Lately I’ve been wondering what cats do at night. I know Ivy isn’t sweetly sleeping at the foot of the bed like Charlie is. So what is she doing?

I have read that cats are actually crepuscular, which means they are most active just before the sun rises and just after the sun sets.

Cats are natural hunters that evolved to catch their prey during the dawn and twilight hours.

red and white on my kitchen shelves

I read an article online that said that cats sleep a lot during the day because their environment is not very stimulating.

So they offered the following ideas to stimulate your cat during the day:

  • Provide interactive toys during the day, like battery operated motion toys.
  • Install a window perch, so your cat can observe the butterflies, squirrels and other wildlife in your yard.
  • Install a bird feeder outside your window.
  • Hide dry kibble or dry cat treats around the house, so your cat has to seek them out.

Last Night:

I woke up in the middle of the night to find toilet paper dragged across the floor. I took what was left of the roll and put it in the drawer next to the toilet.

Sometimes Ivy has no interest in toilet paper. It can be dangling down and she might just ignore it.

But every time I went into the bathroom last night (think older post-menopausal woman and her frequent trips to the potty) Ivy was right behind me. She’d sit in front of the toilet and paw at the toilet paper.

I’ve noticed that Ivy often follows me around. If I’m standing at the sink for a few minutes, she will look around till she spies an errant toy. (There are always errant toys around here).

Then she will commence to playing with it to pass the time till I walk to another room.

Ivy looking up at me

Being Picky About Her Food:

Yesterday I could not get her to eat either of her two canned food meals she gets per day. I give her a bit of canned food in her bowl twice per day. She has dry food all the time.

Finally last night I told her that I was just going to throw it in the trash. I’d refrigerated it in her bowl overnight because she wouldn’t eat it, as I didn’t want to waste it.

As if she understood what I was saying or would even care if she did.

I went into a soliloquy about all the homeless hungry cats out there. I told her that those cats would gladly have eaten part Fancy Feast, part Hills chicken canned food.

Ivy on the coffee table

This Morning:

This morning I woke up to Ivy crazily running around the bedroom. She would jump on the bed, then leap to the dresser then back to the bed and to the other side and then over to her table. And then she’d repeat her maneuvers.

I didn’t know if she was practicing her morning acrobatics or if she’d gone crazy as a March hare.

She had dry food in her bowl. So I wondered if she was hungry for the wet food she refused to eat yesterday or the night before.

She meowed and made noises till I got up, took the two cans of food out of the refrigerator, and doled some out for her. She ate most of it.

I’m mixing these two foods because I started her off with Fancy Feast, and I’m trying to get her to eat the Hill’s Diet food. The vet’s office told me to mix it for awhile.

After she ate she pulled the washer attachments that I hook up to the faucet out of the crock I keep them in at the base of the washer. Then she pushed the somewhat heavy crock across the floor.

Ivy on her cat tree

I went online this morning, googling cat behavior, and happened to find Cole and Marmalade, whose owner videos them and puts their antics on YouTube. Easy work if you can get it, I suppose.

You can watch the video of what these two cats do at night here.

I was not only watching the cats in this video, but I was a bit perplexed as to the state of the home. There seemed to be odd things in odd places. I wondered if they’re remodeling, or are just weird folks?

Leave it to me to focus on the decor.

One of these days I might have to figure out this video thing and tape Ivy.

Charlie on the couch

Yesterday Charlie and Ivy were here on the couch with me. The two were looking at one another. I stopped what I was doing to watch them.

Charlie put out his paw toward Ivy. Ivy tentatively reached over with her paw and touched him. When he didn’t move or snap at her she licked him. Charlie leaned in and let her.

Maybe these two are becoming friends.

 
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I'm Brenda, creator of Cozy Little House. I live with my cat, Ivy, who keeps me laughing. I graduated from journalism school with a degree in professional writing and won awards for feature writing. I practice gratitude and enjoy my solitude. The glass is always half-full.

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34 Comments

  2. What a sweet little scene you describe between Ivy and Charlie. Maybe Charlie is feeling a little better and more tolerant than he has been. It must have been fun to watch the small interactions they had though. I hope Charlie really is feeling better.

