I’ve had cats open cabinet doors… which have latches. They’ve gotten into food storage containers when their treats or catnip are stored in them… and have gotten these containers out of a latched cabinet. I had a cat who got into a cabinet and found their way around the back and opened the bread drawer lid… to surprise me when I opened it.
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Some cats are more manually-oriented than others. They have the focus and determination to solve container puzzles, and when they enlist their powerful back legs into the effort, there are many closet and cabinet doors that give up and let them in.
Cats with busy paws appreciate it when we offer toys that are interesting and challenging. These keeps their energy expended on such things that would appreciate the attention. Put soft toys in baskets or boxes and let our cat liberate them for fun. Our shared custody cat, Ordell, would put his toys away when he had finished playing with them.
I have a plastic basket with large holes that I keep the cats’ toys in. They are welcome to fish out a toy, or even tip it over, as Olwyn likes to do. RJ prefers getting me to sort through the toys with him, but then I throw them around for him.
Some cats like to have large toys that let them wrestle with some resistance, but they also enjoy prominent ears, nose, and tails. These distinctive features pique the “prey interest” that gains a cat’s quick attention.
We might not know that we are the inspiration for the ways cats manipulate objects. Cats study us to intently because they admire our vast powers over doors and can openers, and wish to be like us.
If we open a cabinet door, pop the top off a plastic food container, or perform other maneuvers of interest to our cats, they will probably try it themselves.
We’ve all been warned.
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My polydactyl Byron is a big fan of using his opposable thumbs. He’s opened the cabinet with the food, the one with the treats, and even, scarily, the one with the household chemicals. But that’s it. He just wants the accomplishment of opening the door, not to do anything with the stuff inside.
The funniest was the time I left the cutlery drawer open, and he began fishing in it. There’s mainly just plastic spoons in there, I thought, so I sat back and watched him. He picked up a spoon, held it close to look at it, then threw it to the floor. Then he picked up another, looked at it, threw it to the floor. Soon every plastic spoon was on the floor, and he started tossing the metal cutlery. I was aching from laughter at the point hew finally ran out of stuff to fling, while the older cat Killsy kept going from looking at him in astonishment, to looking at me with a “You know, there are places we can send him where he could get treatment for this!”
I don’t know what is funnier: Byron, or Killsy’s reaction to Byron!
Too true! One of our cats likes to drop toys in a basket or box so he can catch them and pull them back out.
when our 10 year old 2nd hand cat came to live with us..[his owner had died]..he of course explored the house…. but when i left my underwear drawer opened a crack he pulled out every pair…. he did the same thing to my husbands underwear…. we had lots of fun imagining what Tigger..[not my choice of name] was thinking
Underwear’s size and slippery nature makes it a popular choice for those barely open bureau drawers.
My Myron used to try and extract my pantyhose from a little hole he made in the plastic package. He was never successful, but he never put a run in them, either.