Cat Gets Weird Around Yarn!

[Elle]

One of my cats, Elizabeth, gets absolutely WEIRD when there is yarn around. She doesn't really bother it while I'm working with it, but it's after I've stopped working and am on to something else that she gets "involved" with the yarn, and I cannot explain her reaction to it, and was wondering if anyone else has experienced a cat that does this.

 

All will be quiet. The other cats will all be off sleeping, tucked into their little binks or cuddled into afghans or asleep on pillows, but not Elizabeth. The first time this happened I really thought something was wrong with her. She WAILS! She makes the STRANGEST noises, walking along as if she's calling to someone, but none of the other cats pay any attention to her, I'm the only one who looks around thinking "OMG, what's wrong!?" And then I see her - Elizabeth walking along through the living room, DRAGGING a full skein of RHSS! AND CRYING! I don't know why she does this, but she does it a couple of times a week! Sometimes it's not a skein of yarn, sometimes it's something crocheted from yarn! The other night she was walking around, again, crying, carrying a crocheted cap that I made for DH this past winter! Last week, she was walking along dragging a crocheted piece of Lion Brand Suede that was about a foot across by two feet long, I don't even remember what it started out to be, but she found it and was toting it along, screaming about it!

 

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this with their cats and yarn? Or do I just have a cat who's crazy?

[classic crochet]

My cat is crazy too! He beats the daylights out of my yarn. He prefers anything with wool but will attack acrylic if no wool is available. It drives me nuts! I have to pick his very black fur off the yarn before I can even use it! I have to hide my stash from him

[cat3crazy]

Has Elizabeth had kittens? It sounds to me, as if she is missing some one (cat or kitten) that she cared about. Of course I could be totally off base and she is doing it for other reasons. Half the time I can't figure out my own cats!

[~Kel~]

my cat just likes when I crochet so she can curl up smack dab in the center of what ever it is and I have to try to work around her LOL

[TurtleLvr]

I went to bed last night and my cat Skid just started wailing. He does this as a call to any of the other cats that its time to play. Another cat Marlee will do it if she's asleep in the same room with me and wakes up and I'm gone. She's calling wondering where I am. Its just easier to accept that all cats are nuts.

 

[wiz3283]

Sound like a mother missing her kittens. I once has a cat that would carry around my socks and cry. She would do this for about 2-3 weeks after her kittens were given away.

[Anniedo]

My cat does this also but with a tiny stuffed cow. She will do this when she thinks I am not home. She wonders around the house with the cow in her mouth and meows loudly looking for me. When she finds me she drops the cow at my feet and then wants to be petted. I feel like she is giving me her cow as a gift! We call her cow her "baby" because she carries like she would a baby kitten. Sometimes when I come home I find her cow in strange places like in her food dish.

[Feederofthepack]

My Sage does this but with plastic milk rings. You can hear her all over the house.

[everkutz]

Our two female cats do this, one carries a "snake" which is a knitted cord from yarn, and the other carries a ball or stuffed mouse. Neither one ever had kittens and were spayed at a young age. The cat that carries the "snake" seems to enjoy carrying it through the house in the middle of the night and stops at the foot of my bed and cries and cries and cries. It reminds me of the mating cries that cats can have. Annoying...absolutely! This reminds me to hide those dang snakes now, so I can sleep the night through!

[crochetluvknot]

Yup my Sierra does that to with anything small cat toy or yarn not real sure why she does it but she has never had a litter she was spayed at 5 months old but it is almost like a mothering cry we just tell her get your mouse or what ever it is she has and she brings it over by us then seems ok she can sure let out some blood curdling cries though freaks me out now and then

[anoramaxsis]

My sister has cats and has had this problem. She says the cat is happy and cooing!

[ducheus44]

I want to warn all of you not to let your cats eat yarn i had one that did and it tore her insides up and we lost her.

[Elle]

I don't feel so bad now that so many others have said that their cats are just plain nuts as well!

 

Elizabeth (Lizzie) came to live with us when she was about four or five months old. We were told she had been spayed, so we didn't rush to have Ed-A-Puss neutered because there was no danger of kittens, and since the jury is still out on whether or not males that are neutered too early are prone to bladder/urethra blockages, we decided not to risk it and have Ed done a bit later on. Well, one night we were sound asleep when there was this scream that would have curled your hair and your toes all at the same time, DH and I jumped out of bed and ran in the direction of the scream, and found Lizzie on the futon with, yep, you guessed it, a KITTEN! She had two - she had Fiona and Toemas (both have six toes on each foot all the way around, Lizzie herself has five on each). Fiona is just plain Fiona, but Toemas's real name, since his father is Ed-A-Puss, is Toemas Ed-A-Son. Yes, I know. I put way too much into naming my cats.