    I am having problems with one of the elderly cats in my care. She is doing her pooping wherever and not in her litter box. Seems like every day I am finding these turds in various places all over the basement where her litter box is and it doesn’t matter if I’ve just cleaned the box or not. She likes to come to bed with me at night but she has done her business twice in my bedroom while I’m asleep. I’m not sure what to do. I probably should consult with the vet. My daughter said tonite when I was dealing with the mess that she would have to live in a kitty cage or be put to sleep. I don’t like the tho’t of either, although I did use a cat cage–large–room for litter pan, food shelf and two sleeping shelves–with an older cat many years ago. I would take her out a couple times a day and make her come up the basement stairs to get a bit of exercise, but she got so she would run right back down and ask to be let into her cage again. But I still don’t like the idea of caging them. Hate the practice of crating dogs.

    I knew cats were considered nocturnal animals but didn’t know the part about them hunting right after sundown and right before daylight. Interesting. We used to have a kitten when I lived at home with my parents that would walk the piano keys in the middle of the night. It became so frequent that it only occasionally woke any of us.

    I have to say Ivy Lou is a spunky, curious, full of mischief little cat. Is your Christmas tree still unmolested? Hope so! The old lady felines that live here mostly ignore mine when I put it up except the “younger” one likes to lie underneath the tree. I don’t have mine up yet; just dragged it up from the basement tonight so hopefully tomorrow I’ll get that done.

    Gotta wind this up and go to bed. Hope you have a restful night and that Miss Kitty leaves the toilet tissue alone! Give Charlie some pats and tell him I think he’s a really special doggie.

  3. there is a book that I think you might like to read. It is James Herriot’s Cat Stories. I think that is where I learned about visiting cats. We had one years ago. A neighbor said she was unloading groceries once and looked up and he was sitting in the middle of her kitchen. He just wanted to visit.

  5. Brenda, I don’t always respond but I read your blog everyday and enjoy your stories about Charlie and Ivy. I enjoy reading anything you write.

  6. I’ve mildly considered setting up the trail cam in the house at night. But I think I don’t want to know what goes on…..it would keep me up just thinking about it! I do wake up many a morning feeling like I’m in a room of wild monkeys. 😉
    Yes, crepuscular. I love that. I also love that all these traits we find delightful in cats are neither attractive nor desirable in people.
    Also, cats can be old, cranky, overweight and still be wonderful. I can’t carry any of that off!
    XO to Charlie….and Ivy!

  7. I tell you, cats do all sorts of weird, funny and strange things. My boy, Rudy, loves to play in his cat food. He’ll lay on the floor by it and paw a bunch out onto the floor, and then proceed to eat it! Then he’ll paw more onto the floor.. and on it goes. He also likes playing with his water bowl. He scoots it around until it spills, and then scoots it some more. I have tried putting his water in a heavier bowl. It helps some, but he still manages sometimes to run into it and spill the entire thing! His favorite “toy” also is pipe cleaners. We wrap them into a circle and twist the ends so it is a circle.. sometimes we put two together, like a chain. He and our other cat both love those.. and they like to hide them all over the house, and then go find them, play awhile, and then hide them again for later. Such antics!

    1. I just paid Nathan to put a piece of wood under my fridge, which he attached to the fridge itself, and under my washer. I’m tired of moving them out to get one of her toys multiple times per day.

      1. A yardstick is great for fishing out toys from under appliances and furniture!

    2. I like the pipe cleaner idea! Yesterday an empty toilet paper tube was the prized toy but today it isn’t getting a bit of attention.

  8. Wonderful to read that Charlie reached out in friendship to Ivy Lou.
    A few years ago I followed YouTube videos of Cole & Marmalade. One of them had cancer and almost didn’t survive. A young couple own them and are devoted pet parents.

  9. Our family wonders why we got a second cat — some wonder why we got the first one! But they are good companions and it feels good to know we got them from the shelter and now they can have a real home.

    1. That’s how I felt with Ivy. Saving a rescue cat makes me feel like I’m doing just a bit of good in this world. Who cares what family members think?

  10. We are going through the adjustment phase with two cats. One, aged six years, has lived here for about 9 months and the other, aged one year, has been here for about five days! So we all are getting to know each other and it looks like we are going to mesh. The two furry boys are on the bed sleeping together now. The newest guy is doing what we wanted, getting the older guy up and moving more, running and playing, but there are big nap times too. At night the oldest one sleeps on the bed and the youngest sleeps on the couch. But I’d say there is some play time going on in the kitchen where they love to jump in and around the stools. They spent time playing in two cardboard boxes yesterday evening before we went to bed so those boxes are still sitting in the living room. I did have to move our little christmas tree and a few other decorations out of the living room because the young cat is so lively and pushy that he almost knocked them over. He doesn’t want to play with these items; he just wants to sit where they were displayed! So better safe than sorry.

