Light thread - What weird things do your pets do?

[Lady Florida.]

A lot of people think their pets do weird things. A lot of people are probably right.

 

-We have a cat who licks plastic. Plastic bags, plastic blinds, plastic packaging. Oddly enough, we found out this isn't unusual. Ds searched online and found that some cats like to lick plastic. "They" aren't sure if it's the texture or flavor that's attractive. 

 

-She also loves coffee. If you leave a cup of coffee anywhere within her reach, don't be surprised to come back and find her with her face in your cup drinking your coffee. (To those worried about her safety, we're careful because we know she'll go after a stray cup of coffee).

 

-She likes to sleep under the quilt after the bed is made. We always have to check for lumps before sitting on the bed. That lump might actually be a sleeping cat.

 

-Our dog, who was raised with 3 cats, rubs his face on things like a cat does. I've read that this could be due to toothache, but he got the all clear from his vet. He's just weird. And possibly he's part cat.

 

-When it thunders, he barks and chases the cat (formerly cats). We think he's possibly trying to herd them to safety but we're not sure (he's a herding breed). We live in Florida. Thunder is an almost daily occurrence in the summer. Poor cat(s).

 

-When there's laughter, the dog can't stand to be left out. if he hears people laughing, he starts barking and getting excited. He wants to be in on the fun.

 

 

What weird, or weird but cute, things do your pets do?

 

 

 

 

[fraidycat]

Well, my coffee loving cat is also a plastic licker/eater/shredder. Loves giving "sandpaper kisses", and often sleeps on her back.

 

The other cat leaves the plastic alone, but will eat paper! My kids have legitimate "the cat ate my schoolwork" stories. :)

[Lady Florida.]

Well, my coffee loving cat is also a plastic licker/eater/shredder. Loves giving "sandpaper kisses", and often sleeps on her back.

 

The other cat leaves the plastic alone, but will eat paper! My kids have legitimate "the cat ate my schoolwork" stories. :)

 

When I was a teenager we had a cat who loved to eat paper.

[amyco]

My cat licks plastic bags too.  We figure she has a petroleum deficiency.

 

That's her only weird habit...unless you count enjoying sitting on the corner edge of the bathtub when no one is there. 

[Lady Florida.]

unless you count enjoying sitting on the corner edge of the bathtub when no one is there. 

 

Our cat who lived to be 17 used to like to lick the water in the tub after someone showered. 

[Night Elf]

One of my dogs turns circles always to the right. Even when we try to get her to turn left, she won't do it. And she has to turn in a circle every time she is about to walk out of the house.

[*Lulu*]

Our older dog has a favorite treat and if you give him a non favored one he will let it sit in front of him giving you the saddest look a hound can muster until you put away the treats and he realizes that the young dog is eating her's.

 

Both dogs always seem to want the chewy the other dog has. They try hiding them, tricking each other into leaving them, and switching the when the other is distracted.

[mommymilkies]

I also have a cat who licks or pretends to chew plastic.  It's so weird.

 

Another cat collects socks from around the house (and even hunts through the laundry or drawers) and prowls the house meowing with them in his mouth like he just made a big kill.  If we're gone for any period of time, we come back to a pile of socks. 

 

My oldest cat prefers to sleep on necks.  Thankfully she's super light.

 

My cat who passed loved being carried around upside down.  No joke. 

 

Our "kitten" eats any rubbery toys like snakes or dinos, eats paper including actual homework and books, breaks into bags of flour and bread to eat it, and prefers to sleep like a spoiled baby-swaddled or cuddled next to a kid with her head held *just so*.   :lol:

[clemota]

We had a pet rabbit who loved to take a nap on newspaper.  If you happened to be reading the paper on the floor, he would come over, sit on it, then stretch himself out on it.  Always on the section that you had been reading, usually while you were reading it.

 

Growing up I had a pet parakeet, "Chirpy," that would be allowed out of his cage in the mornings.  He always tried to eat the toast from my dad's plate.  Ignored all the other plates of toast and other food; just dad's toast.  One morning, my dad ripped the toast that the bird had been pecking on in half, gave Chirpy the plate and the pecked-on half and moved the rest of the toast to a new plate for himself.  Bird took one bite of his "own" toast, then walked over to dad's new plate to continue eating dad's toast. 

