We did this for our first cat, spent a small fortune on a cat tree, a bed, scratching posts, and toys. She ignored them all except for the tree, which became a sleeping perch, and proceeded to eat several boot laces prompting a panicked call to the vet.

Our solution was to get a second cat, who instantly started using the cardboard claw scratchers, sleeping in the cat bed, and stashes toy mice in our shoes. Perhaps not the wisest 'solution', but one which worked out in the end.

Our cat loves tuna sashimi and red wine (not together). Cats have ways of getting exactly what they want

We had a grumpy, self-absorbed persian cat, who, we thought was lonely, so we got her a kitten. She hated Maximus, so he was lonely and rejected. So we got him a puppy.

Maximus adopted Tiberius as his baby and cries when he is away. Persian cat is happy because she is now left well alone.

Puppy grew up to become an 80 pound husky and insists on holding hands until he falls asleep in our bed, while Maximus sleeps on my head.

Happy fuzzy family.

Meg, it sounds like maybe your house is a little warm for your kitty; mine always lie on the tile when they get warm, on the rug or furniture the rest of the time.

I've given up buying cat beds because they never use them; they always seem to prefer OUR bed or the other furniture. One of ours likes to curl up in the decorative bowl on the dining table or on the printer. It doesn't seem comfy to me but cats have their own logic.

my cat likes anything that is ours and nothing that is meant for cats.

My cat loves the cat bed I bought her at Ikea, and uses it daily - but she'll also sleep on the bed, or sofa, or bookcase, or floor, or anywhere she pleases.

It occurs to me that we also tend to keep a single magazine or book on the coffee table for the cat to sleep on. To non-cat-people that probably seems weird . . . .

Of course they despise your efforts to please; they're cats! For some reason my cat has to scoop her dry food from the bowl, throw it on the floor and then eat some... but not all. This makes for a really messy kitchen floor, so we put her food in a shallow bowl on a 5-inch platform, and now she stands and eats with her mouth.

My sister's cats only drink "found" water and reject the water bowl, so she takes a copper watering can the cats can barely squeeze their heads into on tiptoe, fills it with water and "hides" it behind some furniture. They love it... weird.

Besides that, we've had to keep small objects off of high-up surfaces because our cat loooves to swipe them nonchalantly to the floor.

I had a cat so lazy that he would sleep in the bathtub when there was a small leak in the faucet. He'd stay out of range until he got thirsty, and then schooch down and lay in a position that let the water drip into his mouth.

We have two cats and have noticed that in the warmer months they stop using their beds. So we began switching out their beds for a folded blanket or thin pad (it helps collect their fur as they tend to sleep in the same places).

Also we have one cat that loves to play with anything you might think of as trash – milk tops, milk rings, twist ties, tape, etc. I think my friends wonder why I have a bowl of trash next to my couch until they see him carrying a milk top around in his mouth.

My cats like to sleep on anything that smells like us...esp if I have just gone running in it. YUCK. and if I have been running in the rain, those are the best shoelaces to eat through.

Other favorites...twisty ties, ribbon, and plastic bags but most especially plastic sheathing we have hung when we are doing some DIY around the house. They are in heaven when the house is covered in plastic...

My cat loves hard surfaces, too. Will only play with rubber bands and Q-tips, scoops food out of his bowl (I'm going to try that platform tip) and will only drink water out of a coffee mug placed on my desk.

He also loves to shove things off of surfaces, preferably glass things, because the sound of breaking glass is especially thrilling for him. Sometimes he'll watch me as he starts to nudge things toward the edge. If I react, he'll push harder.

And whenever possible, he'll spring on me from out of nowhere. I've had to buy 'Bionic Rose Gloves'. They protect my forearms. Yes, I've tried everything to nip this one in the bud. Nothing worked.

He's a bratty boy kitty, but I'm hoping he'll outgrow the worst of it. I adore him.

lucy likes to sleep on my pillow next to my head. she also like to sit on the closed toilet seat lid while i get ready in the morning. i think she really likes me! lola likes to dip her paws in the water bowl and splash it.

My runty Persian cat (We got her from the pound & she has always been tiny!) similarly ignored all the comfy cat beds & made a beeline for one of the cubicles in my ikea expedit bookcase (which I have on it's side behind the sofa as a sideboard)

She found herself a little nook, meowed until I removed the magazines in her way & that has been her bed ever since.

Strangely I have never ever seen her play. I tried cat toys, sticks, shoelaces ect, no luck. Occasionally she will chase a bug if she sees one but she doesn't play with them, just eat them.

Cat toys are for pets. Widmerpool is not a pet.
He deigns to play with things that are either not toys (sitting under the weekend newspapers, chasing people while under them, attacking ditto). Or sitting in the dolls house, although we have to remove the regular occupants. He ill play with cat toys, but only if we're not watching too closely. And if they've been looking at him strangely.

Widmerpool also likes to watch people have showers. But only males...

Our cats have their fair share of quirks.

Brother #1 adores the dog, emulates the dog, cleans the dog and then desires to be cleaned by the dog. It seems a bit unnatural and always ends with the cats ears turned outwards and properly cleaned by dog tongue.

This same cat does not like being told "no" and will wait till you turn to walk away and jump up shoulder height, hit you with his paws (never with claws), push off your back and then land and meow loudly. He is all white and looks like a popcorn kernel popping as he comes off the floor.

Brother #2 has an obsession with mirrors, and most other shiny objects. We have an antique dresser with the mirror removed, bathroom mirrors with kitty paw smudges on them and no longer keep decorative bowls out. He will scratch at them and never give up.....not sure what he is looking for.

Have you tried a cat dancer? It's super-cheap and low-tech: some bits of cardboard on a wire. It's the only thing my cat, Sid Vicious, has ever liked playing with.

Our two girls (sisters) love hairbands...so much that they reach for them on my arm when I'm wearing. I try to hide them (since I'm down to only a few now!) and just this morning one of them sniffed it out from under my pillow. They can easily wrap them around their paw so they can proceed to throw it around or into baskets so they can later dig out. Whenever we do a major vacuum job that requires moving furniture we find a pile of them underneath in the dustbunny pile. In terms of store bought toys they love the Cat Dancer..the BEST and cheapest toy in the world!! Attn all cat owners: if you do not have a cat dancer you must run, not walk, to the nearest pet store!

They actually use the catbed I bought them along with their mini kitty condo-probably cause it's level with the window so they have a view. They're also a big fan of laying on magazines-on tables, beds, floors, wherever.

