Why does my cat carry around toys like kittens?

Question

My year old cat, Kosey, carries around beanie babies as if they are kittens, and then leaves them in my dogs food dish. When he does this he always puts them in face first, so it looks like they are eating.

Sometimes he'll also carry around a plastic ball and just yowl loudly. I suppose I would understand this more if he were an unspayed female cat, but being he's a neutered male, I don't know why he's doing this.

Can anyone give me some ideas on why he is doing this? I don't think he is lonely, he has several playmates.

Answer 1

our cat(s) did this CONSTANTLY!!! They would carry anything that woudl fit in their mouths. Socks, little toys, mice ect. She even went out of the way to open up a drawer full of socks and pull them out and do this all day.

I was told by my vet that they like to carry things around that have our scent on them. Also that they get bored and have a sense of loneliness. It drove me crazy! She never stopped.

Answer 2

Its normal. My kittens carry around the house what ever toy element they can get a hang on. If it were up to them, they'd probably rip of my toe and carry that around too, just what he is doing at this very moment. Don't worry, in fact, encourage this behavior and try to play with your cat more often. Read how to keep your pets happy on http://www.freewebs.com/soniapaul/articl... If you like the article, please provide your feedback. Thanks

Answer 3

The "gift" theory is a possibility.  One of my friend's 2 cats loves to carry around paperclips all over the house:  she would move 1 paperclip at a time from the computer room/office to each bedroom, laundry room, kitchen, breakfast nook, and living room, each room with a hiding place; she even loves to sneak paperclips into her food bowl, mixed in with her food, but she gets mad if the other cat or any human tries to take the paperclip out of her food bowl.  Then every time my brother and I go visit them, she would make a HUGE deal about "showcasing" her paperclips in her food bowl to my brother.  Then she would bring those paperclips out of her food bowl and other hiding places and give them to my brother as "presents."  And she still hasn't stop this habit through aging.  She's an old spayed cat, too, so it has nothing to do with age or spaying.

As for carrying around the plastic ball and yowling, he is trying to get your attention.  It might not be that big of a deal to you, but it might be a "trick" he's trying to "showcase" to you.  That same female cat at my friend's house would ONLY "showcase" her "tricks" to my brother by carrying her collar tag in her mouth, while marching up & down the stairs and yowling at the same time.  Then she did the same thing with the cat toy balls.  I think there's something about the bell sound she likes, so she thinks those moves are great tricks.

Answer 4

Does your cat get along with your dog? Cats will give gifts to people or other cats that they like sometimes - so perhaps he is doing this? A cat I had once was generous enough to give me a live mouse on a barefoot during a mouse plague. It scared the life out of me, got away, and he never did forgive me.

Also my 3 year old cat steals my knitting. Usually he's polite enough to wait until I put it down, but if he thinks it's getting more of my attention than it should he'll try and pull it from my hands. Could he be jealous of the beanie babies? The yowling behaviour seems to me that he's very pleased with himself that he's just 'caught' the plastic ball, and he wants you to come and appreciate his cleverness.