[VeteranMom]

One of my dogs uses my kids' outdoor play set as a security tower.  He watches for approaching cars and people out taking walks.  Also, he gets a better view of the squirrels prowling around the area.  Now that my kids are older, the dog is the only one who uses the play set.  I won't take it down, since he uses it so much.  

[bodiesmom]

Like a cat bringing its master a dead mouse, our yellow lab brings us dead rocks. All.the.time.

 

He is known to litter our lawn with 20-30 rocks at a time (fist-sized rocks). He's also known for walking around with his jaw completely flexed open due to an enormous "boulder" being voluntarily wedged in his mouth.

[Jan in SC]

Our dachshund is 18 today! Every single thing she does is weird!!😂

[stephanier.1765]

My cat eats hair. Seriously, he eats hair he finds on the floor even if it isn't his.  :ack2:

 

My dog is too weird for words.

[wendyroo]

Our turtle gets the hiccups.

 

:001_smile:

[amyco]

Our cat who lived to be 17 used to like to lick the water in the tub after someone showered. 

 

Ours used to do this, but not so much anymore.  She does like to watch the bathroom being cleaned...one time as a kitten she jumped onto the toilet seat after it was cleaned, lost her balance and fell in...the dork. 

[Lady Florida.]

I'm loving these stories. 

[Gentlemommy]

Our dog is afraid of really random things. We never know what it will be. Currently, balloons, fly swatters, a dinosaur book that makes noise, the broom, spray bottle, plastic bags, bubble wrap, and fire sends him running and hiding. We found him and he's always had little quirks which lead me to believe his previous life wasn't so nice. 😟

Our other dog is pulling the ornaments off the tree, which is fairly normal for cats I understand, but for a dog? He hides them in his bed. 😄

[*Lulu*]

Our older dog has always been afraid of balloons as well. I think it has something to do with how they move.

 

When we had a cat, old dog would lay and let her clean his long, floppy, hound ears and his face, for hours. Often while she lay on his head.

[The Girls' Mom]

Our dog (Jack Russell) is afraid of guns, the word gun, and anything that goes bang.  She will hide if you say "gun".

 

She is also afraid of laundry baskets, plastic bags, balloons, and stuffed animals.  (ETA, thunder, wind, and windchimes) We've had her since she was tiny, and I cannot think of any trauma that has lead to these fears.  She adds new ones periodically.

 

If we have ice cream or any kind of treat, she has to have one of her treats.  She will sit on you and stare at you relentlessly until you go get her one.

 

She gets really, really excited when she sees the leash.  This is amusing because since we live out in the country, she gets to run off leash about 99% of the time.  She only has to wear a leash when we need to control her (guests, vet, etc.)

 

She likes to play dress up.  The girls have put her in clothes since she was a puppy, and she always seems so proud.  

 

Oh, and she will frequently "forget" how to jump up onto a chair or lap.  Again, she is a JRT.  They are springs.  

 

 

[Ali in OR]

Our cat "nurses" on us. He gets a small bit of our clothing or the blanket we are using in his mouth and then purrs while kneading us with his front paws. We got him from the humane society as a kitten--I figure he was separated from his cat mom at too early an age.

[Reefgazer]

My cat gnaws on my knuckles and elbows, LOL!

[Sdel]

Hmm....

 

One of my cats' favorite game is to play fetch.  He will literally bring you the mouse when he wants to play.  We've always called him cat-dog.

 

One of my cats refuses to eat anything but dry cat food.  She can't be tempted by canned tuna or chicken.  I know, just crazy (or stupid; take your pick).

 

One of my dogs has been know to fetch turtles out of a pond.  She just swims out, grabs them, and brings them back to shore.  Poor turtles.

 

Stefanie

[The Girls' Mom]

 

 

One of my dogs has been know to fetch turtles out of a pond.  She just swims out, grabs them, and brings them back to shore.  Poor turtles.

 

Stefanie

 

This reminds me...our dog used to have a pet turtle.  No, really!