 

But anyway, the "kittens" are now going on six years old and Lizzie was spayed as soon as they were weaned, so I know it's not a case of her looking for her kittens. So I guess the only explanation is that she's just plain bonkers. Ah well. At least she's happy. I just wish I knew what she thinks the yarn IS! A kitten? Something she "killed" and is bringing to me as a gift? Your guess is as good as mine!

 

Ducheus, I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your cat that way. That's terrible!

 

Fortunately, we don't have anyone who actually wants to consume yarn, Lizzie just wants to tote it around the apartment yelling about it! MaryPat is enamored of Fun Fur, but not to eat. She just likes to march up and down on it to fluff it up to lay in. I have to keep it in a box with a lid or in a room with a door otherwise it would just be a huge rats nest of tangled yarn thanks to MaryPat.

[crpstx]

We had a little stray cat who had kittens, and she caught a bird, and did the crying routine bringing it to her kittens. It must have something to do with teaching the kittens about prey and hunting I guess.

[Priszm]

Elle, I think it has to do with "I killed it, here's a gift for you". My female cat does this all the time, usually with kleenex or stray clothing items. She doesn't have the decency to bring them to me though. The little brat brings them into the living room and then drops them, making me have to get up to throw away or put away the item she "killed"

[TurtleLvr]

All this talk made me think of a cat we use to have. He was indoor/outdoor and loved to bring his daddy presents. He just didn't like to kill them first. One day he brought the dh a live mockingbird. That was fun trying to get out of the house. The best one was a live red ringneck snake. DH hates snakes and was climbing the furniture to get away from it. Poor kitty didn't know why daddy didn't like his gift. I almost wet myself laughing. I had to catch it and let it outside.

 

[shana0923]

I think she is mourning not being a mom. I had a dog that would have false pregnancies. With milk and all and had never been bred. Then one day she would start carrying this stuffed elephant around and cleaning it and crying for it and that several weeks later she would stop. Then about 6 or 7 months down the road she would do it all over again. Weird! But I have seen cats have the mothering instinct also.

[chessie]

What would we do without our fur babies? I have enjoyed reading these posts.They have brought back good memories of cats I have had in the past. Cotton a white cat with blue eyes and she had 6 toes on all 4 feet was born deaf.She could "understand" sign language you could motion her to come to you and she would.Cotton loved olives! of course she would play with it forever and would eat it after she got the pimento out it first.She lived the life of a Queen and I had her for 23 yrs! before having her put down.Sad day that was!

Then there was Chessie (hence my nickname ) She was very smart and knew the difference when asked whether she was hungry or wanted to be let outside.She once brought me a bird and laid it beside me in the bed!! I thought it was dead til I picked it up and it started fluttering! Thankful it was not a lizard! I had Chessie for 17 yrs.

I would let Chessie and Cotton outside and Turtlelvr reminded me of this when she mentioned Mockingbirds.A mocking bird must have had a nest close to the house as the bird would sit on the power line above the driveway,she would swoop down and touch Cotton and Chessie on the back as they wondered around the driveway.So funny to watch them "duck" and run.

Now I have Gizmo who thinks he is a dog.He loves to play "fetch" with the ring on the milk jug but prefers to play fetch with a heavy plastic tie back.He seems to want to do this most when I am crocheting.I have to throw it down the hallway and of course he brings it back to me.This goes on for quite a little while.Thinking he has had his exercise for the day until at night when I go to bed he brings me the tie back which I hide under my pillow.

With cats there is never a dull moment at my house.

[shana0923]

My cat's name is Gizmo also!

[flyinghigh]

Wow that's crazy. I had a male cat a while ago and he never really did weird things like that. He'd yowl if he wanted something... usually food to be let outside... and he only ever brought us one gift of a dead mouse. When he started to lose his vision, he would do it more when he was lost outside :-( Sad. But he's in kitty heaven now. :-)

[Pyroteca]

I agree with the other poster...your cat is bringing you a "gift" and since I am assuming she is an indoor cat, she can only hunt things in the house. My female brings us toys and puts them in our bed, and will get one in her mouth and start howling at the top of her lungs. She is showing you the prey that she has caught for you. So, I would say that she is not bonkers, but rather just trying to show her affection. My female does this, and she has never had kittens. My male has been known to do this as well. It may be that she is bringing you your yarn in part because it smells like you, or she knows that you really like it. My female always brings a certain toy to me to show me her affection.

[lizdini]

My younger cat is named Gabby, and she lives up to it. She cries and wails all the time. Sometimes when she's just wandering around the house, sometimes when she's "playing" with my shoes. I have to put them up where she can't get them or she rubs all over them. I had another cat that did the same thing with my dad's shirts. Maybe she just likes the way the yarn feels. But yes, all cats are crazy!