The cats are kleptos.

[ladyjanelly]

Is it a phase boy-cats go through, this stealing of stuff?

When Piff was about a year old he went through this thing where he'd steal all small and shiny things and hide them in the lining under Kendra's mattress.  His prize steal was Kendra's thumb drive, which had a shiny dangle-thing on it.

Blue has started acquiring things that don't belong to him.  They aren't the typical cat-bait.  He'll sneak up to the coffee table and steal papers I'm working on or loose magazine pages.  He's taken a pack of cards and a highlighter and my credit card.  He moved both of my fuzzy slippers, one to the living room and one to the hall. 

What madness goes on in his fuzzy little head.

Comments

[albeitslowly.livejournal.com]

I dont think it's just boy cats. Our Tabby has a fetish for G.I. Joe's clothes. No matter where we stash the boxes, she finds 'em and drags the clothes out. Maybe she just has a thing for naked men. *shrugs*

[candygramme.livejournal.com]

My cat is old - at least 14, maybe a little older, and she still steals my cordless mouse. It doesn't matter what I do with it - where I put it, she seeks it out. This is the third mouse, and each one has been filched on a daily basis. She even pulled open a drawer to get to it.

What does she do with it once she has it? She sits on it. I occasionally wonder if she's trying to hatch it.

Obsessive compulsive? Why yes! Thank you.

[angels3.livejournal.com]

He just wants to play with you, or drive you insane one.

[minniemax.livejournal.com]

Haha, your cats sure have fun! I guess they don't go outside? It's probably a little bit of compensating - I'm sure my cats do all kinds of weird things outside I just don't get to watch.

[pekover.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my female cat used to take stuff, so it's not just a male thing.

In her case, I think she was trying to find things to get me to play. She'd take things from wherever else in the house and bring them close to me but not right to me (she's not a dog, after all), and then start ostentatiously having FUN! RIGHT HERE! HAVING FUN! WITH THESE EXCELLENT TOYS! THAT SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT WANT TO PLAY WITH!

She also seemed to have trouble understanding that I was asleep, and would keep trying to lure me into playing, despite the fact that I was unconscious. I'd wake up in the morning with literally fifteen or twenty little bits of god-knows-what scattered around me on the bed.

TL;DR - it's a good thing cats are adorable, b/c they aren't going to get far with only their logic and sanity.

[nerthus.livejournal.com]

I have four cats; one likes to steal smallish objects like pens, keychains, etc and hide them inside my shoes in my closet. One likes to flip the light switches off and on and when peeved with any particular family member, methodically shred something belonging to that family member or else knock all their crap off their bureau in the middle of the night while making the most noise possible to scare you from a sound sleep. One prowls the hallway at night with all his fave toys--a small beanbag penguin in a Christmas hat, two small toy sheep with fuzzy fake wool, and a toy catnip mouse--and then when he's bored with them he stands up and paws LOUDLY at my doorknob while mournfully yowling "NOOOOOO!" I kid you not, it sounds exactly like he's saying "NOOOOO", ha. And if I still ignore him and won't let him into my room, he will back off and bodily HURL himself at the door and it sounds like a 200 lb linebacker trying to break in. Our 4th cat is old and allergic to basically everything and breathes like Darth Vader half the time while sneezing 30x in a row and blowing nasty strings of cat snot all over my books and my bed. Oh, and kitty #1 of the hiding objects in shoes loves to shred pages out of books if left unsupervised.

[techkitten.livejournal.com]

My cat likes circular objects to "hide", though most just end up in my shoe or the water dish.

[tilly-rose-star.livejournal.com]

It's because they love you, obviously. Of course they don't want to drive you insane by hiding things you need to live day-to-day. *cough*

[dryoda.livejournal.com]

We leave straws lying around for Ming. That seems to keep his klepto tendancies in check. Every morning we wake up to find a dozen straws that have been left on our bedroom floor. I pick them all up and put them back at the base of his cat tree in the living room. I'm sure he hates it when I mess up his straw art.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Blue thinks all straws are his. Fast food drinks have to be put in the fridge between sips or dumped out or he spills them on the floor stealing the straw.

I have no idea where the ones he gets go.

[snookscribbles.livejournal.com]

*sniggles* I thought of you when I read this article about a cat burglar.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Heh. That cat looks exactly like Piff. The story was hilarious. That'd be our cats if they were allowed outside.