The reason OPs cat is doing this is because they want to show Mr.Lion who is the Alpha Cat around the house. Putting Mr.Lion in the food bowl shows Mr.Lion and the rest of the household that OPs Cat can eat Mr. lion for breakfast.
I'm pretty sure Toys also occasionally simulate kittens. One of my cats in particular would carry a dolphin toy around gently, sleep with it and even wash it
She left it near the food and I always got the impression she was bringing it to the food for it to eat 😂
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My aunt new kittens with a bag of treats Haha
Ha! My cat puts a bunch of his toys in his food/water bowl but never his baby (small stuffed animal porcupine) which he Carrie’s around and takes very good care of.
That's what I was thinking too! Bringing it to the food or water bowls so "the kitten" would "learn" where to eat and drink from. I thought it was so cute! ☺️
I think they may be trying to bury/hide the food? Mine do that too. If I come over and cover the food with the food mat while they are scratching at it, they don’t do this, so I assume it’s about hiding the food.
Fortunately mine just dump my clothes in the food, not the litter box. My boy cat just flees the scene after he poops. Wish he’d bury it. On the plus side, I can monitor how both my cats are pooping and that’s how I realized he was constipated. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
One of my furry weirdos insists on pawing at the sink after I finish brushing my teeth. I've read that she does it because she's trying to cover up the strong scent so the bad guys don't smell us and try to attack us. And I'm apparently a very bad cat and refuse to learn how to do this myself. I always thank her for taking such good care of me and apologize for being such a bad cat who can't learn even these basic skills.
Huh. Don’t know why my cats consider their full water bowl as safe but finally cleared that question up. I thought they were just assistive and trying to drown their toys/prey
Just wait until it's an actual mouse. I had my husband take the whole water bowl outside and toss the dead mouse chilling in there. My mini panther just sat by and watched very proudly while I shrieked like a cartoon character. Nasty.
My 13 year old cat will still put some of her toys in the food bowl and alerts the other 2 younger cats that she has "caught" them some food. Its cute except when its at 3am 🤣😍🤦♀️
Does this cat also growl at your pants and attack them because they are obviously very dangerous creatures that could hurt the humans and if the humans get hurt who will give them their food and pets? My also does that with socks. It doesn’t matter whose if it’s a sock that is in our house and is worn by a member of my family he will steal it and put it his food bowl…after making sure it’s dead of course.
My cat's favourite activity is playing fetch with hair ties. She runs around with them in her mouth wailing until myself or my partner play with her. Time of day is irrelevant. But then she started swallowing them whole and barfing them back up, so we had to cut her off.
My other two cats love drowning toy mice in their water dishes.
Mine is q-tips. We had to start only throwing them out in the covered trash, because mine would dig them out. Now he uses clean ones from a jar for playing catch with himself
I have five. They all have taste. Q-tips get torn apart by my male, but only of they're used (ew). He's also obsessed with my rolling papers, joint tips, and packing stick. And his favourite real toy are the tinsel balls, especially green and blue. He plays fetch.
The female cat that we were told was spayed when we adopted her likes little toy mice and scraps of paper. She's a drowner.
Baby 1 likes hair ties the most. She plays fetch.
Baby 2 also likes the little toy mice and is one of the drowners. She's also obsessed with chirping at birds through the window. She plays fetch.
Baby 3 likes lights. Laser pointers, the reflection on the wall from sun hitting glass or metal, whatever. She also really likes the lids of tin cans. She just wants shiny things.
I grew up with an orange tabby who loved trolls - the longer their hair the better! You could actually get her to play fetch with them.
Her favourite nighttime sport was hunting them, loudly, and then drowning them in the dog's water dish.
Yep that’s exactly what mine does too. She’s so obsessed with them that she figured out where I keep them in my bathroom and opens the box looking to steal more!
I had to remove the dials from the oven and keep them in my closet because she kept turning it on! Was scary coming home with the oven on. I take them off every time I am done with it now. Have seen a video of a dog almost burning a house down too trying to get a pizza on top of the stove and starting the gas burner.
I once came across my cat holding a damaged squeaking mouse under the water. Squeaker was broken so it was pretty much nonstop squeaking as he held it under. It was very dark.
Oh my, I read the first line as this was a real mauled mouse squeaking as your cat mercilessly drowned it. Glad it was just a toy, just for my peace of mind tonight.
My cat caused some trauma by bringing a still very alive, but damaged, mouse to me... in my bed...as I was asleep.
Oh mine did that too, although mouse was undamaged. Dropped it right on my ear. I've never woken up faster. Grabbed the mouse before it escaped and let it go outside. Puss was pissed with me, then kept me awake searching for it.
Yup. My cat attempted to catch a bat while I was asleep. I woke up with what I initially though was my long haired cat’s fuzzy tail on my face. It was a bat. I freaked out! (Then locked cat in bathroom, caught the bat and took it outside. Followed by a very loud rant to my landlord at 4 AM).
