I love your cat! I had a dog that would "hide" biscuits when she was nervous. She kept them in the corners of my stairs. Yes, in full view.

Pal, the last rental I lived in had a very small hall with grasscloth floor to ceiling. I had a wonderful kitten (Luther) who grew into a 20-lb. Norwegian Forest Cat (like a Maine Coon). In his youth, Luther would climb the walls. Long vertical fibers broke loose and I had to cut them off, dozens of them. Way more than that. When it came time to move out my very nice landlord said she was going to have to remove the grasscloth and replace it with something. However, she admitted she'd forgotten to put my cleaning deposit and last month's rent into an escrow account for interest. We decided to call it a wash and were both happy about it.

Never underestimate a cat's ability to un-ignore something.

Cats are crazy.

I agree cats are crazy. Why do they bite you after you've petted them for a while?

Palimpsest, I have loved grasscloth for a long time and have thought about using it in our bedroom on the tall wall behind our bed. I would love to see how your grasscloth walls turn out.

Iowa, I have a male cat that will do that. I think it's his way of telling you to pet him again.

I am not a good person to talk about cats right now! I would have my two gone if it was my choice-but my DH and DS would be devastated. We went on vacation and one of them peed on my rug-my cats have never done that. My sister was doing the litter box while we were gone and they know her. I can't figure out which one did it. It also smells like one was spraying but I don't have any experience with that. UGH! It still smells and I am going CRAZY! I told DH and DS-no one comes over until we figure this out and get the smell out. They aren't peeing on it anymore-I cleaned with the Rocco & Roxie solution. Thanks for giving me a chance to vent!

Olliesmom, you reminded me of this story.

We had a Siamese cat when I was growing up. She was a lot like a dog. I would dress her up and put her in my doll stroller and she would put up with it.

Fast forward many years and for a while she really hated my dad. One morning we're all sitting in the living room and my dad has a cup of coffee on the arm of the sofa.

The cat jumped up on the arm, turned around, backed up to the cup and took a pee right there in front of us. After the initial shock, we laughed like crazy. Except for my dad.....

We had some farm cats, and I was trying to take the runt in to get her fixed. She was the sweetest most docile cat, but she bit through my thumb nail and was hanging from my arm as I tried to shake her off. The pain was horrible. By the way even if your cats have all of their shots you still need to get antibiotics. Luckily I didn't need rabies shots, but I did have to keep her quarantined for almost two weeks in our garage.

1929Spanish, I'm surprised my cats haven't done that in front of my dad, because they probably can tell he hates them. I especially can't have my dad over right now-he would turn around and leave if he smelled this! I can't say I blame him-I've been in people's houses that smelled and can't wait to get out of there. I have always pride myself of having these two cats and no cat smell-now joke's on me! I am serious though-it makes me super grumpy. Thinking seriously about taking rug to rug cleaner tomorrow $300!

I would trash the rug. Cat pee is the very worst.

I think I am willing to take my chances based upon her overall behavior, although I do understand a cat's ability to suddenly notice something that's been there a while. She did that with a small Christmas tree when she was a kitten.

She's not a jumper or a climber and only does so when she thinks it can get her Under something. She recognized her scratching post for what it was the minute she saw it and has never done anything more than pluck at the furniture when she wants someone to pay attention to her immediately.

The other thing is that the room with the grasscloth will be hung with a number of pretty large framed pieces like maps and such and I am not averse to hanging some of them close to the floor so they would be within her extended arm zone.

She actually jumped up onto that edge of drywall and exposed blocking again, right above where the paper is taped up. And fell off, because she is trying to stand on something 1/2 wide. I think she may stop trying. Still completely ignoring the paper underneath that.

I had grass cloth in my DR and my cat loved to shred it, so if you decide to do it, make sure you have extra paper to patch at some future date.

Yes, I will probably have extra rolls. I get extra of everything. I put good brass switchplates and Lutron outlets inside the closets where they will never be seen (and not used much either) as spares in case something goes bad down the road. And I always buy extra tile and things like that.

My parents had enough extra grasscloth that when they had to redo one section they were actually able to redo a whole wall because the paper had oxidized a bit and the grass had darkened. I think this was because the first room that was done in grasscloth the hanger ruined a lot of the paper and we had to salvage some to do the kneehole under the desk because there was not enough.