 

There was a box turtle that lived in the edge of our blackberry patch.  Every day, we would walk up to the patch, the dog would hunt around for the turtle, bring it out and carry it around.  When the walk was over, we made her leave the turtle at the edge of the patch.  We've since moved, but I'm sure that if we walked back up there, she would hunt for that turtle!

[AimeeM]

Obi is our 5 month old GSD.

 

- He eats the boys' socks. Only the boys' socks - nobody elses.

- He seems to purposefully wait until I've just mopped (all hardwoods, but for the office) to go running across the floors, thus inevitably falling and sliding into walls.

- He doesn't bark at squirrels, or other dogs, when we're outside... but he barks at random things like the plastic leaf bag that was sitting in our neighbor's yard the other night... it was bright white, against the very dark night, and he stood in front of me, growling and barking at it, lol.

- I don't think this is "odd", exactly, as our late GSD did it too, but it's interesting to us. Any time someone lays on the ground (whether it's the two year old having a tantrum, or one of us just stretching out on the floor), he gets very upset and concerned - he paces around the person on the floor, paws at their face, lays on top of them, etc.

 

[earthyfamily]

My cat eats hair. Seriously, he eats hair he finds on the floor even if it isn't his.  :ack2:

 

My dog is too weird for words.

 

Yeah my cats do that too, only with cat fur usually though.  Our younger cat learned it from our older cat, who has always done it....now she does it too.

 

My older cat likes to eat anything string-like.  This is how we learned that our area has a 24 hour animal hospital.

 

This cat also helped us to learn that the inside of glow sticks are very, very bitter and will cause uncontrollable drooling. (I do suppose that a glow stick has an almost string-like quality to it).

 

Our younger cat will paw all of the water out of their water bowl if she dislikes the food that I feed them that evening for dinner. (or if she just isn't in the mood for that particular variety).

[Dmmetler]

DD's corn snake has a dragon tank decor piece that she wrestles to the ground. I thought at first she was just knocking it over when slithering, until I set it up and watched the snake go straight to it, push it over, and then slither back to her hide, with what I swear was a self-satisfied look on her face!

 

 

[Dmmetler]

Hmm....

 

One of my cats' favorite game is to play fetch.  He will literally bring you the mouse when he wants to play.  We've always called him cat-dog.

 

One of my cats refuses to eat anything but dry cat food.  She can't be tempted by canned tuna or chicken.  I know, just crazy (or stupid; take your pick).

 

One of my dogs has been know to fetch turtles out of a pond.  She just swims out, grabs them, and brings them back to shore.  Poor turtles.

 

Stefanie

 

We went to a session at the TN herpetological conference last year where dogs had been used to do box turtle surveys-people would find maybe 1 turtie in 10 compared to what the dogs found!

[Pawz4me]

My Shih Tzu loves to drink water out of bathroom Dixie cups.  Almost every night when we're getting ready for bed he runs in the bathroom and stands there looking up at the counter until I get his water.

 

(Don't ask me how that got started. ;))

[Peaceful Isle]

My poodle used to bark at rocks...seriously...for hours. Unbelievable.

[trulycrabby]

I could we write a novel about my weird pets: The Silky terrior is obsessed with the new cat that gas been hanging around, so much that she sits at the front door all day and tries to chew on the door frame when I'm not looking. Her previous owner had two cats and she tells me that the Silky LOVED them.

 

I had a cat who loved spicy chips like Naco Cheese Diritos and those really hot Cheetos. He would grab them out of my hand, eat them, then run to the water bowl and drink all the water.

 

Our Ninja kitty was so hated by the neighborhood birds that she was constantly dive bombed wherever she went.

 

My favourite dog used to sneak out of the house (she could open some of the doors), go into neighbors garages and steal shoes. She was a rescue; we were her first owners ever, and we think she had spent years on the streets. Anyhow, she would occasionally sneak outside, go sit on the hill in the back of our yard where she could see the whole neighborhood, and stay there. For months! No one could catch her, and no one wanted to call animal patrol because she was so sweet and gentle; she just refused to be caught. One day she was ready to come in, so she just came in the door with me when I went in the house. She lived 20 years, and the vet cried with me when it was time to euthanise her (she had bladder cancer and was in pain).

