Cats and stuffed animals

Juniper_Junebug

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So my brother just sent me a stuffed animal shaped like a gray cat. Above average realistic but, I mean, it can't smell like a cat.

Juno HATES her new stuffed rival. At first, she approached it with trepidation, hiding behind my legs, then approaching it. But pretty soon, she was smacking hard in the face.

What's up? I bring new things into the house all the time, and this really does seem to be related to the fact that it looks like a cat. I'm so surprised that she seems to recognize it as a rival. Is this normal??
 

klunick

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I bought one of those calming beds and also a fuzzy blanket and Gracie hated both. She would chew on them. Drag them around the house. Shake them with her teeth. No idea why. Both literally felt like soft fur so maybe in a weird way she thought they were some type of animal invading her house. :dunno:
 
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Juniper_Junebug

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It may have a smell that upsets her. You could try rubbing it with something you’ve worn and see if that makes a difference.
What seems striking though is that she swats it in the face. Every time. Like she recognized it is a cat-like thing. I've never seen her swat anything before.
 

Babypinkweeb

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Cats are kind of weird like that. I have tons of stuffed animals of all different creatures and sizes, and most are nothing but furniture to my cat, but a couple of them will get suspicious stares and some pawing. My cat also gets more focused on watching puppy videos than birds nor other cat videos! Go figure.
 

danteshuman

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I never had a cat respond aggressively to a stuff animal before. I think the smell & maybe turning the stuffed animal around will help.

However the cats got freaked out by a cat party decoration. Someone had the bright idea of putting one of the birthday cats above the couch. This freaked them out for an hour and finally they slowly approached the strange invader. They still kinda were suspicious of if until we took it down.

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Hellenww

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Mine can't tell the difference between a real cat and fake one from appearances. Last summer I brought home a stuffed baby white tiger. Sqeeker ran over and put his head down for the toy to lick it. Yoshi picked it up by to scruff and put it in his bed. Neither even sniffed it first. In April my Mom sent me a large panther statue. I had it by the back porch. Once again Sqeeker ran to get his head licked and looked so sad when it didn't happen. Yoshi stayed inside and glared. Yoshi was on alert by the window for a few weeks. Here's a pic of the panther.
 

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Texaskitty

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I have two stuffed "bunnies" in bed and they are great for when my cats want to knead and drool on me, I just put a stuffed bunny under them and they drool on that instead of me or my pillow. The stuffed bunnies need to be put in the washer now tho, they're getting kinda gross.
 

fionasmom

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I do think that smacking the toy in the face is very funny. My cats will react to anything with a scent on it. If a friend who owns cats lends me a book, they all come over to investigate. I should add that these are people with clean, organized houses but even a slight scent seems to do it.
 

susanm9006

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Hard slaps are usually a cat‘s reaction to a strange thing that they are uncertain of. They give it two or three and then wait to see if it moves and then they may give it a few more. Eventually they move in for a sniff and accept that it isn’t something to be afraid of. After that it may be just ignored or may become a plaything.
 

fionasmom

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Years ago, my tortie Alix would walk up to my real GSD and sucker punch him four times in the face. He was terrified of her, and a sweetheart, and would cry for me to save him.
 
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Juniper_Junebug

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So I googled Cats Attacking Stuffed Animals, and I guess Juno isn't the only one. So funny.

I hid the stuffed animal in my laundry basket overnight to see if the scent helped. Nope. I've been leaving it out all day to see if she gets used to it. Nope. Every time I set it upright, she smacks it in the face until it goes down, then bites its ear. Rinse and repeat. Cracks me up every time.
 
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