One also loves to scoop the dry food out onto the floor, and they both refuse to drink water from a bowl near the food. We have to keep a separate water bowl upstairs in the bedroom-which is better than us having to let them drink from the faucet when they were babies. Got them out of that habit real quick when I was constantly cleaning the bathroom. However we can't keep a glass of water out or they'll go right to it-which led me to switch to a sealed travel mug next to bed at night.

Whatever makes them happy :)

I'm glad my cats aren't the only cats that who only drink "found" water. I have a decorative bowl on one of my end tables that the cats drink out of. They scorn any water bowls that are on the floor.

I have, well had, a satin robe that has been claimed by one of my cats. If she feels a little frisky, she bats on the belt of the robe.

My (fortunately former) roommate's cat had the worst quirks. He would drink any water he found, and if it happened to just be a little at the bottom of the glass, he would knock over over the glass (usually breaking it) to drink it. That cat would also knock over all the garbage cans in search of used q-tips. He would gnaw on them and then drop them into the cat food bowl.

My cat knows the sound of the ice maker in the refrigerator door. I have to get a handful of ice and put it in his water bowl in the mornings and he leaves me alone and lets me get ready for work. I notice if I don't put ice in he doesn't drink much. I put ice in often now just because it is healthier for him to drink a lot of water. I can't leave my own water glass in reach and leave the room or I come back to a half empty glass.

He has his share of cat beds which he loves, practically one in every room and uses them at different times depending on whether he wants to be left alone or be part of the family. On warm days he likes to sleep on the cold concrete of the balcony. The boiler for the apartment building is below my office and in the winter he sleeps on the floor in there because the heat radiates up through the floor.

My cat too rejects anything 'cat' related, and only wants 'human' possessions.

First, he adopted a piece of fleece I brought home intending to cut it into pieces for the Swiffer. Instead, it is now his blankee. He holds onto it for dear life and screams when I need to take it from him for washing.

At nap time, he only wants to sleep in my bed under the covers, completely under the covers. I don't know how he breathes. This is only for his after lunch nap, no other time. (He's fortunate I have a home office, because he needs me to tuck the covers in around him: NO LIGHT can get in.)

And finally, he will only eat off Wedgwood china. I don't know how he knows, but if put down glass bowls, he will wait for a china bowl with his water, and a bread plate for his food. He's not eating off that Pyrex. He wants his china!

PS His idea of hot fun is kibble spread out on the kitchen floor, as if it was spilled. He gets so excited, his tail quivers. So it's either the floor, or the finest china. It's a cat's life!

My cat loves sleeping on backpacks/messenger bags. He makes a nice little bed out of them. I also brought home a nice danish teak upholstered chair a little while ago and it now belongs exclusively to him.

For toys, he plays with foam squishee balls and those white things that look like tables that come in some pizza boxes so that the cheese doesn't stick to the top of the box. Really, those are his favourite.

He eats anything knit or woven (think hats, scarfs, blankets) and anything that has tassles, fringe or drawstring. We learned early on to get that stuff out of the way. Thankfully he stopped eating kleenex.

Just about any 'bad' cat behavior can be corrected using a skirt bottle of water, or a squirt gun, aimed at the tops of their head. It's not cruel, it takes only once or twice and they generally don't hold a grudge.
I think it was poor planning to move a newcomer kitty into a house made disruptive by moving in on the same day. That's got to bring about bad behavior and sometimes a recipe for disaster.
Things should be calm and stable.
Cats find their own places to perch and feel safely comfortable.
My Malcolm switches out places to sleep every now and then. For now it's the back of the couch, tomorrow it could be the loveseat, nestled into the big frumpy pillow.
In winter it's under the covers next to my chest for him, in summer at the foot of the bed. If he budges he gets the boot so he's learned to be calm and quiet.

I'm glad that my kitty isn't alone in the world of amazing and slightly strange pets! His favorite toys are my ponytail holders and twist ties, and while in the beginning of our relationship I tried to do nice things like buy him Fancy Feast and all that jazz, he really just likes ham and turkey lunch meat. He also sits on the bathtub edge while I shower, and will sometimes attack my feet when I'm shaving. That is until the water hits his face, then he flips out and waits on the toilet seat for me to finish so he can lick my toes. He has a house that he lays in (but only when it's on it's side and the carpet pushes through the netting), but his favorite bed is a Vera Bradley tote bag on a suitcase in the back of the closet. Or on top of whatever book I'm reading. He just wants to learn. I love my kitty.

my cat loves those small red cocktail straws and TAPE. if he hears the slightest crinkling of tape he will come running. it used to be adorable, but now that im in design school, i use a LOT of tape, and i always catch him ruining my homework!!

I've had to go out of my way to have a perfectly sized cardboard box in the living room so that Scarlett can sleep in it. I have also had to place a cup permanently on my nitestand for her to drink her water from. And of course, store bought toys are not enough, I must make them out of yarn for her. Spoiled spoiled.

Our cat MeMe loves to sleep on towels, she will sleep on a towel anywhere, on the side of the tub, in a chair, right next to the dog's bowl while they slosh water all over her little furry head.
She also likes to catch things for us. At 3 am its not unusual to hear a loud mrrowing that is followed by some scampering and then more mrrowing right up until she drops the caught object in our bed. We have recieved such wonders as a dead water bug (which has caused us to pay a lot of attention when the mrrowing starts...) the top of a shredded cheese packet, a shoe string, thread, straw wrapper, and the little thingy you pull off the milk before the lid will come off (what is that anyways??). Maybe she thinks they are out to get us....

I have a mean, fat half-Persian who hisses and growls and swats at anyone who weighs less than 250 lbs. She sleeps on an Eames lounge (or pretty much wherever she wants). I have another plain old DSH whose favorite treat is to lick plastic bags. Any kind--ziplocs, grocery sacks, wrappers. About 10 yrs. ago I had an orange tabby who loved brown paper bags. He liked me to open up the bag with a flourish and throw it on the floor; he would proceed to pounce on it and methodically tear off pieces all around the edge of the sack and spit them on the floor. When he had gone all the way around the edge, he would walk away and never touch it again.

Cats are absolutely nuts; I think that's why I love them.

rlmesq, my cat loves packing tape too. I put the shipping boxes on the floor and he tries to pull it off. I can't leave a roll of unused packing tape lying around or he tries to eat it.

I went with a platform bed so my chihuahuas wouldn't be constantly begging to "help me up!" or "help me down!". I moved the sofa (that I chose for the back and arms wide enough for the furkids to perch on) to the best spot for the chi's and the cat to lie in sunbeams. I gave up my beautiful eggplant colored velvet bedding because it was a hair magnet. Furkids rule!