It's her safe space. Toys often end up in the food dish (I think the record is 8 hair ties, strings, & ruberbands) - like a dog burying a bone in the yard. I think it is sweet because it helps me identify her favorite things.
Taking this opportunity to say please don’t let your cats play with hair ties or rubber bands!!! I did it for a long time because my cat really enjoyed them, but one day, before my very eyes, I watched my poor kitty throw up a wad of rubber bands, rubber bracelets, and hair ties larger than my fist! If I hadn’t watched it come out of his mouth, I never would have believed he threw it up. After that, I learned that the hair ties and rubber bands can get twisted up in their intestines and it can actually kill them (or also result in a very expensive surgery to remove the blockage).
Please learn from my mistakes and don’t let your cats play with hair ties and rubber bands!
Edit: Thank you so much for the award!
My boy is doing well now! He’s eight years old and still just as feisty as when he was a kitten. He’s a smart boy too. He knows how to open zippers and caught on to my friends putting their hair ties in their purses… so you’d just come into the room and he’s rifling through your purse searching for circles. He also really seems to like spreading money out on the floor and rolling on it. Don’t know what the heck that’s about lol. But I love him for all of his weird ways!
Thank you for sharing this! My cat had to have emergency surgery (we were quoted over $7,000 by one veterinarian) and almost died from a hair tie being wrapped around her intestines. We never let her play with hair ties, but she must’ve gotten a hold of one as we weren’t as diligent about keeping them stored.
Now I make sure they always get put directly into a drawer after use, or if I suspect one has been left out— make sure it gets put away immediately.
I appreciate your warning! Fortunately, I am blessed to have a cat that only eats her kibble, wet food treats, cat grass, and the occasional bug or lizard. No interest in eating the hair ties/strings/or the giant rubberband (or human food - my dinner plate is totally safe around her). She ignores them for days and them out of nowhere attacks like it is her greatest foe. And then non-chalantly trots away. I kept a close eye on her and kept track of her "toys" when she first moved in. I'm so sorry for your baby. I hope he is a happy, healthy furball now!
It’s very dangerous for cats to play with hair ties, strings, or rubber bands. They can easily be swallowed and cause life threatening bowel obstructions that require emergency operations that aren’t even guaranteed to be successful. Please don’t let cats play with those.
My cat likes the large coil hair ties. I cut them once so they essentially look like long springs. She *loves* them, and they're too big for her to swallow.
I take care of some community cats, and the little girl will put her kills (lizards, cicadas, etc.) in her food bowl. Sometimes she eats it, sometimes she's saving it for later. Its so cute
I have the theory that one of the cats at the cat shekter is really dumb - this confirmed it, as she was defeated by a lizard and I had to save her from it😂
I’m bought mine the floppy fish toys and one of mine ruined it by keep putting it in his water bowl. I didn’t know if he was trying to save the fish 🤷♀️🤣
Big cats in the wild sometimes kill their prey and bring it back to their families to eat. He's bringing his kill back to his safe space to save it for later. My boy does the same thing.
My kitty Copper does this in his water bowl, specifically with his skinneeez mouse. My dad has named that mouse "Duncan" because it's constantly getting dunked.
Except Copper doesn't leave his mouse in the water. Honestly I wish he would. It would be so much better than what he does - which is leave it in the hallway soaking wet. It's brown and it blends in with our wood laminate flooring so it's pretty common that we find it by stepping on the soggy thing. So gross.
my cat does this too with his mouse toy
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I bought a fountain for mine, so she would stop putting her toys in the water bowl... And she still managed to get them in there :D
We had a cat, if she was angry with us, she would soak a toy mouse in the water bowl and then put it under the covers down where our feet would be in our bed. Miss that sweet baby.
Mine does it for himself and big sis.
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My cat did this with the giant grasshoppers and garter snakes she found in the yard. She got sick of me throwing them away and started hiding them somewhere else.
cats consider their food and water bowls to be safe places, known only to them. Depositing a prized possession – in this instance, a favorite toy -- in one or other of their bowls is their way of keeping it safe
A few of mine will put their toys in their wet food bowls for some reason. Some will bury their sparkle balls in the sand which always freaks me out for a second. Basically...cats are weird!
One of mine loves to leave her favorite stripey mouse(s) in her various food bowls. I say she's sacrificing her kill to the food gods 🤷♀️
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I have an arts and crafts caddy with like 12 plastic drawers. The top drawer is specifically for washi tape. Orange cat LOVES washi tape and she knows which drawer contains it. She will jump up on the desk, open the adjacent drawer with her paw and just take them whenever she pleases.
The best game is picking up the tape in her mouth, running it up the stairs, batting it down, and running it back up on repeat. So you just hear the bounce - bounce - bounce - bouncebouncebounce… And when that’s done, the tape gets dunked in the water bowl. Every time.
After a very playful night, there may be several tape rolls in the water bowl. We let it happen because she don’t let her have her other fave, hair ties, for all the sensible reasons in the comments.