    1. Same here,Bella was pretty much a couch potato when Buddy arrived…and she showed it.
      2 years later,they’re pretty much inseparable,not that they don’t have an occasional hissing session.
      I call them zoomies,nothing gets broken and we’re pretty small so no harm done,actually,neither pay any attention to the tree.
      Bella has an odd quirk,she uses the liter box,(#2) and when she comes out,she takes off,zooming around,I joke she wants to get away from her stinkies too.
      Wouldn’t trade them for the world,they are fun,they’re good listeners and good company.

  11. Long ago I found my cats just got picky with can food and I got tired of wasting money so all I feed them is a good quality dry food. They will eat when they’re hungry and they have all lived a long life. Hugs to you, Charlie, and Ivy!

    1. I had two cats in TX and I don’t think I ever fed them canned food. But I’ve read that they don’t drink enough water and need the canned food. But I just spent $30 on a box of canned Hills. I haven’t even opened it yet. I was using the samples the vet gave me.

  12. It’s sweet that Ivy Lou follows you around; she enjoys your company. It would appear that Charlie is bonding with Ivy; so cute. They are just adorable and Ivy will eat when she’s hungry; she won’t starve so don’t let her make you feel bad for her. Enjoy your Monday afternoon.

    Carol and Molly
    xoxoxo

    1. I don’t feel bad for her, Carol and Molly. But a twinge of worry when she isn’t acting her normal self.

  13. When our cats get those bursts of energy and run across and floor and up and down the walls, we call it “the rips.” And I’m the reader with the geriatric cats … the oldest one obviously doesn’t get the rips any more; but if he could, he would. He’s probably around 15 or so. All the younger ones, down to our “babies,” (3-yr-old littermates), get the rips every day. Every. Day. Fortunately, not all at the same time. Our house always looks like a small explosion just went off. As I’ve aged, it bothers me less and less. Our cats are such good company — unconditional love all the time, never talk back or mean to us, let us talk and talk and talk to them, let us love on them … I’m so happy that you have Charlie and Ivy.

    1. I have a funny feeling this might not be a “kitten” thing with Ivy. I think she may just be rambunctious. Not only that, she’s getting big. I wonder how much bigger she’ll get?

      1. We’ve had cats who weighed well over 20 lbs. Some had longer legs and bodies, and others had little short legs and shorter bodies. I have two “little” ones now — Samantha at around 8-9 lbs and Mollie at 5 lbs. Mollie has always been little. She’ll be 14 in January; Samantha is 3 years old.

  14. L.O.L.
    Loving the speech about the hungry cats,mine is “I’m standing in those cold kitchen at 6 a.m. spooning this smelly stuff so you two can turn up your noses and walk away?????THAT’S IT,I’M NOT BUYING ANYMORE,YOU CAN EAT YOUR DRY FOOD,UNGRATEFUL ALLEY CATS…GET A JOB!”
    I do sometimes wonder what the neighbors think and when the bus to the Looney bin is going to stop for me?
    If you think Cole and Marmalade were something,check out Simon’s cat on Facebook,it’s illustrated though,that guy and I would be having a few serious chats.

  15. Re: Peg and the Laser pointer… we used to keep our cats entertained for HOURS with one of these!! Just don’t shine it there eyes. You can find them on Amazon, or at a good office supply store.
    LOVE the little side story about Ivy and Charlie ‘communicating! This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship!

    1. Yep, they were very sweet with one another. Then this morning Ivy got too close to him or swiped him or something, and Charlie snapped at her.

  16. I’ve heard that a laser pointer is great to use with a cat. You just have to be careful not to point it in her eyes. When they were popular, I saw them at gas stations for next to nothing (Amazon probably has them). You shine it around so she’ll try to catch it. I can’t speak from experience because I only have a dog (I’m allergic to cats). Just an idea.

    1. I bought one. But the batteries were tiny and I didn’t have enough. Still need to do that. But I’ve read you have to be careful with those with cats.

  17. My daughter calls a cat’s running all around the house like Ivy did this morning…”kitty Olympics,”. Have you checked Pinterest for “catios”…cat patios which are screened in to protect ones cat? They are really clever…maybe there is an idea in there for you and Ivy. C

  18. Becoming friends..Yea!!!! Watched the video..Good Grief, I’ve owned several cats in my life, and I knew they got the “crazies” at night, but these two are really Nuts!

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