by Danielle
(New Jersey)

Cat dragging stuff and crying. I seriously need help figuring this one out. Okay, so when my cat was a baby, she used to snatch up socks and walk around with them in her mouth, it was so rare to see her doing it, so i just dismissed it as cute kitten behavior.

Well now she’s about a year, and she just had 3 kittens, and she is snagging ALL clothes. Pants, shorts, shirts, socks, bathrobes, and towels. Anything she finds laying on the floor or in her reach, she grabs and drags around. NOT ONLY, is she doing this more and more often, but she also lets out a terribly loud cry while doing it, as if she is in heat, even though shes not. Is this like a sign of stress? or maybe even just a form of OCD for cats?

Is there ANYONE who can help me in making her stop? its so unbelievably annoying to have to worry about what is going to be laying in the middle of my living room every time I get home with company. please any help? Leave your comments here and thank you in advance!

Reply to NJ cat: My cat does a similar thing in this case I do not think it has to do with the hunting instinct. I think that is a separate issue. With my cat (and the original post) it sounds like a maternal/kitten thing. My cat Lucy has had a fuzzy ball toy since she was a kitten, she is now about 16 years old.

She has never played with any other toy and she is not a hunter. All her life she has (maybe 2-3 times a day and at night)began meowing LOUDLY (as if in heat)and carrying the ball around. It has often reminded me of a cat carrying a kitten. Sometimes she will bring it to us, but very rarely. More often she moves it from room to room, sometimes puts it in my shoes, or on the couch, or in her sleeping basket.

She does it by herself and stops if anyone comes in the room. It is very strange. I have often thought that it might have had something to do with her mother or kitten hood or perhaps that she had a heat before she was spayed? I don’t know. Hopefully your cat’s behavior will taper off and become more manageable.