[UncleEJ]

My Akita is part cat. She licks her paws and cleans her face like a cat. She also chews her nails (claws). I rarely have to clip them. And if you present her with your fingernail, she will nibble that too.

 

My Beardy likes to sleep standing up. He climbs up the glass in his tank and balances on his tail. He will sleep like that all night. Weirdo.

[catz]

One of our cats is a complete drama queen.  He barfs to show displeasure.  Like his litter isn't clean enough or he can see the bottom of the food dish.  Or the other cat gets up in his face.  Or we have too many loud kids at our house.  He also parks himself at night under the blankets between DH and I.  Seriously cat, who do you think you are!? 

 

The other cat is just a tank and anytime I sit down he will jump on me and get in my face. 

[duckens]

Cat #1 is part dog.  When there is a knock on the door, he runs TO the door to see who has come to visit him.

Cat #2 is our "normal cat."  Whenever there is a knock at the door, he can't get to his hiding spot fast enough!  He slides on the kitchen floor as he takes the corners.  He likes to be petted, but with one hand only.  Don't you dare pick him up. 

When older dd was a toddler, he was smart enough to only attack her when Loverboy and I were out of the room.  Otherwise, he would just slink away from her if he felt threatened.  He still attacks older dd (age 7) more than he does younger dd (age 4).  He just has it in for her.

 

 

Sdel says:
One of my cats' favorite game is to play fetch.  He will literally bring you the mouse when he wants to play.  We've always called him cat-dog

Cat #3 was that way, too, when we had stairs in our last apartment.  Loverboy would toss his mouse down the stairs, and chubby, non-athletic Cat #3 would bound down the stairs:KaThunk-KaThunk-KaThunk-KaThunk-Kathunk.  Then back up the stairs: KaThunk-KaThunk-KaThunk-KaThunk-Kathunk.  He would cry at the  bottom when he wanted to play.  I would complain that Loverboy was trying to turn my cat into a dog, and the next think he would do was teach the cat to bark!

But, he is my non-athletic child.  He has wiped out when trying to jump onto an 18" tall table.

He is also a polite cat.  He has a special meow he uses just before he yarps up a hairball. I know I have exactly 5 seconds to grab him and run him to a sink or the kitchen floor (where there is no carpet).  The girls imitate him for fun, and it stresses me out because I panic that I need to find the yarping cat.

He is smart enough that he can climb the ladder to dd's top bunk.

[Sdel]

This reminds me...our dog used to have a pet turtle.  No, really!

 

There was a box turtle that lived in the edge of our blackberry patch.  Every day, we would walk up to the patch, the dog would hunt around for the turtle, bring it out and carry it around.  When the walk was over, we made her leave the turtle at the edge of the patch.  We've since moved, but I'm sure that if we walked back up there, she would hunt for that turtle!

 

Well, one of my other dogs would then attempt to kill and eat the turtles that were brought to shore.  So, poor turtles...

 

Stefanie

[nukeswife]

My cat who we got at age 6 from the humane society is now 10 and he doesn't just lick plastic he chews on/eats  it and then hoarks it up We have to keep all plastic bags out of his reach.  

 

I have a bearded dragon that my daughter wanted desperately, who is now mine, she did a half brumation and when she came out of it wouldn't eat veggies anymore. She's been to the vet multiple times and nothing has been found, just won't eat veggies, it seems her metabolism never recovered she's about 18 months old and I have to feed her baby food from a syringe now or she won't eat enough.    

[Sdel]

We went to a session at the TN herpetological conference last year where dogs had been used to do box turtle surveys-people would find maybe 1 turtie in 10 compared to what the dogs found!

 

This was an infested pond.  I don't know what they were eating, I guess frogs, but on a warm day you could see 30 *big* turtles ringing this pond.  And it wasn't big at all since the whole property was only 2 1/2 acres. 

 

Stefanie

[scootiepie]

When my dog hears the hair dryer turn on, he comes to me wanting to get the hair dryer blown on him too.

[73349]

Let's see. Her Fuzzy Majesty will sit on the bath mat waiting for me or DH to get out of the shower.

 

She will not eat treats, bits of fish, etc., even if they are in her food bowl. Only dry food, and she only likes one kind. She prefers to be petted while eating.

