Cats with hobbies!

[Beldarna]

Ninja is smart. He's also adventurus, which makes us find him everywhere, including the top of the balcony door. The trait is cute but also makes it difficult to activate him as he's too smart to play with toys (not real animals so no fun), and he knows where the light from the laserpen comes from so he just sits and stares at the pointer in our hand instead of chasing the red dot.

Of course he knows how to open doors either way but his favorite past time is to close a door and then sit and scrath and meow until we come and open it for him so he can walk out. Then he come back and close it again until we open it. It's especially fun to do so in the bedroom while we're sleeping.

[rybett]

Lily fetches many things but her favourite is hair ties.  I got her a bunch of the little terry cloth ones.  Dave nicknamed them buttholes because he is Dave.  Ask Lily where her butthole is and she will bring one to play with.  Then dumps them in the water dish.

[Duenia]

One of my cats enjoys stealing napkins around the house (preferably used ones, and preferably right off the dining table when we look away for just a second, but she took some out of the napkin holder a few times as well). Not to rip them to pieces, that's too normal. No, she takes them too her water bowl, and drops them into the water. Then she just leaves them there. I have to refresh the water about three times a day... So I made a LOLcat out of her.

Thinking about this... I wonder if she's doing it specifically because she wants you to change her water lol?

[Broken Irishwoman]

^ That's certainly possible! I guess she likes her water VERY fresh.

I'm loving all the stories so far, cats are great. And Jinxxy, your video is priceless!

[Hannah66665]

I heard somewhere that cats will drop toys/things in their water dish because they consider it a safe place. 
I've also heard they like to dip their paws in the water to make it ripple because they prefer drinking out of flowing/moving water. Not sure how true either thing is but they would make sense.  Loving all the stories.

My kitty I used to have (Saria) LOVED dipping her paws in water and opening cupboards.

[Majesty]

My cat has a hobby of sleeping at the moment.  He's going to be 13 so he's getting up there in age.
 When he was younger he would take those mini mice and put them in his water dish. I found out they do that,
 because they know that's where their things are.  When my cat was smaller he enjoyed getting underneath my bureaus too.  I try to play with him, but with toys he loses interest in a few seconds.  He enjoys belly rubs like a dog though it's cute.

[Lhianneth]

One of my cats enjoys stealing napkins around the house (preferably used ones, and preferably right off the dining table when we look away for just a second, but she took some out of the napkin holder a few times as well). Not to rip them to pieces, that's too normal. No, she takes them too her water bowl, and drops them into the water. Then she just leaves them there. I have to refresh the water about three times a day... So I made a LOLcat out of her.

Thinking about this... I wonder if she's doing it specifically because she wants you to change her water lol?

Actually, vets and animal behaviourists think that it's because cats can't see or smell water that's fresh and clear if it's not moving. They drop things like food or toys in to judge the depth (or dip their paws in first/drink from their paws instead).

Both of our cats drop bits of food into the two water bowls we have, and the clumsy one drinks off of her paw instead of out of the dish.

[Broken Irishwoman]

^ That's interesting! Actually I've been thinking about getting her one of those water fountains for cats.

[firestar0629]

We have a tiny kitten named Luna and a giant German Shepherd named Bear. Luna's favourite thing to do is annoy her brother. She attacks his tail while he's sleeping, tries to ride on his back, chews on his ears, and drinks from his water bowl. She even makes him wait his turn to drink! Bear is incredibly gentle with her and will move his tail around for her to play with. He loves his little kitty sister more than she loves him, I think. 

Luna's other hobby is torturing insects. If she sees a fly, she'll just hit it around for a while and maim it before killing it. If the fly flies up too high for her to reach, she yells at it.

Luna is kind of sadistic.

[Koudoawaia]

He doesn't do it any more but when my cat was a kitten he had a habit of making "collections" under the sofa. We'd pull it out to clean and find he'd dragged several little items like pen lids, sweet wrappers and pennies and made a little pile out of them

My cat Eclipse still does that and she's four years old lol. She is also no bigger than a one year old still though.

[JazzMatazz]

Mine likes to open cabinets just to see what's inside. He also likes to ask for things by sitting near it and giving you a small meow or begging look and then will pout if you don't do what he wants. Because he's not getting cat nip 3 times a day just because he asks for it. 

[Duenia]

Mine likes to open cabinets just to see what's inside. He also likes to ask for things by sitting near it and giving you a small meow or begging look and then will pout if you don't do what he wants. Because he's not getting cat nip 3 times a day just because he asks for it.

Lol this is why I keep the catnip on a high shelf in the closet with nothing around for them to climb. They won't ask. They will just open the cabinet and take it. Then Pixie chews through the bag and it's suddenly on every inch of my apartment (which is a serious nightmare to clean up).

[NightGliderSA]

What a cool thread! 

Our two cats get lonely and will mew miserably until I answer them from where ever I happen to be in the house or garden. Then they are (apparently) happy. Until they become lonely once again. They also come when called, though we didn't teach them that. And they talk to us, especially Nicky, who is now 19. Bear gives us tail hugs. Cats are amazing.

[Gator]

Accidental post

[Galactica]

My cat is an exercise freak. I guess that's a hobby? 

When she was young, she would run/trot/run/walk for HOURS (literally, hours) on her giant exercise wheel (yes it is ridiculous)

Now that she's 13 and a little bit fat, she does a lot less running, but she still walks on this damn thing every single day of her life.

My wife thought I was crazy for buying her this wheel, but she admits now it was possibly the best purchase I ever made... (it distracts her from more distructive pursuits)

It's also hilarious to see a cat running on a wheel... 
https://youtu.be/ehanEf-acJw?t=10