Shoe Showdown!

[Anime Chick]

So my 8-month-old, Saru has an obsession with my sneakers. No... I don't mean the typical cat thing to do like lay on them or nuzzle and roll on them. He ABUSES them. He treats them like a dog would, chewing on them, pulling them around, pulling the laces till he gets them untied and them chewing those and tugging them.

At times he'll use them to hug and kick at like a kick toy. Another time he'll stuff his whole face inside and then push the shoe around the floor. No... hes not actually stuck, hes just... pushing it. I've watched him time and time again as he shoves his face in, then proceeds to walk with his head stuffed in the sneaker. Then he'll pull his head out, beat it up a bit more, then shove his face in again and do it all over again.

Theres even been times he will straddle the shoe, but simply look around a bit and then flop over and grab and kick it repeatedly.

He can end up doing this for an hour or so, but while I've seen cats 'make love' to a shoe before, I've never seen one have such an 'abusive relationship' with one before!

Any other cat I've seen just loves all over the shoe, but Saru seems to feel the need to beat it like it slapped his butt and called him a pretty girl.

I'm not sure how normal this is, but I am a bit worried for the sake of my shoes and kinda feel compelled to get him his OWN shoes, because he can get rather 'diggy' with them at times, clawing at them both inside and outside. I'm less worried what kind of damage he'd do compared to a dog in the short run, but in the long run I really don't want my shoes being KOed by my teen kitten.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Getting him his own shoes might be a great idea - although you may have to wear them a time or two in case it's your scent that attracts him to the shoes so much

 

[Hellenww]

Sorry no other suggestions but thanks for the laugh.

 

[Anime Chick]

Hi! Getting him his own shoes might be a great idea - although you may have to wear them a time or two in case it's your scent that attracts him to the shoes so much

Yeah, I figured as much. He'll just have to wait a bit for me to buy some for him, cause I'm broke.

 

[Animal Freak]

No suggestions other than you might have to keep your shoes put up too protect them, but wanted to say you aren't entirely on your own. My cat is nowhere near as bad, but he hangs out where the shoes are, so if he gets playful then my shoes take a bit of a beating. He'll grab them and kick them and bite down on them. I've found my shoes in the middle of the floor before. Fortunately, it doesn't happen too often and he loses interest fairly quickly.

Not completely related, but I put inserts into my shoes and left for a moment. When I went back, one of the shoes had been moved and knocked over. Another of my cats had gotten the insert out and was chewing on it. I took from him and watched him stick his head in my other shoe and get the insert out of that one.

 

[GingerBear]

I love this image! He should totally get his own shoes.

 

[Kflowers]

You might want to put your laces in a drawer. If he swallows one, which is easier for a cat to do than you would think, it can mean surgery - $600+, with more for the tests to see if the lace is in there.