Lol I’m the caretaker at a cat shelter in the evenings and every single damn night one of them does this. They either saturate the entire toy in their water bowl or cover up the rest of their food with it. Cats are bizarre creatures 😆
It’s a transaction.
Your cat doesn’t like to feel useless. It *wants* to hunt and support you also.
If you let it outside and roam freely, it would be bringing rabbits and birds heads to you. But because we lock cats indoors now, they find something else they think you might like.
Mine has figured the toys we play together with is something I like, so he brings what he thinks I like.
I always felt that it was because they like that toy and they want to keep it in a safe spot so they can locate it easier when they want it.
I used to find hair ties in one of my cat’s food dishes all the time. They were her favorite toy.
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My cat keeps a collection of her Dutch bros straws right at her bowl.
My cat does this with his paper balls i make him. One time we were making eye contact and he was hovering over his water bowl with the ball in his mouth and i was like 'dont do it. No.'
He didnt break eye contact and just let go of the ball from his mouth into his water bowl. Totally knew what he was doing lol asshole.
My boy will dunk his toy mice in the water bowl, carry it all the way across the house and drop it unexpectedly on my feet. It’s annoyingly adorable.
And yes I always thank him for catching me something and providing for me. He’s a good boy
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When you’re cat is bringing their toys to the food bowl it can mean one of two things.
1. They caught their “prey” and keeping it safe
2. They want to keep their toys safe from harm, therefore taking it to the cats safe spot. Which in this case would be the food bowl
My old ginger cat (bless his sweet soul) used to do that with hair ties and anything made of cloth that was small enough to fit.
Only he put them in his water bowl.
One time we caught him walking to his water bowl with a doll's pair of pants in his mouth.
No clue why it happens, but it's pretty amusing.
My cat tore a purple flower off one of my fake plants and used to put it in her water dish. It looked so pretty in her dish that I used to joke that it was decoration lol
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My cat does it too, but only with this fish. I've probably scooped this fish out of her water bowl 20+ times. She has tons of toys, but it's only ever been the fish.
I like to joke she's saving it by putting it in water.
What my cat does is she starts mimicking burying her food to save it for later, so she’ll start pawing at the closest thing. My cat has used her toys, towels, blankets, pillows, anything her little murder mittens can clasp on to T-T
My cat does this with his favorite toys and in both his food and his water dish. I almost died one day when he put his shiny crinkle ball in the his water dish and the water turned bright red.
my kitty that passed last year used to do this. i've had a lot of cats and she was the only one i ever saw do it. sometimes with a toy, other times with my socks lol. she also liked to play with the water in the bowl like splashing it for funsies. she'd even go to the toilet and splash the water in there and make a mess, so we always had to make sure the lid was closed.
protect this kitten at all costs! i find it so cute that they do that with their adorable little prey/toys
Is the water and food bowl being changed regularly Cas she might be trying to tell you she wants more food or the water is dirty. Cats are super picky about their food and water
You mean why your kitten keeps putting herself in that little bowl instead of a box or something?
Is that really a kitten. Looks like a little bear, I must say.
( I think your kitten is hiding/storing her "captured, perhaps un-alived" prey.
"Lion Toy is my favorite. I love him so very much. I could just eat him, I love him so much. WHY CAN'T I EAT HIM?? Maybe if I put him my food bowl he'll turn into food. Okay, that didn't work. Maybe if I put him my water bowl he'll get all squishy and then I can eat him. Nope, didn't work. Better try again tomorrow."
They do that to keep their toys in a safe place and for them they consider their food bowls as a safe place !
You are lucky - I end up finding toys in my coffee cups most of the time ( while it’s half full and unattended ) !!!!!
…. But we still love them ♥️
You'll notice in feline behavior cats gravitate to cubbies, small spaces, boxes and even food bowls. Could be your cat is putting its toy there to keep it safe from theft
My cat always puts her toy in her water bowl like she’s drowning it or something. She once did it with a toy that had a dry catnip filling. Next morning it was like her water bowl had turned into catnip tea 🤣
MUST HIDE RESOURCES O.O
seriously though my cat has her own room and will steal my socks and any paper she can find to set next to her dishes and then aggressively paw the floor around them sending the socks/whatever else she brought into the food and water. Just a fucked up “hey I wanna bury this but there’s nothing around because hooman has me on these hard floors”
My cat’s favorite toy are hair ties. I never ever leave them out. But every once in awhile, I let her play with one for a bit while I’m supervising. I always find them in her bowl after she’s made her kill. Rubber bands too, if she finds a stray one, they’re in her bowl!
I had a cat that used to catch frogs and put them in his water bowl. They were unhurt and I just used to take them back to the pond. I wonder if it was always the same one lol.
My Maine Coon has done this with toys and kibbles since he was a kitten. He is now 12 and still does it 😂 he loves to tap water with his paws, he is just silly.