I recently bought a 10x13' oriental rug off of Craigslist for $40. When I got home, I realized that the rug was waaaaaaay larger than I had thought (I always remember to measure the space AFTER these kinds of purchases), and I was going to re-Craigslist it. However, my cat was crazy for the carpet! She rolled all over it, purred, napped, rolled some more. I was actually vetoed by my boyfriend from getting rid of the rug because the cat loved it so much.

Now our little 9 lb feline sleeps on a TEN FOOT BY THIRTEEN FOOT rug! (How's that for a cat bed?)

Check out the kitty antics here: http://jackieandjillofalltrades.blogspot.com/2010/06/bengal-cat-animal-comes-to-w2-jungle.html

Well whatever our cat wants she gets. For example, she loves, loves, loves being in the bathroom with me when I am, er, doing my business. In fact, if the bathroom door is shut while I'm in there she will howl to be let in. Creates for some awkward situations.

And despite sleeping regularly in her cat bed, she will turn anything else into a bed too,expedit bookcase, desk, desk chair, dining chair, arm chair, dresser, beds, under beds, suitcases etc.

My parents got me my cat for my 16th birthday. In the 13 years since, she has been consistantly inconsistant. I bought a small cat bed, nothing fancy, and the cat never used it. I put it away in the closet and years later when we got a puppy, I put it in his crate. As soon as I let the dog out of his crate, she walked in and curled up in the bed. She occasionally plays with cat toys, but she would rather steal things from me. She hoards pens, hair ties, and loose change. I found a twenty once in her favorite hidey-hole. When we still lived at home, she carried off the baby Jesus from the Nativity every year.

My cat loves to eat paper! She bites pieces of it off and eats it. She ate my son's homework when he was still in school.. He even took it in to show his teacher the teeth marks. She also has a habit of swatting us if we don't pay attention to her or play with her. Most of all she loves to race up and down the hall with my son. It's a toss up as to who will win every time.

Our China(a Pekingese) Watches after all the Flea lions,wags her blond tail,madly when she sees them but, loves her Bear the most. She was a rescue and might have been a companion dog for a man, before she came to our home. How do we know that? When Bear isn't feeling well she stays close by his side and on those cold N. California nights she sleeps on top of his bald head.She's his baby!

Oh, yes. My dog's favorite toy in the entire world was a wool stocking cap she rescued from the Goodwill pile and used as a chew/tug of war toy until it finally shredded completely. She has two beds, but crawls up onto our bed and snuggles up to my husband in the middle of the night--every night. She's also a labrador retriever, but cannot retrieve a tennis ball properly to save her life, and prefers to play with the apples in the backyard rather than her tennis balls anyway. We like to joke that it's a good thing she's cute!

Our Russian Blue mix drinks found water constantly! Or the toilet bowl. After splashing it with her paws. She sleeps in her cat bed but also claimed an ottoman that now has a permanent divot in the middle. Randomly, she'll sleep on the floor or on my husband's backpack.

As for toys: she chews on my Bertoia, thinks tissue paper and milk rings are cracktastic, loves her Cat Dancer and is out to get my Alexander Girard curtains.

But she's absolutely adorable. We taught her to jump up on chairs and tables on command, and she plays fetch. Though she can be co-dependent and follow me EVERYWHERE.

I recently brought home two new accent pillows for my couch. They weren't on the couch 5 minutes before they were commandeered by the cats. They are their new beds. At least it keeps them from shedding all over the couch.

One of my cats is terrified of plastic grocery bags, but can't resist chewing on any other type of plastic.

The other one ignores cat toys but crazy when I give her a twist tie.

One of our cats (a Siamese) is mute. He can't meow, so he communicates by getting on his hind legs and bowing or "praying." He also likes to lick people's toes when they enter our house, which freaks most of our friends and family out. He sleeps in the baby's crib (baby is not born yet) and joins us for dinner every night in the empty chair with his little head resting on the table.

The other cat likes to be perched on high things because he's a little skittish. He used to be able to jump to the top of our 7 foot bookcase and sleep there all day (sometimes falling off). He's turned sickly in the last year and can't jump or climb up things anymore, so now he just curls up under our china cabinet all day. Poor kitty.

My cat smokescreen really loved water -- not just to drink, but to sit in or under. We had a utility sink that had a drip and he would sit right under it, let it drip down his back and then tilt his head up when he wanted a drink. He looked very befuddled when we fixed the leak, so, once in awhile, I would run the faucet a very little bit for him so he could take his shower. He also loved to sit in the tub after I was done with a shower or bath.

Donut ripped the bottom of my box spring and slept underneath it ... it was like we had a bunk bed for awhile. She also follows me and my boyfriend into the bathroom and meows until we turn on the tub ... then she sticks her head underneath it and drinks from it. She also freaks out over lights and shadows and once after getting all hopped up on cat nip knocked my antique typewriter off my bureau trying to chase a shadow ... I still have no idea how she did that!

It's odd to start a post about cats with "To kill two birds...", no?

One cat loves to play fetch with earplugs (husband is a helicopter mechanic) and will drop it in my lap and yowl till I throw it. The other loves rattly mouses with rabbit skin tails, she proceeds to drop it in the water dish. The third cat loves tape and will make vampire bites all over it. They all demand tuna juice and know when its tuna mac night........ BUT I love it when they know one of us is coming home from work since I have seen and my husband has seen them come out of their napping spots and curl up by the door like they "had napped there all day" and then join us on the couch. My fur-buckets

some of these comments have me laughing out loud... my cat Olive's favorite pass time is playing fetch. I've bought her a whole slew of cat toys to fetch but she will only play with my hair bands or these tiny rubber animals from the quarter machines. Currently her favorite is a small pink seal. After a long session of fetch (with is not voluntary on my part) she likes to drop the fetch item into her water bowl, bat at it, and sit back to watch it bob up and down.

She is also very OCD about eating string, which as a person who sews and knits has been a problem. I've mastered hiding away any bits so she's taken up tearing the edges of the carpet up and shredding them for strings to eat. I had to use clear duct tape all around to keep her from it. Luckily we are moving to a new place with hardwood floors. She also loves to tunnel- woven rugs are ideal but when I removed it so I'd stop tripping over her, she took up tunneling under the slip covers. Now I have to be vigilant when taking a seat, for both our sakes.

Oh Cats...they're so wonderfully weird.

Lola we adopted 4 years ago and she's very peculiar about the way she's pet or touched or even looked at. Heaven forbid if you think she's laughing at her.

Bruce is our kitten we just adopted he's like a rodeo clown, he rolls with the punches and like a kitten is into EVERYTHING. Fortunately Bruce's favorite cat toys are the ones Lola has rejected.

Lola prefers mice that rattle or are animal print, she won't touch fuzzy ones and won't even look at a lazer pointer.

