Does anyone else have a cat burglar?

losna

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As Tempest's comfort is rising, so is her mischief. In particular - theft. She goes after anything. Glasses off your face, anything in pockets - particularly cough drops - bookmarks, hair ties, anything brought into her room that's small enough to get paws or teeth around, she'll make off with the moment you're not looking. My hubby sometimes brings in veggies to eat while spending time with her, she'll even steal the carrots, celery and broccoli sticks from his plate.

I'm concerned about what's going to happen when she leaves her room full time. Am I going to have to go through the house and thoroughly  infant-proof it? Sinbad can get through childproofing on cabinets, but he's never actually tried to do  anything once they're open, it's more like an exercise for him. But I'm getting worried she might actually take things that will be dangerous for her.

Anyone else have a cat burglar like this? What do you do?
 

rlavach

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Yes, I do!!! All 3 are, but 1 is particularly worse. We have child safety locks on all impt cabinets & keep everything in drawers or in our bedroom (where they're not allowed). It was worse when I lived at my parents. There was a small hole in the floor near the radiator that no one knew about...except my Rocky. He'd steal things, then shove them down the hole! One day we found a huge pile of stolen items in the basement! Crazy cat. 
 

regnes

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My Siamese has a thing for earplugs. Wax or foam, he loves them, we quickly learned they're an item that has to be kept on lock down when not in use. It doesn't appear to be harmful to him as he passes them quite easily, but it's an annoyance. He's very smart and keeps track or where there might be earplugs, and any time he thinks he has an opportunity to get his paws on them, he will. My Mom is the only one who uses earplugs, she began hiding them in her dresser drawer thinking it would be too heavy for him to open, but within weeks she started finding the drawer open and no earplugs to be found until the next day in the litter box. A few weeks ago she finally caught him in the act, he hooks his paws onto the drawer while on his tippy toes and then begins to jerk his body back and forth to pull it open and retrieve the earplugs.

Another prime example is when I hid a bag of treats in the drawer on my bedside table. He knew they were in there, and whenever I caught him pawing at the drawer I would stop him, so he began examining the table and found a weak spot where he could lift the bottom up and reach in and pull the bag out.

He's a mischievous little bugger, and too smart for his own good sometimes.  He figures things out too quickly, he doesn't waste much time and every failed attempt at doing something is usually just gathering information. 
 

mani

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My Siamese has a thing for earplugs. Wax or foam, he loves them, we quickly learned they're an item that has to be kept on lock down when not in use. It doesn't appear to be harmful to him as he passes them quite easily, but it's an annoyance. He's very smart and keeps track or where there might be earplugs, and any time he thinks he has an opportunity to get his paws on them, he will. My Mom is the only one who uses earplugs, she began hiding them in her dresser drawer thinking it would be too heavy for him to open, but within weeks she started finding the drawer open and no earplugs to be found until the next day in the litter box. A few weeks ago she finally caught him in the act, he hooks his paws onto the drawer while on his tippy toes and then begins to jerk his body back and forth to pull it open and retrieve the earplugs.
It's earwax.  I have no idea what it's about but they really seem to have a thing for it.
 

matts mom

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Little Helen's a thief. We first discovered it when she became confident enough to leave her room...She'd play with us, but only if she could 'steal' the toy at the end of the game. Then we noticed her trotting of, prissy as you can be, with socks, small baby blankets, mittens, hair ties........and most annoying of all......my daughter's USB for school! It took us a month to find where she'd hoarded that thing, and she was not happy when we took it back 


Now she mostly steals small stuffed toys from my youngest, and socks and mittens. We have to go sock shopping again.......
 
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losna

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My Siamese has a thing for earplugs. Wax or foam, he loves them, we quickly learned they're an item that has to be kept on lock down when not in use. It doesn't appear to be harmful to him as he passes them quite easily, but it's an annoyance. He's very smart and keeps track or where there might be earplugs, and any time he thinks he has an opportunity to get his paws on them, he will. My Mom is the only one who uses earplugs, she began hiding them in her dresser drawer thinking it would be too heavy for him to open, but within weeks she started finding the drawer open and no earplugs to be found until the next day in the litter box. A few weeks ago she finally caught him in the act, he hooks his paws onto the drawer while on his tippy toes and then begins to jerk his body back and forth to pull it open and retrieve the earplugs.

Another prime example is when I hid a bag of treats in the drawer on my bedside table. He knew they were in there, and whenever I caught him pawing at the drawer I would stop him, so he began examining the table and found a weak spot where he could lift the bottom up and reach in and pull the bag out.

He's a mischievous little bugger, and too smart for his own good sometimes.  He figures things out too quickly, he doesn't waste much time and every failed attempt at doing something is usually just gathering information. 
Oh that's too funny. 

 
It's earwax.  I have no idea what it's about but they really seem to have a thing for it.
I have wondered about that... Sinbad has a thing for my used Qtips. If I don't thoroughly bury them in the trash can, he'll dig them out and happily suck on the dirty ends. He only does it to mine though, not my husband's.  It's just so bizarre. 
 
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