Author: Dr. Clarissa G. Noureddine, DVM, MS, MS
We all know that cats can be curious. Sometimes their curiosity makes us laugh, but sometimes their curiosity gets them into trouble (and can wreak havoc in our homes!). Cat owners would probably also acknowledge that the cat(s) run the house, causing us humans to make alterations to our schedules and routines to suit the cat.
For this week’s blog we pulled together some stories about our team’s curious, trouble-causing cats that will give you a chuckle. On a deeper level, it’s interesting to note that while some of these situations might seem frustrating, the love we have for our furry companions shines in the moment and allows us to shrug our shoulders and laugh (and pay for whatever additional cost they just made us incur).
Here are some of our stories. Do you have a funny cat story to share? Share it with us on our Facebook page!
Cat-created problem for humans: Chewing small electrical cord tips (like charger cords for phones).
Human’s elaborate workaround: Device cords have to get covered with a towel when plugged in.
Cat-created problem for humans: Cats eat plants. While this is not a problem if you just don’t want plants in your house, for those humans who enjoy plants, it can be a challenge to find a place to put a plant!
Human’s elaborate workaround: Hang shelves up so high on the wall that the cats can’t possibly jump to reach the shelves.
Cat-created problem for humans: The cat’s favorite place to sleep at night is next to his human’s face (and the human is allergic to cats).
Human’s elaborate workaround: Wake up with a stuffy nose and itchy eyes and take some allergy medicine so the same thing can happen the next night.
Cat-created problem for humans: Cats think human food is for the taking on counters.
Human’s elaborate workaround: Store typical counter-items (e.g., bread, tomatoes, etc.) in the microwave (which has to be unloaded every time you need to use the microwave).
Cat-created problem for humans: Cats think the trashcan is for exploration and extra meals.
Human’s elaborate workaround: Seal the trash with a bungee cord whenever it’s not in use.
Cat-created problem for humans: The cat presumes that any item sitting on the table can be batted around as a toy and tossed on the floor (like a pencil the person is trying to use).
Human’s elaborate workaround: The human repeatedly leans down and picks the item back up after the cat knocks it down instead of moving the cat to a different location and giving it something else to play with.
Cat-created problem for humans: Do you have unexplained dirty cat water bowls after you just changed the water? Try watching your cat to see if he or she is to blame. When Tammy feeds her cat Gracie dry food, Gracie will take a mouthful of it and drop it in her water bowl. Then she will use her paw to pick out one piece at a time and eat it.
Human’s elaborate workaround: Tammy has to change the water multiple times in a day!
Cat-created problem for humans: In spite of numerous cat beds, boxes, and window seats, the cat insists on taking over the couch.
Human’s elaborate workaround: Cover the couch with a blanket for the cat to have his or her spot…while the human finds another seat!
Cat-created problem for humans: The cat wants to sleep in the human’s bed and take up over half of the bed.
Human’s elaborate workaround: Curl up in a tight ball at night and scoot over so the cat has enough room to sleep.
Cat-created problem for humans: A laundry basket full of folded clean clothes becomes the perfect nap spot.
Human’s elaborate workaround: The human admires the adorable sleeping cat and waits until later to put the laundry away (and has to get the hair roller out to get all the cat hair off the clothes).
Cat-created problem for humans: Cat wants breakfast at 4 AM and stares at the sleeping humans until they wake up.
Human’s elaborate workaround: Human changes the morning wake time to 4 AM.
Cat-created problem for humans: Lots and lots of unexpected additional expenses!
- Cracked ceramic stove top from a cat knocking a bottle of oil onto it
- Numerous (!) broken vases and glass trinkets
- Expensive furniture that turns into very fancy cat scratching posts
- Shredded carpet from cat claws
- New furniture because the cat peed on the couch too many times
- Carpet cleaning / new floors because the cat peed on the floors too many times
- Kittens who think they are invincible and end up injuring themselves and earning an unexpected trip (or trips!) to the vet
- And the list goes on and on….
Human Solutions? Clean up the mess / buy the necessary new items (or decide shredded furniture is trendy) / pay the vet care bills …. All the while continuing to love the cat and deciding ‘That’s just one more fun cat story!’
Photo credit: 123rf.com