They both knock their food out of the bowl and I have a platform bowl that I'm going to dig out and see if that makes a difference. Lola drank out of the toilet until I got them a water fountain, she now prefers that.

Bruce likes to watch people shower and Lola insists that the blinds be raised so she can people watch.

They both use the toilet and they both love the cat dancer. I think all Bruce really wants is for Lola to play with him and be pals and I think all Lola really wants is for Bruce to go back to the shelter.

Many cats do not like bowls made out of plastic. Why is not known; it could be a smell undetectable to us. Cats in general prefer porcelain, which is why they drink out of sinks, tubs, toilets. I have porcelain water dishes for my cats.

My cats:
--eat only cat food and have no interest in human food
--love to sleep on their fleecy cat beds
--love their cat tree from Armarkat

So I guess that makes them weird. ;)

Their favorite thing is cardboard boxes. I tape the boxes up, then cut out random holes, big enough for a cat to squeeze through, other holes just large enough for a paw. They play in them daily. One of the cats is easily stressed, and the boxes are her boltholes.

kimmie1978, your kitty might appreciate pet stairs so he can "get high" again. Armarkat has inexpensive ones. I got some for my kitty when she was recovering from hernia surgery.

My cat's fairly unique in that he does actually like "cat toys." Of course, he likes plenty of found objects too, mainly wine corks (I hate to think what other people think when they see so many corks floating around my apartment...) and paper bags. He LOVES paper bags--they make crinkle-y noises, they're great to hide in, and they are apparently the best way to go surfing across my hardwood floors (usually around 1-2 am). Another favorite game is tipping things over, usually glasses. After a couple small floods I had to stop having an open glass of water on my nightstand and I also had to find a way to cat-proof my beading supplies (disaster can't be entirely prevented, but it can be contained).

The most bizarre quirk of his is probably the tendency towards "love bites." When he's really happy he likes to nip people. He's gotten dropped on the floor many times because of the shock but it doesn't seem to deter him (I try and make a point of putting him down or walking away from him if he does this because it's really not terribly pleasant but it doesn't seem to be working... squirt bottle's the next step). If he's trying to nap in my lap he always tries to close my arm in his mouth before going to sleep (not hard, *just* enough so I can feel his teeth barely pricking my skin).

He's always investigating something, or charging around like a lunatic and taking flying leaps off my furniture, or trying to sneak out into the hallway so he can play with my neighbor's dog. If I'm working on a project he has to be right on top though so I've sure I've turned in some assignments with fur stuck to them somewhere...

My cat Lola is a water snob. The only acceptable way of getting water (in her opinion) is licking a faucet. She's obsessed with pushing stuff off counters/surfaces (my cell phone and remote control routinely go flying) and also recently discovered that the back of my laptop gets warm and toasty. Right now she is perched behind it fast asleep!

I'm also convinced she's out to kill me. She often drags her toys up on my bed during the night. One morning I woke up with one of them (a plastic wand with a string and toy fish attached) wrapped around my neck....Cats are too smart.

Of our many cats over the years, quirks they've acquired, and lengths we've gone to accommodate them, include:

- waking us up so we can lift the covers and allow them access to our feet
- turning faucets on to a dribble so they can have a morning and evening drink from the sink
- wadding up grocery receipts for Gracie, because those were her favorite toy
- rinsing Odwalla tops for Spot; see above
- laying clothes we've worn spread out on the bed for them when we go away, even just for a weekend
- laying an item warm from the dryer on the bed for them; a utility towel or "around the house T-shirt"
- toys they've all loved are a ping pong ball in an empty bathtub; the aforementioned Cat Dancer; and Hot Cats catnip links http://www.fullcircleherb.com/

And in case it's not already obvious, our sweet fur family is worth every single adjustment!

My cat is better suited for apartment living... she loves talking at people and would sit on the steps on talk at everyone coming home and leaving for work. (Many thought she was begging for food, but she was just asking for an ear to listen to her) Since moving into a house last year, she has hated not having a social setting.

oh yes, and my cat also wants me to lend her an ear everyday after she comes in. I merely must give talking points like "yeah," or "oh really" inbetween her breaks, if it is more than 3 words she walks away. She is often more animated in her story telling if she has had an exciting day.

My cat Martha will only sleep either on the couch, or otherwise, on an "island" - anything square and flat-ish on the floor - a cushion, a magazine, my wetsuit-material laptop case, a flattened paper bag. When you go to the toilet she likes to follow you in and make circles in front of you, doing a little jump to rub her face against your knees every time she turns around. When she is let outside, as soon as she's done her business she will jump up onto the windowsill of whichever room we're in and rub against it silently until we notice and let her back in.

That should read: "if she thinks you're laughing at her"

My cats will only sleep in my dirty washing, or on our heads.

They refuse to drink out of anything other than the bath faucet and their absolute favourite foods are olives, peas and melon. Both will beg like dogs to try and steal some of these!

Big cat likes socks, and will often come home to find clean and dirty ones strewn all around the house. If we're lucky to catch him at it he has what we call the 'sock noise' - the strangest little miaow that he only does when he's 'caught' a sock. So cute.

my cat loves jumping and attacking my long hair from behind the couch. and laser pointers. and the computer chair. and people watching from the gate. chill~

My cat, Princess, was originally named Parrot. First little quirk is we thought she was a HE. Long hair made for a rather hard time locating testicles. When my husband came home from deployment, she threw herself into heat for the first time. Now imagine my surprise when I hear this yowling and saw the presenting happening. Anywho...she was called Parrot because when she was little she would perch on your shoulder ALL day long. it didn't matter what you were doing. Laundry and other chores were spent with her on my shoulder sitting like a parrot or when I was sitting on the couch wrapped around my neck. That stopped once she got too big to stay up there constantly. Now we have called her Princess because that is EXACTLY what she acts like. She won't play with anything...and I do mean ANYTHING except for the occasional fly that gets in the house and mostly that is to kill it. She now perches herself on my kitchen counters and table and no matter if she gets swatted or sprayed or "hissed" at she keeps doing it, so I've given in and just wash the table and counters 6 times a day. Her favorite place to sleep is still wrapped around my neck... the throat area that is, AFTER kneading my chest for what seems like hours on end. Her food is in a cupboard because she would attack the dog if he got to close to it and now she will run up to you, even if it isn't latched and she could get it open with her paws, and knock you around until you go open it for her. And she will "beg" to go to bed. While we are sitting on the couch for the end of the day she will curl herself up on my throat and when she thinks it is time for bed she will yowl in my face until I take her to bed with me where she will nuzzle my hand until I let her under the covers next to me and spoon with me. Oh yeah and she will continually give me kisses on my face if I've done something good, like quickly get up and open her food cupboard.

I have three rescues, all a little off in some way...

