Morning Ritual

[bodisha]

My cat toothless is approximately 2 1/2 years old, and I've had her for about 2 years. A couple months ago we developed, what seems to me to be an odd ritual in the mornings.

One morning after I got out of bed, I noticed she seemed to want me to follow her, so I did thinking she wanted me to let her out. She led me to this one spot in my hallway, about 15 feet outside my bedroom. She stopped, and gave me her "scratch my head" look, which I did. After a few head scratches, she turned around and led me back into my bedroom. Stopping at 2 spots in the hallway on her way back. Where she gave me her "scratch my head" look both times. She eventually made it to this one spot in my bedroom, and continued to give me her "look", but this time her butt/tail started shaking. Which I've read is a sign of excitement/happiness in cats.

Since that day, this has been our morning ritual after I get up. She will led me to the same spot in the hallway in the morning. Stops at the same spots on the way to my bedroom. Seemingly expecting me to give her head scratches at the same spots on our little journey. With us always winding up in the same location in my bedroom, with her butt/tail shaking.

I personally enjoy this morning ritual, but has anyone else developed a ritual with their cat?

 

[Antonio65]

Well, every time I sweep the floor with the broom, Freya has to jump on my shoulder and have me carry her around the house while she looks at the world from a higher perspective.

 

[rubysmama]

I love hearing about regular rituals cats develop with their humans.
Ruby doesn't have any right now, that I can think of.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Those are so cute!

Don't ask me how Feeby got this ritual started - it has been going on so long now - but every morning after I get her breakfast ready, I go out on our screened-in patio with my coffee and to read the paper. After a few bites of her breakfast, Feeby joins me on the patio and stands beside my chair. I pat the left side of her behind to the beat of the first half of "Mary had a little lamb" and finish with "A shave and a haircut, two bits". Then she turns around so I can repeat the process on the right side of her behind with the second half of the same tune, also followed by the same ending. Then, she leaves to go munch some more food.

This is e-v-e-r-y morning for years and years now!

 

[Caspers Human]

Casper comes to get me and tells me that it's time to go to bed.

If I've been staying up later than Casper thinks I should, he comes into the room and circles while I pet him. If this goes on for more than a few minutes, he'll start doing things that he knows will annoy me such as chewing on things that he knows he's not supposed to. When he does that, I'll say, "Okay...Gimme' a minute..." and he'll stop.

I get up and go to the bathroom, to brush up before bed. He'll run ahead of me, into the bathroom and wait. I go in to do my business and he'll circle and get a drink from the bathtub faucet. When I'm done, he'll lead me to the bedroom and wait by the bed until I lay down and cover up.

Next, he'll jump up and circle like he's looking for a place to lay. I'll make a blanket nest for him and pat the bed. A minute later, he'll lay down and start purring until I fall asleep.

The first couple times he did that, I didn't know that he wanted me to come to bed. He would annoy me and I would ignore him until he went away. One night, I got up to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed on my own accord and he ran ahead like he wanted me to follow him. He did the same thing the next night and I realized that he was doing this on purpose.

Now, when Casper does this, I know that he's telling me that it's late and he wants me to go to bed.

 

[Furballsmom]

I purchased a big cat tree last year after waiting for quite some time for a sturdy one to go on sale and reach a price point I could manage . The purpose of it was to help Poppycat get down from the top of the fridge a little more easily (I can't accommodate his everlasting wish with a runway under the ceiling, so he has to deal with what exists). He's a large, tall cat, and climbing/navigating up the tree wasn't something he seemed interested in, especially since mom was helping him by lifting him to the level nearest to the top of the fridge (lol smart cat).

In the process of this, he and I developed a relationship of sorts with this cat tree

So, it's been moved to a different room (I cut up my thick workout mat so he has a soft landing on the counter on the other side of the fridge and also on the floor). The first day, he zoomed up it like nobody's business, but then seemed disinterested. I had been utilizing catnip to reinvigorate his attention. In the process, he's developed what appears to be a regular mid-morning routine.

He'll enter the middle cave, turn around and lay down with his head sticking out. He doesn't go to sleep however. He keeps his eye on me as I'm moving around the house, --and sure enough, mom comes through in short order with a couple pieces of fresh catnip.

 

[Margot Lane]

Casper comes to get me and tells me that it's time to go to bed.

If I've been staying up later than Casper thinks I should, he comes into the room and circles while I pet him. If this goes on for more than a few minutes, he'll start doing things that he knows will annoy me such as chewing on things that he knows he's not supposed to. When he does that, I'll say, "Okay...Gimme' a minute..." and he'll stop.

I get up and go to the bathroom, to brush up before bed. He'll run ahead of me, into the bathroom and wait. I go in to do my business and he'll circle and get a drink from the bathtub faucet. When I'm done, he'll lead me to the bedroom and wait by the bed until I lay down and cover up.