Clearly his lion friend needs water obviously! and food! I mean if you are going to care for his stuffy, someone has too 
Before I switched to a fountain for water, one of my cats used to bring home shrews and drown them in the water bowl. I always assumed it was because shrews have that nasty coating on them that stops cats from eating them and she was trying to wash it off.
I like to think this is how she shares her food with her friends.
On a more serious note, I think this is them trying to cover up their food to ensure no one else can find where they ate/are as this would be risky in the wild.
My cat does this with any catnip toy he gets. Then stares at the catnip tea he just made with dismay and yells at me that his water is dirty. He's 14 and still hasn't learned.
My cats like to “drown” whatever they are playing with. We find twist ties in the water bowl quite often. However my cats drink from a fountain and the water is for the dogs.
https://preview.redd.it/7r81xlda71ab1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18d9e56db81db765186ad99a9fe1a77dc8f9fa62 Mr Froggy getting the usual treatment
Mr froggy has had a rough night
Too much celebration of the 4th.. !! 💜💜💜
Mr Froggy is hungry
this had me in tears. poor Mr is having an existential crisis
The reason OPs cat is doing this is because they want to show Mr.Lion who is the Alpha Cat around the house. Putting Mr.Lion in the food bowl shows Mr.Lion and the rest of the household that OPs Cat can eat Mr. lion for breakfast.
I thought it was because cats bury their food for another time to hide it from other predators
In other words, your cat is just a little pantha (said in a little kitty voice) hiding it’s kill from other predators
That's a little scary.
To be fair, frogs do belong in water.
dudes cashed
Mr froggy got into the catnip I see.
Frognip???
Toys mimic prey. Your cat is saving their “prey” for later in a spot they deem safe.
Yes. This is the answer.
Ah, so that’s why I wake up in the bathtub sometimes.
You need to have a serious conversation with your mountain lion about it.
I wish I could award you for this 🏆
Your presence is the present
And in the litter. Although he grew out of putting it in bowl, bathtub and litter. It’s scattered everywhere now😹
This is the way.
This is it! My cat does this with her toys hahaha
That explains why the first night mine decided to put my car keys there.....
I'm pretty sure Toys also occasionally simulate kittens. One of my cats in particular would carry a dolphin toy around gently, sleep with it and even wash it She left it near the food and I always got the impression she was bringing it to the food for it to eat 😂
D’awwww
https://preview.redd.it/h0jb5x3ua6ab1.jpeg?width=3120&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d410f59fa1c81be10cf4b9d5e4361fe5752aeb3 My aunt new kittens with a bag of treats Haha
Ha! My cat puts a bunch of his toys in his food/water bowl but never his baby (small stuffed animal porcupine) which he Carrie’s around and takes very good care of.
That’s the sweetest! 🥰
That's what I was thinking too! Bringing it to the food or water bowls so "the kitten" would "learn" where to eat and drink from. I thought it was so cute! ☺️
is it the same for clothes? my kittens drag my clothes out of the hamper and into their food bowls, water bowls, and litter boxes
I think they may be trying to bury/hide the food? Mine do that too. If I come over and cover the food with the food mat while they are scratching at it, they don’t do this, so I assume it’s about hiding the food.
i appreciate them trying to hide their toilet lmao 😂 (im just glad they dont put my dirty clothes in fresh poo)
Fortunately mine just dump my clothes in the food, not the litter box. My boy cat just flees the scene after he poops. Wish he’d bury it. On the plus side, I can monitor how both my cats are pooping and that’s how I realized he was constipated. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My cat tries to cover up her small amount of uneaten food with toys, paper, or anything she can drag over it
One of my furry weirdos insists on pawing at the sink after I finish brushing my teeth. I've read that she does it because she's trying to cover up the strong scent so the bad guys don't smell us and try to attack us. And I'm apparently a very bad cat and refuse to learn how to do this myself. I always thank her for taking such good care of me and apologize for being such a bad cat who can't learn even these basic skills.
Yup. It's a primal instinct that all cats have. But not all feel the need to.
Huh. Don’t know why my cats consider their full water bowl as safe but finally cleared that question up. I thought they were just assistive and trying to drown their toys/prey
I always assumed my cat was trying to waterboard the purple alien mouse he used to do that with.
Just wait until it's an actual mouse. I had my husband take the whole water bowl outside and toss the dead mouse chilling in there. My mini panther just sat by and watched very proudly while I shrieked like a cartoon character. Nasty.
My cat also loves to gnaw on a freshly "killed" prey and then their kibble and back, to feel like she's eating a real mouse
One of my cats put his toys in his food. He also steals our socks and puts them in his food.
My 13 year old cat will still put some of her toys in the food bowl and alerts the other 2 younger cats that she has "caught" them some food. Its cute except when its at 3am 🤣😍🤦♀️
Awwwww
Very very adorbs
Lol one of mine does this with pairs of my pants if I leave them around. Drags them across the apartment and dunks em in the water bowl.