My Tomcat likes to go in the corner of the bathroom and chase his tail for hours. It makes him really happy.

My BabyJane, a feral kitten who was covered in tar when she was plucked from the jaws of a Dachsund looking to have her for lunch, can't be touched. She walks around complaining all the time, 'Eh, eh, eh'. Always in threes. 'Eh, eh, eh'. As long as no one tries to touch her and she can complain, she too is happy.

My Louie, well, Louie is quite a trip. He's a big gay cat (not 'gray', but 'gay') who looks like a cow and steals My BabyJane's bird kills and brings them to me as his own. 'Look what I got'! He rolls around in the dirt to create a vagabond look and then goes grubbing for food at the neighbors houses. He'll walk right in their homes and make himself comfortable! He did this once to a couple up the block and they assumed he was a stray and adopted him. Six weeks later, when showing him off to a dinner guest, they were informed, 'That's the cat on the poster'! Oops!

One loves to lie in a paper grocery bag or play in the empty clothes hamper.

I bought a cat hammock about two years ago and my cats completely ignored it until... now!

I have a cat that likes to burry her head in a pillow, blanket, my belly, or anything soft while I pet her. she also pees on anything shaped like a litter box laying on the floor (cat beds, door mats and small rugs, folded up blanket, cardboard box, etc.). So I make sure to have a pillow handy during petting sessions and I keep small, rectangular objects off the floor.

Our cat Copan thinks he's a dog and has little foam balls that he plays fetch with. Also, he's very concerned when anyone is taking a shower. He'll follow you through the bathroom door, and when you're in the shower he'll occaisionally swat at the shower curtain and meow. He hates the water, so we think he's trying to protect us from the torment we're inflicting upon ourselves. All these stories make me happy.. i love cats! Red wine and sashimi??

My cat loved sleeping in a shoe box she *barely* fit into (yes to catering: we had a shoe box in the living room for a couple years), but she started to get arthritic and I was concerned the box probably wasn't helping things. So I bought her the smallest cat bed I could find and she loved it. Glucosamine pills helped too...

This sounds identical to our experience. The day we brought him home from the shelter, our cat only slept on hard surfaces. I felt sorry for him! It was months before he tried anything soft.

All the kitty condos are too tiny for his body as well - maybe the soft stuff was too warm or cramped.

I have three cats, all pure black with green eyes. I can tell them apart easily but others are not so luck. The cats have a hobby of zooming in and out of rooms when company is over. One person, after an hour of cat watching, commented that I must have the fastest cat in the world; she did not catch on that there were more than one. Angus is a 'special needs' cat and will spend hours on the floor looking at the stuffed goat head on the wall. She honestly thinks it is alive and that they are friends....she likes me to hold her up so she can purr and groom it. The other cats (Wednesday and Pugsley) have staked out the cow hide rug as their spot. They will both lay on the rug on their backs with legs spread wide open...purring. Sometimes I walk in on them doing...well, whatever it is they are doing on the rug...and get an aggrivated hiss and growl from them for intruding. The great mystery to the feline residents was the previous (deceased) kitty. I would see them sniffing around in his little hiding places. I finally pulled out his old collar and let the cats sniff it. That seemed to calm the curiosity and Angus carried the collar around for a week or two in her mouth. It was like she needed to intriduce the dead cat to the new cats.

I adopted my cat from a rescue shelter where she had lived for four years. She had been kind to me but was a little standoffish, snagging me anytime my hand got too close to her belly. When I bought my new house and took her home with me, she immediately rolled over onto her back and exposed her belly to me. Now her favorite thing in the world is to have her tummy rubbed!

One odd quirk when she first came to live with me was that if I went down into the lower level, she'd sit on the steps and howl instead of coming down and finding me. If I carried her downstairs, she bolted right back up to the top of the stairs and howled. After about a month, she was brave enough to come down and sit on the couch with me. Now, she tries to get me to go down there so she can cuddle with me.

My cat Rambow likes to jump from the floor into our arms. This seemed like a cute little habit at first, since he used to make sure we were paying attention before doing it, but now he seems to feel entitled to do it whenever he wants. It has also evolved into him launching onto our backs while we bend to pick something up, get a coat out of a closet, etc. He doesn't hold back with strangers either, so I think he has traumatized some of the handymen and realtors who have been to the apartment...

We got my cat Gnomie from the pound, and I knew that I had to have her when I passed by her cage and she threw herself at the cage door. I noticed her quirks immediately. #1: She hates heights. This includes being picked up. #2: Plain water in a bowl is not good enough. Toilet water is cool and "circulated" and my water has ice in it, so why shouldn't she have that? So I found this nifty water circulator with a little fountain in it that filters and keeps the water cool. She likes is but still has affairs with the toilet. #3: Those little plastic balls with the jingly bells inside are a no no. Toys have to be soft and kick able and small enough to fit in her mouth. BUT there is no replacement for her favorite toy.....Twisty. The twisty ties that come off of electronic wires. Only the black ones. And she plays fetch with them. I have resorted to making her the soft toys, and she loves them! #4: Pet beds are a no go too. Like now she is on my bed..has the whole mattress to lay on but is laying on a piece of cardboard. She is our absolute baby, and the sweetest cat I have ever met, I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Our cat actually likes the toys we've bought him -- along with several other things that are not cat toys, of course -- but I'm not sure what he'd think of a cat bed. So far he mostly likes to sleep on our hamper, the stair landing or the stereo receiver. I bought him a soft mat that I thought he might enjoy if I put it on top of the hamper, but he wasn't interested; now that it's in his carrier, he loves it, of course.

Oh also, he really hates toys with bells. Squeaking and rattling are fine, but bells are a no.

Cats are like children. You buy them expensive toys and they have more fun with the boxes that the toys came in. My cat spends hours hitting the twisty ties from bread around my apartment. Cats are very independaent and will never act the way you want them to.

My cat's favorite snack is a green olive, cut up. Favorite cat quote: "If cat's could talk, they wouldn't."

My Mokey didn't know what to do with his cat bed either and avoided it. Finally after a year I realized I had to teach him to use the cat bed. He loves to lounge in the rocker chair so I took out the chair's cushions and replaced it with the cat bed. Next I held Mokey on my lap while I'm sitting in the cat bed which is on the rocker chair. After couple days I stopped sitting in the chair and Mokey reclaimed the chair by jumping into the chair and by default, the cat bed. After couple weeks I moved the cat bed to the floor and Mokey followed it.

For the next 11 years until his death, Mokey loved his cat bed and was often in it, sometimes staying in it instead of greeting me by the door especially during winter.