Next, he'll jump up and circle like he's looking for a place to lay. I'll make a blanket nest for him and pat the bed. A minute later, he'll lay down and start purring until I fall asleep.

The first couple times he did that, I didn't know that he wanted me to come to bed. He would annoy me and I would ignore him until he went away. One night, I got up to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed on my own accord and he ran ahead like he wanted me to follow him. He did the same thing the next night and I realized that he was doing this on purpose.

Now, when Casper does this, I know that he's telling me that it's late and he wants me to go to bed.

Mine too which for him is 8PM and for me 11PM so he gets miffed. Usually he kind of wins.

 

[DreamerRose]

Mingo goes to sleep in the spare bedroom until I go to bed. He waits for me to get settled, then hops up and comes up close to my head. If I pet him, he curls up and purrs. Usually, I go to sleep while he's still purring, but if I don't, after a while he goes down to my legs and curls up behind my knees. I don't dare move my legs.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

Every morning about half an hour before my alarm goes off, Neko-chan comes to the top of the bed in between me and my husband. She then bumps noses with me before curling up under my chin and purring.

 

[Margot Lane]

BTW I don’t know if this counts, but, I wondered if other cats had this ritual of coming to the telephone when you’re on it. Obviously this doesn’t happen w/ cell phones but I still have a land line. It’s almost as if they want to be a part of the conversation.

 

[Caspers Human]

Well, if a ringing phone makes a noise then the human goes to it and starts talking, your cat would naturally want to know what all the fuss is about. Wouldn't they?

 

[Margot Lane]

Well, if a ringing phone makes a noise then the human goes to it and starts talking, your cat would naturally want to know what all the fuss is about. Wouldn't they?

I almost feel as if I should just shut my yap & hold the phone up to Zorro, so he can take over! As it is, I always mention: “Zorro says hi too.” And b/c I have so many cat friends, their cat is doing something similar). CATS.

 

[Caspers Human]

Why not?

Casper always signs greeting cards!

 

[DreamerRose]

BTW I don’t know if this counts, but, I wondered if other cats had this ritual of coming to the telephone when you’re on it. Obviously this doesn’t happen w/ cell phones but I still have a land line. It’s almost as if they want to be a part of the conversation.

I've had two cats that did that. Mingo would actually get mad when I was on the phone because he wanted me to play with him. The other cat would try to knock the phone out of my hand. Fortunately, they grew out of this behavior.

 

[Antonio65]

BTW I don’t know if this counts, but, I wondered if other cats had this ritual of coming to the telephone when you’re on it. Obviously this doesn’t happen w/ cell phones but I still have a land line. It’s almost as if they want to be a part of the conversation.

One of the cats I had would do the same thing. She would come at my feet and start rubbing against my legs and meow out loud. The person on the other end would ask "Is that a cat that I hear?"

 

[mani]

Nilah has a 'greet my friends' ritual.

• If people are seated she puts her paws on the side of the chair and then pats their hand with her paw.
• When they make it plain they've noticed her and have given her a pat she goes back down to the floor and shows them her bottom, looking over her shoulder at them to be sure they are awash with admiration.
• She then repeats the whole procedure until ignored or given a treat.

 

[maggie101]

Every morning I feed my 9 yr old cat she jumps on the counter,as soon as I put her down she jumps back up. Almost 10x. I have started putting her in my bathroom. She doesn't mind. She just wants the food. Peaches eats too fast and steals my cats food so she does have to be locked up.it makes her eat slower so less vomitting. If I move the bowl around up high she follows it with her eyes

 

[Meekie]

I've only had Maple for a little over a month now, so she's still adjusting but so far she seems to be a creature of habit.

I'm wondering if it's possible to influence whatever rituals develop with her since she likes to play in the mornings which is difficult because at some point I have to leave for work. It's hard to turn your back on a playful kitten!

She sleeps all afternoon and gets up while I eat dinner. She's gets increasingly playful in the evening which is also troubling because she doesn't really go into full crazy kitty mode until late --- and I have to get to bed at a certain point. I've been staying up a little later to indulge her but this won't last. I'm one of those people who doesn't function well with at least 7 hours of sleep.

But then again she's only 7 months so I suspect her schedule will change.

My last batch of cats was the best ever. They had rituals amongst themselves. My favorite was in the early evenings when all three of them would hang out in the kitchen, usually one in the window, one on the cat pedestal, and one on the floor. They would just hang together like that for about an hour. If I came in and talked to them or tried to instigate play, they'd look at me like "Go away human. This is cat time." After a while I learned to use this to my advantage and allocated "cat time" to things I needed or wanted to do without cat interference, like folding laundry or anything that involved laying a sheet of paper in a flat surface.

Rico used to hang out in the bathroom while I showered. When I got out he's help me dry by licking the water off my legs. The funny thing was that he used to hang out in the kitchen a lot while I was cooking or doing dishes and if I accidentally dripped any water on him he'd hate it and run off. But after my shower he seemed to like being dripped on. I used to do it on purpose.