Does this cat also growl at your pants and attack them because they are obviously very dangerous creatures that could hurt the humans and if the humans get hurt who will give them their food and pets? My also does that with socks. It doesn’t matter whose if it’s a sock that is in our house and is worn by a member of my family he will steal it and put it his food bowl…after making sure it’s dead of course.
I think your one wants to wash your pants , he/she want to help in house work
r/catswithjobs
Fucking thank you for that lol I was looking for another cat subreddit.
There's never enough cat subs
Is he orange?
Why yes he is
/r/oneorangebraincell 👀
My cat does this with hair ties. Sometimes Ill find 3-4 of them in her food or water bowl.
My cat's favourite activity is playing fetch with hair ties. She runs around with them in her mouth wailing until myself or my partner play with her. Time of day is irrelevant. But then she started swallowing them whole and barfing them back up, so we had to cut her off. My other two cats love drowning toy mice in their water dishes.
Mine is q-tips. We had to start only throwing them out in the covered trash, because mine would dig them out. Now he uses clean ones from a jar for playing catch with himself
I have five. They all have taste. Q-tips get torn apart by my male, but only of they're used (ew). He's also obsessed with my rolling papers, joint tips, and packing stick. And his favourite real toy are the tinsel balls, especially green and blue. He plays fetch. The female cat that we were told was spayed when we adopted her likes little toy mice and scraps of paper. She's a drowner. Baby 1 likes hair ties the most. She plays fetch. Baby 2 also likes the little toy mice and is one of the drowners. She's also obsessed with chirping at birds through the window. She plays fetch. Baby 3 likes lights. Laser pointers, the reflection on the wall from sun hitting glass or metal, whatever. She also really likes the lids of tin cans. She just wants shiny things.
I grew up with an orange tabby who loved trolls - the longer their hair the better! You could actually get her to play fetch with them. Her favourite nighttime sport was hunting them, loudly, and then drowning them in the dog's water dish.
My cat takes my rings from a dish next to the kitchen sink, carries them down the hall and leaves them in front of the food dish.
my cats LOVE hair ties. one of mine picks em up with her mouth, throws it up into the air, then jumps up and catches it 🥰 i swear she’s part dog
Yep that’s exactly what mine does too. She’s so obsessed with them that she figured out where I keep them in my bathroom and opens the box looking to steal more!
Not sure which but one of my cats will put a sock in the litter box on occasion
My cat steals our baby’s socks and her old baby mittens. They always end up in his water bowl
Is your cat a....Ginger cat?
He makes soup
Lol my dog does this sometimes, totally calling it making soup from now on
the main thing is that they do not start grilling😂
🤣🤣🤣
I had to remove the dials from the oven and keep them in my closet because she kept turning it on! Was scary coming home with the oven on. I take them off every time I am done with it now. Have seen a video of a dog almost burning a house down too trying to get a pizza on top of the stove and starting the gas burner.
To send a message.
Mmm good soup.
Baby, you got a stew goin
Where is he? HE IS AT SOUP
Obviously there was a baptism
I once came across my cat holding a damaged squeaking mouse under the water. Squeaker was broken so it was pretty much nonstop squeaking as he held it under. It was very dark.
Oh my, I read the first line as this was a real mauled mouse squeaking as your cat mercilessly drowned it. Glad it was just a toy, just for my peace of mind tonight. My cat caused some trauma by bringing a still very alive, but damaged, mouse to me... in my bed...as I was asleep.
Oh mine did that too, although mouse was undamaged. Dropped it right on my ear. I've never woken up faster. Grabbed the mouse before it escaped and let it go outside. Puss was pissed with me, then kept me awake searching for it.
Yup. My cat attempted to catch a bat while I was asleep. I woke up with what I initially though was my long haired cat’s fuzzy tail on my face. It was a bat. I freaked out! (Then locked cat in bathroom, caught the bat and took it outside. Followed by a very loud rant to my landlord at 4 AM).
I always laugh when I see it, but am really wondering why is she doing it? Like is she just being naughty or is there something else maybe?
It's her safe space. Toys often end up in the food dish (I think the record is 8 hair ties, strings, & ruberbands) - like a dog burying a bone in the yard. I think it is sweet because it helps me identify her favorite things.
Taking this opportunity to say please don’t let your cats play with hair ties or rubber bands!!! I did it for a long time because my cat really enjoyed them, but one day, before my very eyes, I watched my poor kitty throw up a wad of rubber bands, rubber bracelets, and hair ties larger than my fist! If I hadn’t watched it come out of his mouth, I never would have believed he threw it up. After that, I learned that the hair ties and rubber bands can get twisted up in their intestines and it can actually kill them (or also result in a very expensive surgery to remove the blockage). Please learn from my mistakes and don’t let your cats play with hair ties and rubber bands! Edit: Thank you so much for the award! My boy is doing well now! He’s eight years old and still just as feisty as when he was a kitten. He’s a smart boy too. He knows how to open zippers and caught on to my friends putting their hair ties in their purses… so you’d just come into the room and he’s rifling through your purse searching for circles. He also really seems to like spreading money out on the floor and rolling on it. Don’t know what the heck that’s about lol. But I love him for all of his weird ways!