I have found a direct inverse relationship with amount of money spent to amount of enjoyment when it comes to my cat. He only likes free toys- string, plastic ties and bottle tops, etc. If only my tastes were so simple!

One or two of our four cats have to push the water bowl out into the middle of the kitchen floor. I think one started it and the other learned it but never the food bowl.

It's silly to ascribe human emotions to explain cats behavior. One reason they love to lie on "our" stuff and not on theirs, is that they love their owner's smell. This is their most dominant sense and how they bond and feel comforted and why you'll find them on your dirty laundry, towels or discarded sweater.
Try putting an old piece of your clothing in the cat bed, I've found it works wonders.

Love reading these posts! My cat Simba loves yoplait yogurt - I swear she can be upstairs and hear that lid come off the yogart and won't let you eat in piece! Works well if we have to give her meds as we just crush them up in yogart!

She also gets grumpy if she runs out of food and is ready to eat. If we are sleeping she will come and start knocking things off our night stands to get us to wake up and won't stop unless we stand up and start moving to where her food is.

She also likes to eat pictures! So I have to be careful not to keep any around unprotected.

My Nigel likes to drag articles of clothing around the house...he finds one and caterwauls while he's dragging it to a new spot. He stops and stands over it and continues to WAIL and he has this crazy look on his face. We call these items his 'dead babies' because that's exactly what it's like..he cries over it like he's mourning. Every night before bed I have to go on 'dead baby' patrol to hide everything from him. If I don't I will be woke up in the middle of the night by his SCREAMS.

I have a filtered water bowl for my two cats, I never see them drink out of it. They also do not like store bought beds, not worth spending the money, my one cat, Dr. Pepper loves my ottoman, my other cat, Pepsi HAS to sleep in the window or next to me at all times. I cannot leave dirty laundry in the laundry room on the floor or dirty clothes in a basket in my bedroom, they think it's a litter box, all dirty clothes have to be put in a hamper with a lid or on top of the washer, isnt' that weird?

Oh boy, I could go on forever on this topic.

We got Max as a kitten and he lived at my parents' house. I moved out soon after we adopted him, and my mom worked all day, but my dad was disabled so he spent time with Max pretty much 24/7. When my father passed away in 2006, we inherited Max.

As a shelter kitty (possibly feral), he was already neurotic. Having to adjust to an entirely new home, without my father, he became exponentially more neurotic.

Max was not ever socialized, so he hates strangers with a vengeance - but he's not one to run and hide. He will just stand his ground, yowl and hiss like the dickens. If you get too close he will bite and scratch, rather than let you by. We have to put him in the bathroom when we have company, or he'll try to eat them!

He loves to go on walks on the leash but since he hates strangers, half the walk is spent hissing and stalking around grumpily. The other half is spent gnawing on as much grass as he can possibly fit in his mouth. We've warned the neighbors.

He also eats string (like a couple of other commenters mentioned) so I have to be very careful about my sewing notions. And anything rubber - rubber bands, headphone wires, bracelets, swimming goggles - you name it, he's chewed it. Recently he learned to open closet doors - so now, everything has to be hidden in drawers!

Besides that, he loves to be petted but only on his terms. He is notorious for spinning around and swiping with no notice. Now we anticipate it and we've learned the warning signs. We both have quite a few scars.

We've bought him expensive toys but he vastly prefers cardboard boxes and twist ties. I did make him a "cat house" out of cardboard boxes, cut some windows with a box cutter, and he loves that. I make him a new one when it gets too dusty and chewed up.

We tried desperately to teach him to stop jumping on our bed, but that never worked. Now we close the door at night. When we first tried that he scratched and yowled outside the door, so we bought one of those compressed air motion sensor SSScat units to aim down the hallway, and that did the trick.

He's not a litter kicker, but he does vacate the box like his tail is on fire, scattering litter EVERYWHERE. I couldn't keep up with the cleaning! So we got an unused Roomba from a relative and parked it in the bathroom, where the box is. Every day at 5 pm it circles the room and sucks up the mess.

Many times my fiancee has told me to GET RID OF THAT DAMN CAT! But I know no one will put up with him. He'll end up in a shelter, and they will euthanize him immediately because he is unfriendly. So we've learned to shape our home and life around his insane behavior.

Even though he's a neurotic turdface most of the time, we do love him. He's completely devoted to us and craves our attention, following us around (even to the toilet), talking to us constantly, trying to wiggle onto our laps all the time. We just couldn't give him up.

These have been so fun to read! Cats rule! (Dogs too.)

Finian, my big 8-year-old orange tabby, loves company and runs to the door to greet guests when the doorbell rings or when I come home from work. He jumps up on you with his paws on your hips (stretched out, he's nearly three feet long!), just like a dog. If I have several people over, he will spend a little time curled up with each of them, a perfect host.

He likes mostly "found" toys, but LOVES the laser pointer. He can hear me pick it up from three rooms away in the middle of a nap and is there like a shot.

I have had to accept the ragged arms of my sofa--he scorns a scratching post. Those double-sticky tapes work to keep him from scratching, but look almost as bad as the thread scraggles. Mostly he likes to scratch the IKEA jute mats, which fortunately are indestructible.

He reaches out and taps me on the face with his paw--always the left paw--when he wants my attention, when I've stopped petting him too soon, or when he thinks I'm sleeping too late. Then as soon as I'm up he goes back to the bed.

He's a veteran traveler and is totally mellow in his carrier. He's made long drives and cross-country airline trips of 12 hours door-to-door without messing his Sherpa bag or meowing. In a new place, he'll spend 10 minutes exploring and then come find me and be perfectly at home. He's the joy of my life and the best cat I've ever known--and I've had some really wonderful cats.

I'm lucky that I haven't gone overboard buying toys and things for my kitty Ali only to find out that she doesn't like them. I did buy a little kitty playhouse thing for her that had some dangling toys and a scratching post. She played with the dangly toys more as a kitten, didn't care for the scratching post. She still does like lounging around on top of the thing though. And one of the toys, a ball- came off. She loves playing fetch with it.

Ali loves playing fetch. She loves her fuzzy mouse toys and any jangly ball, especially those with holes in them so she can pick them up and carry them easily in her mouth. Also the jangly balls made me aware of just how active she is at night- it's especially noticeable with hardwood floors! I used to go through the apartment looking for all of her noisy toys and I'd hide them from her at night. She also discovered that if she put a ball in the bathtub, she could bat it around and the curved surface of the tub would really make it move.

Also she has responded well to dangling wand toys. For awhile we had just a simple piece of rope that was frayed on the end and that was totally fun to her.

