Why Does My Cat Try to Pull Feather Toy into Other Room?

[riahf]

My cat is obsessed with any "toy on a string" game. He will often try to herd me into whatever room the toy is currently in and yowl at me to start playing until I give in. However, once he pounces on it a couple of times, he will bite it and tug it away from me until he and the toy are in the next room. If he gets his way (and he usually does because he is weirdly strong), he will drag the toy into the doorway of the next room and lay on it.

I usually interpret that to mean "Done playing, I caught it!", but then he starts meowing sadly at it after a few minutes.

What is he trying to do here? I don't want to end playing with him if he's still excited, but I also don't want to have to relocate to whatever room he drags the toy to every time we do this. I also don't want to start playing again if he thinks he "won", I want to let him have whatever victory his kitty mind has come up with.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

My kitty does this, especially after the first pounce. She'll drag the wormy into another room and we start all over again. She tends to take it to places she seems to consider her "lairs," e.g., under the couch, a cat bed, or just a pile of Chewy packing paper. I always move with her, holding the rod (assuming I can keep up). She looks so adorable, proudly carrying her prey.

In fact, her ability to transport wormy is why, I suspect, she likes that toy best. It's the only one she can easily carry in her mouth while I tag along holding the rod. Don't know the exact reason she loves it but it seems to do with her desire to carry her prey back to her lair. I keep playing for many rounds of this, because I can tell that's what she wants from me, though I do try to end a play session after a successful catch.

 

[Hellenww]

My Yoshi does the same thing. When he won't let go I do. He drags it away to the kitchen. Most of the time he'll bring it back so I can resuscitate his kill.

 

[maggie101]

So wish cats could talk so here's my idea. He wants the toy to himself. Then there's no one around to play with or be sociable with

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

My cat is obsessed with any "toy on a string" game. He will often try to herd me into whatever room the toy is currently in and yowl at me to start playing until I give in. However, once he pounces on it a couple of times, he will bite it and tug it away from me until he and the toy are in the next room. If he gets his way (and he usually does because he is weirdly strong), he will drag the toy into the doorway of the next room and lay on it.

I usually interpret that to mean "Done playing, I caught it!", but then he starts meowing sadly at it after a few minutes.

What is he trying to do here? I don't want to end playing with him if he's still excited, but I also don't want to have to relocate to whatever room he drags the toy to every time we do this. I also don't want to start playing again if he thinks he "won", I want to let him have whatever victory his kitty mind has come up with.

My cat does this too, and we have no qualms about following her and retrieving her prey and making it "run" back into a different room! I would keep up the playtime, if it seems your cat is still excited to play. I don't know about interpreting "victory" in a kitty's mind, but, for me, an easily conquered "prey" isn't a whole lot of fun for an active cat. I think "prey" should have about, oh, nine lives... that would make a kitty happy. By then, it's time for a kitty snack and a nap.

 

[game misconduct]

graycie tries to do that also my guess is that its more in the sense ok i caught my prey time to devour it since she proceeds to chew and gnaw upon said toy she dragged away but i dont let her do that to much since her stick toys get destroyed to fast that way

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

graycie tries to do that also my guess is that its more in the sense ok i caught my prey time to devour it since she proceeds to chew and gnaw upon said toy she dragged away but i dont let her do that to much since her stick toys get destroyed to fast that way

Yes, it's always the toys that can get chewed up and inhaled that get dragged into the other room. Those are the favorites. I call those, "supervised toys", the one that need to be put away or else you'll be taking your cat to the vet for ingesting something. sigh