My Cat Has An Obsession!

[Anonymous]

This is so weird, but I swear it is true.

My cat has a thumb tack obsession and it drives me up the wall. (No pun intended by the way!)

He likes to use his claws and take pry them off the walls, then toss them around on the carpet and play w/them. I worry about him choking on them.

He tears down wall calendars and posters just to get at these.

He even will use his paws and knock down framed pictures since he knows some of them are hung up by thumb tacks instead of nails.

Another weird thing. He LOVES the sound of a thumbtack bouncing on a hard surface such as the top of a table. Even if he is asleep, if I drop a thumb tack on top of my dresser or desk, immediately his head will pop up and his ears will perk up.

Does anyone else's cat do this?

[Anonymous]

My cat pulls the kid artwork and magnets off the lower end of the fridge by sliding it down. Maybe you can interest yours in doing that. I would worry about the tacks.

[Anonymous]

My cat has all kinds of obsessions - not to be gross, but he likes to get it on with my cashmere sweaters; I don't wear a lot of cashmere anymore. He also likes to eat plastic bags. So we are now ultra-careful about not leaving plastic out.

I'd be really worried about the tacks. Our apartment, we've tried as much as possible to get rid of things that the pets seem likely to try to get themselves to to the vet by eating - can you use things other than thumb tacks, and just not have them around anymore? I'd just hate to think of your kitty eating one and ending up with a perforated something or other...

[Anonymous]

I'd be pretty worried about the tacks too and would try to eliminate them and find some substitute.

Our cat, like the 23:01 poster, also likes the kid magnets on the refrigerator! And some types of plastic, like the 10:10 poster!

[Anonymous]

Mine loves hair elastics. She learned to open drawers to get them out. She "chases" them and then chews until they snap.

[Anonymous]

One of ours has an obsession with curling ribbon -- you know, the kind you use to wrap presents and can curl it by using the side of your scissors?

[Anonymous]

Oh My!! I would be afriad of stepping on one and then I would be P'd off!!! Find something else for this kitty to play with.

My cat is obsessed with running water and will meow constantly until you turn on the faucet in the powder bath, and if you even look like you are heading up the stairs, he will nearly kill you trying to run up the stairs to jump in the tub and wait for you to turn on the faucet. Ugh!!! It use to be cute, now just plain annoying!!

[Anonymous]

Our cat loves lego people heads. He'll dig through lego boxes for them. There are always dozens of lego people heads under furniture where he can't reach.

[Anonymous]

Whew! I feel better knowing my cat is not the only one w/a weird habit.

And yes, I tend to walk around the house barefoot and have stepped on a thumb tack more than once and have sworn my kitty's name in vain!!! Of course, he looks at me innocent as a baby seemingly w/absolutely no idea what I am talking about!! Ha!!

I DO worry about him swallowing them because as he plays w/them w/his paws, he does tend to bite them w/his teeth. I am so afraid he will choke on one.

Guess it makes sense to just get rid of them.

I remember when my kids were younger, having to "baby proof" the whole house.

Now they are grown and I got too comfortable.

Guess it's time to "kitty proof" the house all over again.

Lol.

[Anonymous]

My cats like bottle caps, hair ties, and straws. They will steal the caps, toss them in the air, and make crazy flips and catches. They drag the straws against the wall as noise makers.

[Anonymous]

Do the tacks have the standard plastic head? A lot of cats like the taste of plastic. My idiots like all sorts of plastic shipping container items, plastic wrap, etc. I asked the breeder - she didn't know anything so I googled it. It's on the internet. Some plastic items contain an ingredient that cats find irresistible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the tacks have the standard plastic head? A lot of cats like the taste of plastic. My idiots like all sorts of plastic shipping container items, plastic wrap, etc. I asked the breeder - she didn't know anything so I googled it. It's on the internet. Some plastic items contain an ingredient that cats find irresistible.

Interesting....

[Anonymous]

binder clips...they bounce funny when swatted.

[Anonymous]

My cat randomly loves pieces of uncooked pasta like penne and macaroni. Maybe it's the way they skitter across the floor? I will toss him a couple pieces to be nice every now and then and it keeps him entertained all evening. Simple creature!

[Anonymous]

I know this thread is old. Sorry but it grabbed my attention and made me think of my now deceased tuxxie Imzadi. When she was a young cat in the early 2000s or so she had a thing where she'd go around my room prying the thumbtacks holding my posters out of the walls which caused the posters to fall. But instead of playing with them she'd quietly hold them in her mouth until I held my hand under her chin and say "Imzadi, give them back." at which point she would always immediately spit them all into my hand. She's the only cat I've ever known to have a weird obsession with thumbtacks until stumbling across this post. Imzadi lived to be 15 years old and had a happy, healthy life in which she was the center of our household along with her daughter and best friend Flukie, (a calico who passed a few years after Imzadi), Now, whenever a tack mysteriously falls from my wall I just think it's Imzadi nd Flukie saying hello.

~Skayda