I wish I could keep more houseplants, but Ali does not allow it. She thinks they are all toys for her and about twice a week I come home to some plant of mine dragged across the room or knocked off a windowsill. I do have to make sure anytime I get a plant it's not toxic to kitties, because I know it will be chewed on and played with.

i grew up with cats... one always came to the opening of a cantelope (he loved to eat it), another thought fresh string beans were the best toy ever, our first and queen bee used to love playing catch with a wrapped sucking candy (she would actually retrieve), another loved sleeping with "all four to the wind" and still others thought that any box (even if it was too small) was more comfortable than most beds (even their pet parents bed!). i loved all the quirks each of our cats had.. such different and distinct personalities. the one quirk i am not a fan of is my current cats' midnight crazies coming at about 3am.. especially the sound of her dragging her nails on the wall when she stretches up against it... and the wail that sounds like she is being murdered.. there is nothing better to hear at 3am (nor to worry that your neighbors hear it and hate you)... but i wouldn't have it or her any other way.

We adopted a kitten about six weeks ago. I wanted an adult cat, but my husband was enticed by all the babies when we went to the rescue cattery.

Athena doesn't just like chewing on the house plants, but insists on knocking them off the window ledges first. She also likes to crawl into my drawers when opened, whether it's my dresser or the freezer or the filing cabinet. She will drink out of her own bowl, but much prefers the dogs' water bowl instead.

Oh, and she likes to chew on my hair while I'm sleeping. One trait that we absolutely adore though is that she will play fetch with her toys. None of our dogs know how. She also likes to lick my face, and since she is so small, will let us carry her on our shoulders like a pirate's parrot.

Great stories!

My elderly cat, Geisha, was getting arthritic and sick (after her death we learned it was pancreatc cancer) so I got her a heated cat bed. She loved it but so did Widget, our younger cat, who would commandeer it now and then. So I got him one, too. He still uses it much of the time. After Geisha, we got Mika, and Mika used Geisha's old bed for a while, but lately seems to prefer oteh spots, like window seats and the futon in the family room. I'm never sure WHERE she is at night, although her nice bed is on the floor on one side of my bed, with Widget's on the other. (They only sort of get along.)

Widget likes to spend a lot of his time on my extra pillow. (I have too many, so I can prop myself up comfortably to read in bed. When I sleep, I tend to scooch down so my toes dangle off the foot of the bed, and Widget takes over the pillows that are then above my head -- my little guardian angel!

Geisha played catch with paper wads.

Widget likes "bag rides." All my cats like plastic grocery bags, but Widget likes to climb inside them and have me swing him around like a small kid spun around by their grandpa! (I only do it a few swings, not wanting to set off a motion sickness reaction.)

Mika is a laser pointer queen. Our friend, Bob, knows where the pointer is kept and has a rapport with her, so he especially likes to play with her and the little red light. All you have to do is rattle the handle of the coffee table drawer and she comes dashing out of nowhere, ready to play.

I used to only like dogs (still love them too) but cats are easier to own and are at least as entertaining! I always want at least two in my life! (But no more bunnies!!!)

Weirdest quirk of any of our cats (over 15 during our years of marriage): Booter was terrified of ceiling fans. And, yes, we removed the blades of every ceiling fan we had, every place we lived, during the 16 years he spent with us.

Let's see, it's 12:05 AM and Milo's just started his nightly ballet complete with operatic aria. Milo will only eat dry cat food, and only if it's poured into a tall container, where he sits and eats straight from it. If the food goes lower than the edge, he will reach in with his paws and dig it out. Milo also plays with his food, skittering bits of kibble across the floor, stuffing them under rugs, where we stepped on them and they crush and grind into the floor. Milo does like his kitty tent from IKEA, though. Otherwise, he can be found sleeping on my folded sweaters inside my closet, or on the desk at the top of the stairs where he tortures the other cats who come up to use the litter box.

Life is tough with Milo. Next week marks 5, very long, years.

my cat edith, who is literally sitting on my head right now, loves pizza and pickles just as much - maybe even more - than i do, and has some alarmingly clever strategies to get them. she also chills harder than any living creature i've ever met. she can somehow bust through the closed bathroom door whenever anyone is showering (what a creep), and she loves sleeping with me at night, and in the morning (6AM) going to punch my roommate in the face and then rattling her blinds for the next half hour. she's part siamese, so she has a big voice and uses it often. she's named after the french chanteuse edith piaf, who was also absolutely nuts, so she's living up to her namesake more than we'd ever thought possible.

8-year-old Andy used to knock over glasses of water. He'd look at it with his big, curious, kitty-kitten eyes, swat a few times, then look me in the eye, narrow his own eyes, and... WHACK. Glass and on floor. I had to invest in bottom heavy glasses for a while. He stopped doing it after a while, but did it a few more times after we adopted our dog Rosie this past June. He also pooped in the hallway a couple of weeks after we brought her home. I think he was trying to frame her.

Upon the onslaught of toys and treats we bought Rosie, we decided to treat Andy, as well. We bought him a $12 purple plastic motorized ball with a stick coming out of the top and feathers at the end of the stick. It was supposed to promote exercise and challenge him mentally. I turned it on. It spun. He stared at me like I was a moron and stalked away.

But the dog really likes it.

Other awesome things Andy does: Lay in spaces way too small for his body. Eats the dog's food. Drinks out of the toilet (there are always little cat paw prints inside the bowl). Waits until we're done with showers and then licks the bottom of the tub. Jumps onto the desk and stands... right in front of the computer screen. Sprawls out on the kitchen table, looking down at us like a king. Claim the guest bedroom as his own (the dog knows not to go in there).

God, I love him.

Glass and *contents* on floor.

This is all so recognisable! In addition to many of the weird behaviors descirbed above, our rescue kitty meouws louder than our neighbours dog barks (they've got a beagle). She will not accept closed doors (inside that is luckily) and she will proceed to destroy the door if she is not able to open it. Her favorite food is corn on the cob, which you will find completely cleaned on the door mat. And after that she will thank you for your good care by depositing a spiders body in your bed, she only eats the legs.........

I have 4.
All of them nutjobs.
But two of them kinda go beyond that.

One likes to be in the bathroom while we 'go', specially in my lap. Plays with the faucet trying to get water running. I have 5 different litter boxes around the house, but he still pees in the toilet rug. We can't leave any type of fabric laying on the floor, cause thats an opportunity. Even if the litter boxes are all clean.

The other one likes to play. All the time. So i spent some money on a nice shiny ball wich kept him interested for about 21 seconds. This week he spent about 10 hours a day playing with a candy packaging. Much cheaper. He also does that with Pecan Nuts. I keep finding them in the corners he cant reach.

Lol, my favorite pastime. This is so fun to read. Aren't kitties quirky cool?! I have 7 rescued stray kitties (I'm done, I swear.) This is long but it's 7. Also my fav topic - this merging of home desgn and cat.