 

She does not permit picking up (and that's okay: how often do we want to pick up a 15-pound cat?). Her previous owner apparently trained her not to get on beds. Rather than on my lap, she sits on a blanket beside me on the couch.

 

Her favorite toys are pompoms, but she will sometimes steal one of DS's smaller stuffed animals. When she has a toy, she meows incessantly until we come and take it from her.

 

She will race me up or down stairs. (I've had another cat who would do this, too.)

[amyco]

 

I had a cat who loved spicy chips like Naco Cheese Diritos and those really hot Cheetos. He would grab them out of my hand, eat them, then run to the water bowl and drink all the water.

 

 

 

We once had a cat who ate Doritos and Cheetos!  Not the spicy ones though...all the same, it wasn't pretty.  They didn't agree with her.  But it was funny (as a teen) to show off to friends my Dorito-eating cat. 

 

Pets really are weird!  These are some funny stories!

[Critterfixer]

I guess they are not really pets but during the winter, if the temperature is above 50 or so, the bees come up and bug me. I can't go outside the house without anywhere from two to four following me around to see what I'm doing. They will accompany me around the yard, come into the chicken house if I'm cleaning, hang out in the garage with me...it's sort of weird. Occasionally they land on me, so I have to warn people not to swat! 

[dirty ethel rackham]

I had a cat growing up, Pearl, who would get very irritated when we slept in on weekends since she was used to being fed by my dad who was up at 6am to go to work.  She would open the cabinet door, pull out the box of Tender Vittles, bring it up the stairs and tear open a packet and eat in the hallway between the bedrooms, then stare at us accusingly when we got up.  One Saturday, she must have had a cold or something.  Instead of the Tender Vittles, she dragged a box of elbow noodles up the stairs - it had been opened and left a trail of hard, uncooked noodles.  My dad got up and felt crunch, crunch, crunch under his feet.  He was not pleased.

 

Pearl loved pencil erasers - she would bat at them when I was doing my homework.

 

Pearl hated it when anyone filed their nails.  She would steal the emery board out of your hands and run away with it. 

 

My dad loved the cardinals in our back yard and he imitate their call and have "conversations" with him.  One day, Pearl got it in her mind to catch one.  She had a bell on her collar, but still managed to catch it.  My dad was furious and let her know in no uncertain terms.  Then she started bringing home cardinals every day - catching them and bringing them to us uninjured.  Once we acknowledged her, she would let them go and they would fly away. 

 

This cat was my cat.  She had a litter of kittens on my bed ... in the middle of the night ... while I was sleeping in bed.  I woke up to a bunch of newborn kittens mewing. 

 

Our dog, Bear, is such a goof.  He loves raw carrots and will "speak" to us, begging for them if we ever happen to be eating them.  I can't really serve raw carrots as a snack because our dog will be such a pest.  This and broccoli stalks are the only food he begs for. 

 

Bear is terrified of baby gates.  He gives them a wide berth.  If they happen to fall, he hides.  The looser the gate is, the more effective it is.  He is a big, athletic dog and could jump over the gates easily or even knock them over.  We use them often to keep him away from our food when preparing dinner. 

 

When we are out walking, if someone makes eye contact with me and doesn't pay attention to him, he whines like his feelings are hurt. 

 

When we are out walking during the morning rush, if we happen to pass an intersection that has cars lined up at a stop sign, he thinks that they are there to give him a ride.  He tries to get in their cars.

 

When he wants a belly rub, he will lay near you (but not quite within reach) and thump his tail loudly to get your attention.  If you do not comply, he "whisper" barks.  Then he escalates to a "pre-bark" which sounds like growling, but you can't mistake it for that when you look at his pleading eyes.  Then he will "speak" in syllables. 

 

Bear hates sprinklers.  He is a lab-poodle mix but cannot stand water in droplet form.  He is such a big baby about it.  It took forever to teach him how to drink from the doggie water fountains. 

 

[Firefly]

As a kid we had a dog- a dachsund/beagle mix-- that would climb into the tub and stare at his reflection in the faucet.  Whenever we couldn't find him, we knew to check the tub first.

 

Our cat Luna has a green olive fetish... only green, with the pimento.  She will steal them off of plates and bat them about the kitchen for hours if we let her.

