Expert: Tina - 10/23/2006

Question
Hi Tina,

My boyfriend and I have 2 cats, Blair who is almost a year old, and Lily who is 7 months.  My question is in regards to Blair, although Lily seems to be picking up the trait.

Our problem is that Blair is a theif.  We live in an apartment building where he can easily enter other residents homes and he steals other cat's toys. At first we thought it was funny, but now we end up with a 'new' toy about once a fortnight and it's becoming rather embarrassing having to knock on doors to find the appropriate owner and return them.  We've tried making sure he has enough stimulation in our home so he wouldn't steal from others to amuse himself, but it doesn't seem to matter how many toys he has, he still steals.  

My boyfriend calls it a 'quirk' because other than this one thing, he's really well behaved!  

Any suggestions on how we can stop him before he teaches Lily the same trick?

Thank you

Anna.  

Answer
Hi Anna,

I can't think of any way to stop this behavior, cats don't have a way of knowing that the other toys "belong" to the neighbors. The only solution is to keep your kitty indoors only, which is a good idea for safety anyway. There really is no way to teach a cat the concept of ownership or stealing - he will take what he wants :)

I do predict that as he gets a bit older the novelty of these toys will wear off. Luckily cat toys are not very expensive so it's unlikely you will have a visit from a police officer for grand theft!