I have thought about buying an extra toilet for the hall bathroom because its grey, and what happens if they discontinue the color? But I haven't gone to quite that extreme yet.

I started stockpiling my favorite incandescent lights when they started disappearing from the stores. It was before LEDs began to look and behave like real light bulbs. My garage is full of incandescent lights, and now I'm coming around to LEDs.

Olliesmom,

Try a product called "Nature's Miracle" to remove any odors. We bought it at Petsmart for a cat with medical problems :^(

I have used it many times and it has always worked.

Blessings,

J

Linelle - We have a stockpile as well.

Pal - Does that grasscloth wallpaper smell different than any others you may? Maybe it's just that's it's new and so she's looking for something old?

I took our old cat to the vet but I can't remember why. All I can say is that particular visit must have been traumatic because he came into the house, walked right to where I stand in front of the sink to wash the dishes and peed. I guess I should be thankful he didn't pee on "my" reading chair.

Thanks jaybird! I will try that one!

bfelton, the paper has been in the house since last year sometime. I think that its just that it's obviously another layer of something, taped up on the wall. She responded this way when the bathroom was being tiled, too, and when the vanity top first went in she seemed almost frustrated by it, if that makes sense. Now, she likes to lie in the sink there.

That might be true, sometimes we have no idea where she is.

You might do a chair rail and paneled walls so you can just replace a section at a time, and attribute any color variations between panels to "that's how the light hits".

We've had cats disappear for long enough that we are making lost cat posters, only to turn around and the cat is sitting in the middle of the floor. Eek.

I don't have a cat ... allergic now ... but love the title of your post.

bp I have thought about that, and decided I can't. It's a brutalist/modernist house and a chair rail just isn't right. There's no trim except baseboard,not even around the doors or windows.

mtn it's funny because I am allergic to some cats, especially cats with longer hair. I can't spend much time in a shelter before I start to have a reaction. A single short haired cat doesn't seem to do too much except cause mild symptoms. I think if my allergy got worse, I would be the one gotten rid of, though.

And she definitely does have a thought process, and a method.

Cat thinking: My bowl is empty. I must yowl and draw attention to that so that it gets filled. Human fills bowl, just as cat is double-checking that every last crumb is actually gone. Cat gets food dumped on head, but bowl is now full. Ergo, the magic of bowl filling only occurs when cat offers up the head to the gods to rain down food upon. That's just how cats are supposed to get fed.

More cat thinking: Rub on people legs while People sit on porcelain convenience because they are trapped and must pet me. Bat at white dangley paper and get scolded. Turn around after the scolding, and OMG OMG JUMP OUT OF MY SKIN FOUR FEET IN THE AIR! WHATIZIT!! WHATISIT!! ........Just the SAME bath mat that has been there for 8 years.

Sophie, you understand a cat's mind very well!

Yeah, they can get OCD and fixated on things at any time. Love these stories.

Our big guy like Linelle's Norweigan forest cat has mellowed in his old age, but he is still quite full of mischief. He loves to knock pens off surfaces, and has an obsession with knocking the coffee carafe lid off the counter.

I have never had a pet that has such a strict regimen, and I didn't know cats were like this at all. She has a schedule and it's not just related to being fed. In the morning she looks out the front bedroom window. It doesn't matter if the other curtains are open, other windows are available, if that blind is not opened, she goes in and taps on it until it gets opened. If it gets closed again at some point it usually doesn't matter if it's not the correct time. She naps in certain places at certain times a day. Afternoon rush hour is spent in a downstairs front window. The back window is mid-afternoon squirrel and airplane time.

When the sun hits a certain point on the refrigerator door it is time for someone to come in and make reflections on the front of the refrigerator for her.

When it is time to play, it's hide and let her pounce and at the end she lies in the bathroom sink. Then it's throw and fetch at which some point you have to throw it on the bed and instead of getting the mouse she pretend hides by burrowing behind a pillow and you have to wrestle with her. Sometimes the order varies but if you don't do it in the order she's dictated she won't participate, but she won't let you stop altogether, either.

She only does certain activities with certain people. She wants lap time or leg time with certain people at a particular time in the evening, no substitutions.

