Meowing with Toys!

kariwojo

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My cat has a strange behavior that I'd like to try to find out what it means. He'll carry around a toy and meow. (It sounds horrible--all muffled). He has done this since he was a kitten--it started with these giant gorilla slippers I had. He'd carry them around (well, drag them around) and meow--like he thought it was a kitten. When we got a second cat, he even carried him around by the scruff. Now he does it with stuff spiders. It's not at a particular time of day--he does it during the day and at night (mostly right after we go to bed). I thought he was telling us he wanted to play, so the other day when he meowed and dropped his toy as soon as he saw me, I tried playing with him. He was not interested. What instinctual behavior is this?
 

emmylou

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I believe it's part of the hunting instinct. Some cats growl or meow while carrying their "catch" around... and woe to the human or cat who tries to take it away from them.

Some female cats carry toys around and vocalize in a nurturing behavior, as though the toy were their baby. But with a male cat, it's more likely to be predatory.
 

gingersmom

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My Ginger does that - but only with one particular catnip toy. She used to wake me up at 5 a.m. to "tell" me that she'd brought her toy into my bedroom. Then she'd drop it and go do somethinbg else.


 

piyi

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Originally Posted by emmylou

But with a male cat, it's more likely to be predatory.
That's what my cat does. My boyfriend says it sounds like a cat in heat noise. But he likes to carry around two small stuffed penguins in particular and he makes that muffled meow sound while he's doing it. I would say its definitely predatory in his case.
 

tammie

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Only one of my cats does this: Mischief. Frosty never has. You can tell instantly by her cry that she's carrying something around. Usually, it's her feather toy at the end of a wand ... she'll drag that toy all over the house and drop the feather end in her water dish.

That's normally how this ends with her: with some toy swimming in her water dish!
 

crazyforinfo

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Molly does the same thing & it does sound like when she was in heat. She loves to carry her toys around and cry.

Lucky lets out a tiny whimper when he occasionally does it.
 

bazkitty

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Our Marilyn carries socks EVERYWHERE! And the kids beanie babies (we finally bought her some of her own
). We find them all over the house.
She'll bring them and put them inform of the bedroom doors.

Snickers (RIP..we miss you sweetie!) used to 'cry' everytime he carried something around the house. He never growled or got posessive, he just meowed when he carried things.
 

rosiemac

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Rosie meows when she carries a catnip sack around that she's had for 5 years.

Usually she meows as she's bringing it downstairs then drops it when she gets to the bottom. She looks at me as if to say "I've brought you a present!", so i tell her what a good girl she is
 

menasmom

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Originally Posted by Tammie

Only one of my cats does this: Mischief. Frosty never has. You can tell instantly by her cry that she's carrying something around. Usually, it's her feather toy at the end of a wand ... she'll drag that toy all over the house and drop the feather end in her water dish.

That's normally how this ends with her: with some toy swimming in her water dish!
So YOUR cat does the "let's drown the toy" trick inthe water dish, too? My two females do it--the baby does it more than Gette used to, however, Gette preferred throwing them in the toilet bowl. Last week I was lying in bed watching tv and thebaby popped up next to my pillow with her stuffed mouse and dropped it by my shoulder as if to say "Hey, I brought you a present." Well, i went to pick it up and it was DRIPPING WET!! Thanks, baby!!
 

tammie

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Originally Posted by menasmom

So YOUR cat does the "let's drown the toy" trick inthe water dish, too? My two females do it--the baby does it more than Gette used to, however, Gette preferred throwing them in the toilet bowl. Last week I was lying in bed watching tv and thebaby popped up next to my pillow with her stuffed mouse and dropped it by my shoulder as if to say "Hey, I brought you a present." Well, i went to pick it up and it was DRIPPING WET!! Thanks, baby!!
Mischief has been drowning her toys since she was a baby (only in the water dish as the toilet seat is kept down at all times) and I don't see her ever stopping. I just shake me head .... she doesn't hurt anything by it so what the heck. She's been an eccentric kitty since we got her at 7 weeks old!
 
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kariwojo

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we think Ozzie is being nurturing. We don't know if maybe he was fixed too soon or something, but he's not predatory at all. And, he made the same noise when he was carrying a real live cat as he does when he carries toys (a beanie-baby spider), and I doubt he thought the live cat was his prey! I guess we just have an over-sensitive cat! I'll have to scan in the picture of him with the gorilla. It's not very good, but the best we could get cuz by the time we'd get the camera he'd be more interested in us and drop it!
 

sreriera

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It's so nice to know that other people's cats behave this way. My boy, Pepper, used to do this all the time. He would sit at the bottom of the stairs and cry until I went to bring him to bed. My girl, Ginger, does this all the time. She carries toys around and yowls. I pick the toy up to play with her and she is uninterested. At night, she carries various toys around and yowls. I thought she was just weird, but now I know she's not. The two of them seem to take turns. Occassionally they will both yowl together - him at the bottom of the stairs and her outside the bedroom door. I think they're mad that there isn't enough room for them in the bed. They like to sleep with me, but my husband is a crazy sleeper and they get booted - he doesn't mean to! As soon as he leaves in the morning, they both hop into bed with me.
 

pawsnfurr

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I have too cats that meow when they carry their toys, folded socks, doorstops, hair elastics, or anything else they carry around. Mitten does it when she wants attention and Mischief mostly at night...
 
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