Will the mystery of the kleptomaniac cats be solved soon?

Reading time: 2 minutes – Spotted Watchman

Cats are not just fond of mice or birds: some of them like to steal things like a magpie. Underwear, gloves, mail, small things: they love to steal, but it is very difficult to understand what motivates them. In any case, it is certain, as ethologists say: their goal is not to give gifts – neither to the humans they encounter, nor to other cats.

This year, a spate of clothing thefts by two kittens and their mother in a Spanish town has caught the attention of specialists. This is particularly the case with Oak Florian Heemstra, a biologist at a museum in Leiden, the Netherlands: “I want to know why they do this. Documenting such cases could lead to more research in the future.

The animal specialist then began collecting stories of kleptomaniac cats. In addition to the three Spanish cats, who were capable of stealing more than 100 items a month (including a teddy bear and children's shoes), he recorded, for example, all the information available about Charlie, a resident of the English city of Bristol, who was nicknamed Britain's most prolific thief After bringing a large amount of stolen goods to the home of Alice Page, the woman he lives with.

Diplodocus and swimwear

Plastic toys, clothespins, a rubber duck, glasses, cutlery: this is what we find in particular in Charlie's hideout, the most beautiful piece of which is perhaps a plastic diplodocus, placed on the pillow of his human pet while she sleeps. Very upset by her cat's thefts and not knowing who to return the items to, Alice Piggy finds a solution: she places it on an outside wall of her house so that its owners can retrieve it.

There are many examples, such as the California Dusty incident and the 600 recorded robberies, including 11 in one night. Among the prizes he took were a pair of Crocs, a baseball cap and a swimsuit. The Guardian also reports The case of Cleo, a Texas cat who managed to steal a computer mouse. These stories are certainly entertaining, but above all they give food for thought to Auke Florian Heemstra and his compatriot Claudia Vincke, a behavioral biologist at Utrecht University.

Without claiming to have uncovered the secret of what makes cats fly, the duo have nevertheless discovered a certain number of commonalities between the four-legged features of Arsène Lupin. This has allowed them to identify several hypotheses, some quite predictable and others less so. It is not surprising that stealing is a way of attracting attention or showing their desire to play. It could also be seen as a way of prolonging their desire to hunt.

An even more surprising idea has been formulated: Some cats may be driven by the desire to remove things they don’t like the smell of, whether it’s a pair of dirty socks or a cloth with a strong detergent scent. In addition, they are known to be particularly attracted to certain materials such as wool and plastic, which contain lanolin, also called wool wax or wool grease. This ingredient is particularly attractive to cats, which helps explain why they love playing with balls so much, for example.