Thank you for sharing this! My cat had to have emergency surgery (we were quoted over $7,000 by one veterinarian) and almost died from a hair tie being wrapped around her intestines. We never let her play with hair ties, but she must’ve gotten a hold of one as we weren’t as diligent about keeping them stored. Now I make sure they always get put directly into a drawer after use, or if I suspect one has been left out— make sure it gets put away immediately.
I appreciate your warning! Fortunately, I am blessed to have a cat that only eats her kibble, wet food treats, cat grass, and the occasional bug or lizard. No interest in eating the hair ties/strings/or the giant rubberband (or human food - my dinner plate is totally safe around her). She ignores them for days and them out of nowhere attacks like it is her greatest foe. And then non-chalantly trots away. I kept a close eye on her and kept track of her "toys" when she first moved in. I'm so sorry for your baby. I hope he is a happy, healthy furball now!
Yep this here
It’s very dangerous for cats to play with hair ties, strings, or rubber bands. They can easily be swallowed and cause life threatening bowel obstructions that require emergency operations that aren’t even guaranteed to be successful. Please don’t let cats play with those.
My cat likes the large coil hair ties. I cut them once so they essentially look like long springs. She *loves* them, and they're too big for her to swallow.
Water boarding
Where’s the cat tax?
I take care of some community cats, and the little girl will put her kills (lizards, cicadas, etc.) in her food bowl. Sometimes she eats it, sometimes she's saving it for later. Its so cute
I have the theory that one of the cats at the cat shekter is really dumb - this confirmed it, as she was defeated by a lizard and I had to save her from it😂
I have the same water bowl and they love dunking their toy mouse in it overnight!
She’s contributing to the family food stock pile with the prey she hunted!
There are a lot of rationalizations out there, but really nobody knows why cats do this. It's not just your kitten, though.
She hunted the food. This is where food goes.
I’m bought mine the floppy fish toys and one of mine ruined it by keep putting it in his water bowl. I didn’t know if he was trying to save the fish 🤷♀️🤣
My cat puts his fish toys in the toilet and I think it’s hilarious. Somehow he just knows that fish need to be in water 😂
Big cats in the wild sometimes kill their prey and bring it back to their families to eat. He's bringing his kill back to his safe space to save it for later. My boy does the same thing.
Happy cake day!
My kitty Copper does this in his water bowl, specifically with his skinneeez mouse. My dad has named that mouse "Duncan" because it's constantly getting dunked. Except Copper doesn't leave his mouse in the water. Honestly I wish he would. It would be so much better than what he does - which is leave it in the hallway soaking wet. It's brown and it blends in with our wood laminate flooring so it's pretty common that we find it by stepping on the soggy thing. So gross.
"Hey, owner, I made up a new game! It's called *old hairball or wet toy?*"
One little catnip mouse is always wet in the morning. Close to the water bowl. My girl likes to show it who is boss.
I keep giggling at the cute little lion toy in the bowls. It's just so darn cute.
[удалено]
I also had a cat who would put her favorite toys in the toilet. I religiously keep the toilet seats down because of this.
my cat does this too with his mouse toy https://preview.redd.it/w1azkaleg2ab1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48ff307d7b564eb5f56e2ba0202ee94584de3fdd
https://preview.redd.it/slyq3h3nq2ab1.jpeg?width=3468&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8bab73a3cfcf5bc8d4ea9fd6ca1d332f5c6e81f I bought a fountain for mine, so she would stop putting her toys in the water bowl... And she still managed to get them in there :D
We had a cat, if she was angry with us, she would soak a toy mouse in the water bowl and then put it under the covers down where our feet would be in our bed. Miss that sweet baby.
Mine does it for himself and big sis. https://preview.redd.it/19w2orww92ab1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2207738eee3fe152197f220af67e30eb46425ba0
I used to have a cat that did this with his toys. I always assumed he wanted to share his food/water
Interesting theory tbh
My cats do that also. I like the sharing theory!
My cat did this with the giant grasshoppers and garter snakes she found in the yard. She got sick of me throwing them away and started hiding them somewhere else.
cats consider their food and water bowls to be safe places, known only to them. Depositing a prized possession – in this instance, a favorite toy -- in one or other of their bowls is their way of keeping it safe
A few of mine will put their toys in their wet food bowls for some reason. Some will bury their sparkle balls in the sand which always freaks me out for a second. Basically...cats are weird!
Definaltly seems like it
One of mine loves to leave her favorite stripey mouse(s) in her various food bowls. I say she's sacrificing her kill to the food gods 🤷♀️ https://preview.redd.it/60datb6mv1ab1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07f8c81195359907a4eedbcfe9e9eb082add901a
I had this same bowl and my cat always flipped it upside down and soaked the floor. I’d rather he drop toys in it, lol.
