# Strange/funny kitten behavior (wet socks as prey?)



## plebotamus (Sep 28, 2011)

We have a kitten who's nearly 6 months old, and has a strange behavior that I wonder if anyone else has encountered and might be able to explain.

My sister-in-law accidentally left one of her newborn's baby socks here at Christmas, and since then it's become one of this kitten's favorite playthings. He often carries it through the house in his mouth, drops it and plays with it, then picks it up again and takes it somewhere else to repeat the process. 

In the last month, he's started dropping it in our cats' shared water bowl, removing it and carrying it dripping wet through the house. Sometimes he brings it upstairs to me while I'm working at my desk, like it was prey. If I take the sock to the sink and wring it out, then give it back to him, he often takes it back downstairs and dunks it again. 

I always know when a 'dunking' happened because I can hear him downstairs 'talking'. I just posted a picture of him and his sock on my Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/plebotamus

Anyone else encountered something like this?

[On a side note, this is a kitten we found out in a rainstorm at 4 weeks old. He got several flea baths in the sink, and will rush to drink out of any faucet as soon as we turn it on (or sometimes before that, racing us to the bathroom).]


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## Krista2882 (Jan 26, 2012)

Sometimes cats like to stash their favorite things at a space where they know they "own"- like their food/water dish. My cat Puffy loved to play with my hair elastics, and I would often find them in her water bowl.
Is your cat stashing the sock in the water dish, or literally carrying it over there, putting it in and taking it right back out again? lol sounds pretty silly. )


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## plebotamus (Sep 28, 2011)

Most of the time he actually does drop it in to soak it and then retrieve it.  One day this week he brought it upstairs wet, let me wring it out, and then he took it right back downstairs and brought it up wet again within a few minutes.

He does occasionally leave it in the water bowl, but this is rare compared to how often he gives it a quick dunk.


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## RascalDog (Dec 30, 2011)

We have a fountain for out cats in the bathroom on the first floor off the kitchen. Our cat Wile E frequently picks up one of his toys from our bedroom upstairs, takes it down to the fountain and dunks it. Any time we give him a new toy it almost immediately ends up in the fountain.


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## LadyMiseryAli (Jan 22, 2012)

That sounds so cute! At least your little one doesn't play in the litterbox like our little Peanut does. Everytime I put in new litter, he has to jump in it, dig around and spin in it. It's so bizarre, but yet so cute.


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

LadyMiseryAli said:


> That sounds so cute! At least your little one doesn't play in the litterbox like our little Peanut does. Everytime I put in new litter, he has to jump in it, dig around and spin in it. It's so bizarre, but yet so cute.


At least you don't have breaded kittens. Ask Marie. She'll tell you all about Cali and Charlee's adventures. lol! :jump


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Yup. Charlee would play in the water bowl, get soaking wet, then jump in the litter box. I'd be running through the house trying to catch my breaded kitty while she's leaving a mess all over the place!!!


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## asrowley (Dec 17, 2011)

LadyMiseryAli said:


> That sounds so cute! At least your little one doesn't play in the litterbox like our little Peanut does. Everytime I put in new litter, he has to jump in it, dig around and spin in it. It's so bizarre, but yet so cute.


Pinky loves laying in new litter and taking a quick nap. -_- oh cats. So silly


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

That's quite bizarre. Very cute but strange. Sometimes I wish we could either talk in cat or we could find a way to see what they're thinking. I wonder why he's feeling the need to dunk the sock? Maybe it's just play.


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## juventas (Jan 8, 2012)

I know it's easy to say, but that is just ridiculously cute.


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## Jet_91 (Dec 25, 2011)

If I pet Smitty by his tail while he eats his hind legs will slowly rise off the ground to the point where he's doing a handstand while continuing to eat like nothing's happening. lol He did this the first time I fed him and will do it every time to this day. haha 

He's also very picky about where he gets his water. He refuses to use his water dish, instead he sits in my bathtub and patiently waits until I run some water in it for him to slurp up. lol He usually gets wet but he doesn't mind at all.

He also loves the snow and will play in it for hours.










I've come to realize Smitty's a very "unique" cat. :lol:


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## plebotamus (Sep 28, 2011)

Aw, kitty in the snow. 

Speaking of weird behavior - one of the strays we had to send to the (no kill) shelter 26 miles away has reappeared four months later.


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