I think a certain amount of the sleeping positions and lap time have to do with that person's relative body temperature, how comfortable they are and how much they move around. And I also think that some of it has to do with her imagined hierarchy. There are things she would never expect from alpha, she is probably beta and I am gamma. I am probably a sibling, because she would never engage in wrestling with anyone else.

OMG, cat thought process. My friend had to put her female cat down last Sunday. I just came from her house, and her male cat (brother and sister) is totally at odds. Whining, pacing, HOLD ME HOLD ME NO LET ME DOWN!!! I'M STARVING NO I DON'T LIKE THAT KIND! PET ME PET ME STOP IT DON'T TOUCH ME!! He has no idea what he wants, and neither does she. For her sanity, I hope he adjusts soon!

gscience, at least he doesn't try to knock the actual carafe off the counter!

Aok, the remaining kitty is grieving. :( He doesn't know what happened to his partner. Poor baby! And my sympathies to your friend.

We are leaving this evening for a two-week trip to Alaska. As you can imagine, for the last couple of weeks we've been doing all sorts of out-of-the-ordinary things in preparation, and up until yesterday our behavior was interesting to the cats.

Last night we got out the suitcases and packed, and now they are really freaked out. This is the first major trip we've taken since we got Sami last fall, so she's still mostly curious about the odd behavior. But George has been with us long enough to know that packing multiple suitcases means we'll be gone a while! LOL My guess is about day two they forget we aren't around, as long as their "Aunt Jamie" comes over to feed them every day.

Donna

aok - Your poor friend. We had a sibling cat die a number of years ago and the sister left behind was bereft. Apparently pets do grief and she just paced back and forth between their favourite window and the door that they normally used. We wound up putting away their joint play toys and buying some of her own and then setting up playtime schedule. We then gradually brought out the old toys. She probably grieved for 3 months.

Luckily our cat really likes most people and when we travel she actually spends the time at a friend's house and goes readily, settles in and other than being overly affectionate for awhile when she comes home seems no worse for wear. I know that some cats punish their owners for going on vacations.

I'm just wondering palimpsest's kitty acted that way because of a critter? My cat gets obsessed if she comes across a gecko. Even if I remove the object of desire, she will stake out the area where she smells it for quite some time.

We believe her to be a Turkish Angora - a breed known for their stubbornness. She also vocalizes loudly as a warning when something's wrong.

Sure, Charlie is grieving, so is my friend. She wants another cat right away, has always had two most of her life. She brought home a rescue yesterday, but Charlie isn't ready. She grudgingly took the kitty back. At least her grief can be dealt with on a human level, his just loudly.

One of my three cats has to be in the warmest part of the house at all times. That creates a pretty regular schedule as she follows the sunshine around the house. She's also the best lap cat of the bunch, not because she loves people more, but because laps are often the warmest spot.

The coffee carafe is stainless, so at least it's not glass. It has hit the hard ceramic tile hard enough to break the handle, but that was my fault vs. his. At least replacement carafes are available. OTOH, just a couple of days ago, he knocked my Tervis water cup off the bartop. If he wants food or attention, he's going to ensure he gets it.

Someone dropped off two female cats which I believed to be mother and daughter right after we moved to the farm. Mom cat is super tough and will fight off an entire colony of feral cats (I've watched her several times through the window). She can be extremely sweet though and will let me pick her up, and she loves laps. She will also give me hugs where she stands on my chest, puts a paw on each side of my head and puts her head under my chin. It seems she does it when I haven't petted her for a while.

Cats can get overstimulated during petting. They love pets but with some kitties, suddenly it's too much and they bite. I've seen this with cats that seem to love pets so much that they want more or more physical petting then they overload and bite. Some also bite when you touch a forbidden area such as the lower back, tail or legs/paws. I try and watch the ears, they tell you where your cats mood is. Also you can slow down the petting or stop frequently and see if the cat asks you to continue. If your cat bites, say no loudly a d put them down immediately. Ignore them for 15 minutes. They will learn not to bite.

For the grieving kitty, please try feliway. This is a calming scented plug in for cats under stress. Some cats also enjoy eating catnip to relax. Rolling in it stimulates them but eating a few leaves is calming. Cats and dogs need extra attention while grieving.