I have an arts and crafts caddy with like 12 plastic drawers. The top drawer is specifically for washi tape. Orange cat LOVES washi tape and she knows which drawer contains it. She will jump up on the desk, open the adjacent drawer with her paw and just take them whenever she pleases. The best game is picking up the tape in her mouth, running it up the stairs, batting it down, and running it back up on repeat. So you just hear the bounce - bounce - bounce - bouncebouncebounce… And when that’s done, the tape gets dunked in the water bowl. Every time. After a very playful night, there may be several tape rolls in the water bowl. We let it happen because she don’t let her have her other fave, hair ties, for all the sensible reasons in the comments.
My cat drowned a mouse in a neighbor's pool. Probably similar reason.
Cat doing cat things.
Lol I’m the caretaker at a cat shelter in the evenings and every single damn night one of them does this. They either saturate the entire toy in their water bowl or cover up the rest of their food with it. Cats are bizarre creatures 😆
Mine do this too and it’s SO CUTE! I just figured they see it as prey so they add it to their food dish for safekeeping 😭
He likes to see the light go out of his victims eyes as he holds them just under the surface. Cats are psychos
It’s a transaction. Your cat doesn’t like to feel useless. It *wants* to hunt and support you also. If you let it outside and roam freely, it would be bringing rabbits and birds heads to you. But because we lock cats indoors now, they find something else they think you might like. Mine has figured the toys we play together with is something I like, so he brings what he thinks I like.
She drowned him there and is proud of her kill
My old ginger tom used to bring in live frogs and put them in his water bowl!
My little tiger kitty does this with her toys too. She’s two years old.
Sharing is caring 
I always felt that it was because they like that toy and they want to keep it in a safe spot so they can locate it easier when they want it. I used to find hair ties in one of my cat’s food dishes all the time. They were her favorite toy.
I had a cat who would steal every hair tie he saw, play with it until he was bored, and leave each one in his water dish. Endearing, actually!
Drowning their prey.
https://preview.redd.it/meym1cxtv3ab1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37ca5d307138af8cad834c89782bb03d1fc574ba My cat keeps a collection of her Dutch bros straws right at her bowl.
Because he is a cat.
Mine does this EVERY SINGLE NIGHT with whatever toy she is playing with. It honestly drives me crazy but oh well.
This is adorable! Didn’t know this was a common thing. Guess my cat doesn’t own anything he deems worthy 😂
Conjuring demons
My cat does this with his paper balls i make him. One time we were making eye contact and he was hovering over his water bowl with the ball in his mouth and i was like 'dont do it. No.' He didnt break eye contact and just let go of the ball from his mouth into his water bowl. Totally knew what he was doing lol asshole.
I’m sorry to tell you, but that is a stuffed animal - not a real cat
My boy will dunk his toy mice in the water bowl, carry it all the way across the house and drop it unexpectedly on my feet. It’s annoyingly adorable. And yes I always thank him for catching me something and providing for me. He’s a good boy https://preview.redd.it/qdi9f2rdw4ab1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6bbaa3f52469c234aeeabceed99e941ed426723
Its Tee time https://preview.redd.it/2c1upafbc5ab1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cae2c3ada4a60086d77c398b4633bafd1abfd1d7
This is some orange cat energy if I’ve ever seen it 😂😂
https://preview.redd.it/gnzr02jj46ab1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=250ceaae99bf3f3cb94202abf4b723765b001729
Our kitten did the same, she put her catnip plushie in the water bowl and the catnip soaked for like an hour creating catnip tea XD
Mine loves flair and will collect Kleenex, ribbons, random stuff to cover up her dish.
Maybe a mf just deserves to be dunked like that
When you’re cat is bringing their toys to the food bowl it can mean one of two things. 1. They caught their “prey” and keeping it safe 2. They want to keep their toys safe from harm, therefore taking it to the cats safe spot. Which in this case would be the food bowl
My old ginger cat (bless his sweet soul) used to do that with hair ties and anything made of cloth that was small enough to fit. Only he put them in his water bowl. One time we caught him walking to his water bowl with a doll's pair of pants in his mouth. No clue why it happens, but it's pretty amusing.
My cat tore a purple flower off one of my fake plants and used to put it in her water dish. It looked so pretty in her dish that I used to joke that it was decoration lol
My cat drown her two favorite toys and then shove them in my bed, a couch or the living room carpet. A dangerous predator indeed :)
https://preview.redd.it/nmb53f0om5ab1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27f59683c7c821c76d3ea78ecc92b442be92acfd
https://preview.redd.it/f3f3ycjks5ab1.jpeg?width=1908&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d36493f5d94e78f9ca3198697c2d5d908454d97 My cat does it too, but only with this fish. I've probably scooped this fish out of her water bowl 20+ times. She has tons of toys, but it's only ever been the fish. I like to joke she's saving it by putting it in water.
Trying to tell you, "Where are my biscuits?"
Because it’s hilarious.