 

Our other cat Simon will eat anything humans do, and I mean ANYTHING.  He is a rescue who was an alley cat and must have developed a taste for all things fit for human consumption.  The only thing he's ever turned down was a mango smoothie.  Go figure!

[happypamama]

We have two cats. One is a fourteen year old male, so he's pretty much too old to do many crazy cat antics anymore, although he's still getting around pretty well. He has a really funny call that he does sometimes, different from the standard meow. He is the first cat I ever had, so I don't know if all cars have that strange call. Our other one doesn't.

 

Our other cat is a seven year old female. She is mostly DD's cat, and DD is very much her person. The cat isn't supposed to be in DD's bedroom at night because she chews on papers, so when I open DD's door to wake her, the cat goes in. She'll mew and beg, but she won't jump up on DD's bed until DD gives her permission.

[Mom-ninja.]

My orange cat chases pipe cleaners. He plays fetch with them. He brings them back to you and drops them in your lap to await your next throw. He doesn't chase any other things, just pipe cleaners. He opens the drawer they are stored in and spreads them all over the house. This same cat steals lettuce. He doesn't eat it, but he steals it and carries it around. 

 

My gray cat licks people in the face like a dog. He also drinks from the toilet. He also keeps pulling the x-mas tree skirt out from under the tree, and then lays on it. 

 

 

[elegantlion]

My cat eats paper - we just call it "cat approved" schoolwork. He also gets into the trash. We can't even leave the trash can in the kitchen, he can get into one with a closed lid. He also loves pizza, which is how he started the habit of getting into the trash by removing the lid and digging the pizza crust out of the trash. 

 

My dog is my shadow, she follows me everywhere and gets upset when I leave for school. She's like a toddler in so many ways - even the separation anxiety. She also chews her fingernails, eats Benadryl out of my hand, She gets upset if ds comes into my room to talk to me, she'll worm between us and then put her paw on me like she's claiming me. If ds put his hand on me and says, "This is my mommy" she gets mad and will nose his arm off of me. Apparently my dog loves me. 

[Jilly]

My dog can tell when anyone has an ear infection. He sniffs ears, and if they are infected, he goes crazy. He has correctly diagnosed my stepdad twice and my son once. When anyone is terribly sick I always have him sniff their ears.  :D

[kewb]

My dog will chase a laser pointer light like a cat.

He doesn't bark in the house. Not at the mailman, not at the doorbell, nothing. He will give a low woof if workmen are on the roof. Sort of a "hey, I am letting you know there is someone on the roof.". Outside he will bark at squirrels, people, other dogs.

He is afraid of nail guns. If he hears workmen outside using them he will spend the day inside until they leave.

[Annie G]

Our cat has several weird habits, but the most annoying is that when we make gingerbread houses, he eats every bit of the royal icing.  We go to bed with a beautiful house on the mantle and get up and the icicles are all broken off. Over a period of days he gnaws on all the icing until it just falls apart. 

 

Weird animal. 

[Hikin' Mama]

My Weimaraner is just a weirdo. Much of his behavior is hard to describe.

 

He is scared of cars going by when we run on the road and does a spread eagle on the side of the road whenever one passes by.

 

He grabs a mouthful of dog food from his dish and takes it to another room to eat it. Sometimes he doesn't eat it, but just leaves little piles laying around the house.

 

If my family members leave a room and come back, he will bark as if alarmed. He never barks at me.

 

He freaks out about strange things, like an orange cone sitting by the side of the road.

 

Gunshots and fireworks freak him out and the only place he wants to be after hearing them is inside the closet.

 

He sleeps in the weirdest positions.

[Lady Florida.]

My orange cat chases pipe cleaners.

 

 He also drinks from the toilet.

Our orange cat Simba, loved rubber bands. We had to make sure they were always stored securely in a drawer, and he always seemed to find the ones we missed. He'd bat them around for hours then leave them. I often found rubber bands in the weirdest places. He also drank from the toilet. He would randomly attack dh' toes, not when dh was moving his feet or anything. He'd just be laying on the bed watching tv or reading, his feet perfectly still, and Simba would sometimes pounce on him for no apparent reason. Only dh. No one else.