They have actually helped me get more organized, clean more often with better tools (all that furr!) and become more focused in what I own and why. Furniture does double duty as a potential cat napping spot and usually arranged so highest vertical access is possible, and max speed can be attained. Furniture is placed so cat's with no perspective and the will to try anyway will make the jump or at least so ouchies are minimized. Windows have platforms so more than one kitty can see, the front door with a glass door is open amap so kitties can look out, and natural cleaning products are used, which is actually more pleasant for me and they actually work better! A roomba and a swiffer vaccum, and two sets of curtains per window are a MUST. My office chair is often my couch so kitties can hang out next to me. I love happy kitties (and dogs). :)

Calie insists on a brush first thing, faux fur spots to lay on/wrapped in, sleeping under the covers with me, likes a leg up to walk on top of doors and will jump to me to be held, as often as I will let her. She is my heart cat, my first kitty love. Everyone else came by surprise 5,6, and 7 years later.

Hobbie is pathologically playful - carries the milk jug tab and drags da bird mouse toy to me for playing -he's so intent the other cats just wait till he's done. Zips over when I crack open a bag of spinach & insists I hold leaves for his slow munching pleasure. Won't eat his wet food until we play pounce upstairs on my bed, and loves it when I tent out a throw on the couch arm so he can scoot underneath. When I pet him he wraps his tail around my arm.

Magical my short legged maine coon is one of my cartoon cats - just to look at him is to laugh but in addition his paws are furry on the bottom so he has NO traction - he slides past where he wants to go, he slides off the other end of chairs, he runs in place when he's getting started...! He also loves munching spinach, needs mini-starter levels to get anywhere vertical, sleeps on his back (looks like a white shag pillow), and needs placement of the litter box so he doesn't tip them over when he gets out. He thinks he's a dog.

Fuzzy requires me to sit for his nestea plunge (it's hysterical, he falls backward on purpose to lay his back as close as possible, purrs, stares at me and wraps his paws around my arm. I love it) he cries for wet food but won't eat until I dab his mouth with his food (which he knows is coming, so he desperately tries to avoid the dab, but if I don't he stares at me like I didn't feed him. His nose apparently doesn't work.) and cries pitifully during playfights he instigates. He also is one of my cartoon cats - he does a wonderfully intense asap scrabbled 180 butt skid (like he was on a skid track!) during play sessions running back and forth. Wait till I wax the floors.

Grayling is huge and keeps me neat, minimalistic and alert - he pushes stuff off tables (there is a certain sound to horizontal movement which makes me move faster than thought - and he's inspired a dammit grayling! broken plate mosaic -collection ongoing) he stressfully paws any paper left out, meows until I open all the windows and then meows to every and anything passing by. He has a curious talent for finding computer key combination's which do unexpected and unwanted things on my computer. He seems to like it when I get on his level so I got a REI floor camping chair so I could hang out there comfortably.

Buddy has his own room because he's got FeLV and FIV so he has his own set of everything and won't get integrated. He's the biggest cat I have and was an alpha tomcat outside for 7 years - he's one of my miracle cats. He has become addicted to the laser light and does either the non-verbal cry for it or the intense stare where the red dot always shows up and when it does he thumps around like a deranged maniac after it. He just remembered how to wigglebutt pounce! When first got him he chewed through string with one chomp and scared the hell out of me, so now we use a kitty leash and he loves catching that when I flip it up. He requires the precious cat litter so he doesn't pee outside the box. He's kind of claustrophobic and needs the large crate and the window open which means he gets a heat lamp in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer.

Honeybunny is my other miracle cat. She is a teeny 7 pound semi-feral I'm actually successfully taming and has her own room. She has a very very gorgeous meow - a distinct rolling trill. She's very kitteny still and loves jumping onto her bouncy cot, chasing after laser light, pounce slides on material scraps I leave on the cot and shedding like crazy.

They all love their water fountains, da bird, da bird mouse, laser lights (except for calle - she runs away), eating spider plants and lifting them out of the pot, only warm chicken, cajun chicken, only warm hamburger, lactaid, cheese, greeting me at the front door in a herd sometimes so closely grouped they have to back up so I can get in, which totally amuses me and freaks out my friends and family. Even though it's over the top, and I verge on kooky-ness, I really enjoy integrating and puzzling out the needs of my furry family in a stylish budget conscious way - or at least trying, and getting better all the time. It's challenging. And I love reading everyone's stories!

Oh man, every cat owner's got their own weird stories. It makes me feel like mine are less mental:

Mina:
- poops in the tub, so we keep about 1/4" of water in it at all times unless it's in use.
- loves green beans and gets in my way until I give her one when I'm making them for dinner.
- is a ravenous eater, so we have to shut her up in a separate room when we feed the cats.

Basil:
- shreds TP, so we keep it in a closed Rubbermaid tub because he will pull it off the dispenser and off of shelves, even ones that are high up.
- pees on the bathmat, so it is always hung up.
- frantically paws at closed doors. Only solution is to keep them open.
- opens cabinet doors and knocks stuff out in search of a comfy sleeping spot, so when possible cabinets are sealed shut with rubber bands or bungee cords.
- destroys houseplants. No known solution except just not having them.
- slept on top of the tv and the monitor until both were replaced by flat panels.
- sleeps on heads or under the covers. No known solution.
- desperately wants to get outside, which can only be prevented through constant vigilance.
- is allergic to dust mites and dock sorrel, so he gets regular shots to keep him from scratching and licking the fur off his chest, which results in:
- lots of hairballs, barfed everywhere, requiring special treats in special food because of:
- occasional urinary crystals that build up when he has:
- stress issues, for which he used to be on kitty prozac.

They make up for it by being extremely cute and affectionate, but there's no denying that Basil is a lemon who has cost my husband thousands of dollars in medical care and will probably live to age 50.

haha, I love how many people have written on this post. Go cat people!

My boys put milk carton rings in the water dish and stuffed mice in the food bowl.

My half blind cat thinks the best bed in the world is bent backward on a pile of hangers when I've been organizing the closet. They do sleep in their cat bed - I took the cushion out so it is a thin layer of cloth on the hard floor surrounded by thick padding.

Their best toys are q-tips, milk rings, hair bands, clothing tags still on a string, straws, papers off the fridge and anything I don't want them to have.
Only one plays with the stuffed mice, and he mostly hides them to groom and eat later, or to put in the food dish while he's eating.

Oh, and did I mention that one has his own basket of "blankies" that keep him from using our clothing in embarrassing ways in front of company?

Only people with cats know why we put up with them - I think they manipulate us with their purring. That or a brain parasite.