Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 February 11

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

February 11

wet cat toys

Why do my cats put their toys in their water dish? If they were raccoons, I wouldn't ask. —Tamfang (talk) 01:54, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

I've never seen a cat do that, but I googled [cats putting things in water bowl] and it seems to be a pretty common behavior. Consensus is that it has to do with claiming ownership and territoriality. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Thank God this is about wet cat-toys and not, as I feared, wet-cat toys. μηδείς (talk) 03:11, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Do any of them happen to contain catnip ? I've noticed that catnip becomes activated when it gets wet, and any cat that has learned this might dump all their toys in water, hoping for the same effect. StuRat (talk) 04:04, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

My present cats do not respond to the ’nip. —Tamfang (talk) 04:04, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

I have 7 cats at the moment and one of them doesn't respond to catnip. Out of all of the cats in my life, I've never seen any of them purposely put their toys in water bowls. Dismas|^(talk) 11:33, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

My wife's cat steals hair ties and usually hides them at the bottom of the food dish. Every once in a while I find one in the water, but I think he puts it in the wrong bowl by mistake. When he tries to get it back he just dips his toes in, then jumps back and shakes off the water repeatedly until he finally gives up and calls for help. He tends to have places for the different types of toys he likes - hair ties in the food, legos under my workbench, and round rattly things in a box he likes. Maybe your cat just chose the water dish for one of his stashes. Katie R (talk) 12:40, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

An interesting possibility. I haven't noticed them using any other well-defined 'stash', nor taking a toy out of the dish. —Tamfang (talk) 04:04, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

The ways of the feline overlords are mysterious. Be careful that you do not blaspheme against them! --Stephan Schulz (talk) 18:03, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Your mention of Racoons made me think about food washing behavior, and if anyone has looked at it scientifically in cats. Turns out there is documentation of food washing behavior in at least two wild felids. The article is about Prionailurus viverrinus, and they mention another:

“ However, when calf meat was provided, the cats would run to the meat, pick it up in the mouth and take it into the pond. When the cat entered the water, the meat was released and sank to the bottom of the pond. The forepaws would then be alternately used to roll and knead the meat. The meat was then grasped between the forepaws and thrown away from the cat's body. The meat would then sink to the pond bottom and the sequence would begin anew. ... food washing and prey searching with the fore-paws has been previously reported only in ecologically similar (Lekagul and McNeely 1977) congener, the flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) (Muul and Lim 1970). ”

, from here [1]. So, it seems like it could be a relatively common re-emergence of an adaptive behavior in wild progenitors. But I still think the best explanation is "because cats are crazy." SemanticMantis (talk) 20:55, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

This week I saw a cat put a toy in the water, take it out and go play with it elsewhere. —Tamfang (talk) 21:02, 7 March 2014 (UTC)