

My Graham is like that - very "talkative" lady. LOL.

Can you check if maybe there is something hidden behind that shoe rack? A toy, a bug or something? My Graham does that when she knows there is a lizard or a cockroach behind something and she goes full verbal attack at me until I get to the bottom of it.

 

[Margot Lane]

Agree w/ the above: I would really scrounge in that area. (Could be even under the house!). If there is well and truly nothing there, maybe Yui wants you to play w/ him…do you have play times? There is one area of my house where I had to house 2 cats for my friends for 3 days, and my cat LOVES going there to sniff about, even though it’s been a year, and many washings of the floor. So it could be some scent, too. A sweaty sneaker can, for some cats, be euphoric.

 

[FeebysOwner]

If you can I would move that stuff to another location and see if Yui goes to the new location. Maybe in that original spot place a cat bed, cat tree, or even an automated toy to see what happens.

 

[Furballsmom]

the issue is, there's nothing in that corner of the room that I feel like would interest him. All it is is a shoe rack, a broom, and a swiffer.

I agree with all the other posters above, he's definitely interested in SOME thing, whether the three items or something else.