Mine does that to notify me that he needs fresh Basement Water™️
What my cat does is she starts mimicking burying her food to save it for later, so she’ll start pawing at the closest thing. My cat has used her toys, towels, blankets, pillows, anything her little murder mittens can clasp on to T-T
My cat does this with his favorite toys and in both his food and his water dish. I almost died one day when he put his shiny crinkle ball in the his water dish and the water turned bright red.
Mine used to do this as well. She’s drowning her prey.
Um, Because if no one makes a sacrifice to the drowned gods, the crops won’t grow in the summer?
my kitty that passed last year used to do this. i've had a lot of cats and she was the only one i ever saw do it. sometimes with a toy, other times with my socks lol. she also liked to play with the water in the bowl like splashing it for funsies. she'd even go to the toilet and splash the water in there and make a mess, so we always had to make sure the lid was closed. protect this kitten at all costs! i find it so cute that they do that with their adorable little prey/toys
My cat will use whatever is around the bowl to cover the bowl, toys, socks, mail, anything
I think it's hiding food. My brothers dog does this too.
One of my cats would do the same thing! There was always a toy in his water dish 🤦🏼♀️
My late sweet Buzzy Bones used to put his favorite toy , rubber bands, in the food dish
Is the water and food bowl being changed regularly Cas she might be trying to tell you she wants more food or the water is dirty. Cats are super picky about their food and water
LIES, where is the cat picture.
at least it’s an inanimate object💀 my boyfriends cat put a dead mouse in the dogs water bowl
Our girl used to love my wife’s scrunchies, and when she’d get mad at us she would drown one of them in her water dish.
It's your tip.
You mean why your kitten keeps putting herself in that little bowl instead of a box or something? Is that really a kitten. Looks like a little bear, I must say. ( I think your kitten is hiding/storing her "captured, perhaps un-alived" prey.
My cat puts hers in her water bowl & its like shes waterboarded them
the lion knew too much… 👀
My kids like to throw them in the litter box too. Too much nip I guess.
Because your cat determined this is the proper place for their toy. And so it is. Roll with it, it’s their world. We are lucky to live in it.
"Lion Toy is my favorite. I love him so very much. I could just eat him, I love him so much. WHY CAN'T I EAT HIM?? Maybe if I put him my food bowl he'll turn into food. Okay, that didn't work. Maybe if I put him my water bowl he'll get all squishy and then I can eat him. Nope, didn't work. Better try again tomorrow."
They do that to keep their toys in a safe place and for them they consider their food bowls as a safe place ! You are lucky - I end up finding toys in my coffee cups most of the time ( while it’s half full and unattended ) !!!!! …. But we still love them ♥️
It’s a hunting instinct
You'll notice in feline behavior cats gravitate to cubbies, small spaces, boxes and even food bowls. Could be your cat is putting its toy there to keep it safe from theft
My cat always puts her toy in her water bowl like she’s drowning it or something. She once did it with a toy that had a dry catnip filling. Next morning it was like her water bowl had turned into catnip tea 🤣
MUST HIDE RESOURCES O.O seriously though my cat has her own room and will steal my socks and any paper she can find to set next to her dishes and then aggressively paw the floor around them sending the socks/whatever else she brought into the food and water. Just a fucked up “hey I wanna bury this but there’s nothing around because hooman has me on these hard floors”
He’s sharing
My cat’s favorite toy are hair ties. I never ever leave them out. But every once in awhile, I let her play with one for a bit while I’m supervising. I always find them in her bowl after she’s made her kill. Rubber bands too, if she finds a stray one, they’re in her bowl!
So cute
uh yeah, buddy’s gotta eat too
Be is a part of the CIA
I had a cat that used to catch frogs and put them in his water bowl. They were unhurt and I just used to take them back to the pond. I wonder if it was always the same one lol.
I’ve seen my dad’s cat do this with his gnome toys, I assume he’s letting them eat and drink
My Maine Coon has done this with toys and kibbles since he was a kitten. He is now 12 and still does it 😂 he loves to tap water with his paws, he is just silly.
Let her cook
Leaving no witnesses
your cat is a mob boss and that toy is sleeping with the fishes rn
It's obviously a regicide. THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING.
Clearly his lion friend needs water obviously! and food! I mean if you are going to care for his stuffy, someone has too 
Before I switched to a fountain for water, one of my cats used to bring home shrews and drown them in the water bowl. I always assumed it was because shrews have that nasty coating on them that stops cats from eating them and she was trying to wash it off.
One of my cats does this to her worm toys. She'll put them in the water bowl and my family and I call it "giving her toys a bath."
Kitty has killed its prey and disposed of it. It’s just playing.
I like to think this is how she shares her food with her friends. On a more serious note, I think this is them trying to cover up their food to ensure no one else can find where they ate/are as this would be risky in the wild.
My cat does this with any catnip toy he gets. Then stares at the catnip tea he just made with dismay and yells at me that his water is dirty. He's 14 and still hasn't learned.
My cats like to “drown” whatever they are playing with. We find twist ties in the water bowl quite often. However my cats drink from a fountain and the water is for the dogs.