I have a male cat (just over a year old). He's always been in the habit of placing his toys into or next to his food bowl. Any thoughts as to why? I'm thninking he's establishing it as his own.

Welcome to Answerpool!

It's interesting to me to hear you say that because my 4 year old female does that all the time and I can't figure it out either.
Whenever she is playing with her toy and decides she wants to eat, she will take it in the kitchen with her and drop it by the refrigerator which is about 2 feet or so from her food bowl.

I would think she is trying to establish dominance but there are no other animals in the house, cat or otherwise. My thoughts are that she thinks its going to "get away" or she doesn't want my husband or myself to take it from her and play with it ourselves!

I don't know why but I do know it's kind of cute.

To understand cat behavior, you have to remember that they are hunters. So a 'toy' is just a substitute for a live mouse, bug, lizard, or other small prey animal.

So when a cat classifies data, it's natural that she would think of a toy as food, and place it with her other food. Not all cats organize their toys. Your cat has an unusual sense of order. Chances are that if she ever gets a chance to hunt live prey, she will bring them home and line them up at your doorway.

My cat was always putting stuff in her food. Her toys, twist ties, leaves, decorations that were light enough for her to make off with… Her favorite was this pretty little folded paper snowflake that used to hang from my window latch. Any time it fell to the ground, it was in her bowl within minutes. And then she would cry because there was something in her water bowl.
Who knows why cats do what they do. Instinct? Habit? Necessily? The undeniable urge to confound us?

That is too funny..I'm at work laughing, at my desk, my co-workers must think I've gone mad.

That does make sense. I do have to say that I dread the day he brings me a "previously living" present.

"Previously living" Now I'm laughing at my keyboard!

It's not really the previously living you need to worry about harleylady; it's the stuff that's *still* living that ends up flying around your house or scurrying under your couch cushions that should cause the most concern.

Just remember, he's doing it for you.

When I was about 5, one day we had visitors, and my mother was telling them, with much laughter all around, about the behaviour of our mouser barn-cat Tabbity. Seems when I was in my crib, my mother saw her sneak in carrying a mouse. She followed her, intending to kill the mouse so it would not escape into the house. Instead the cat leapt into my crib and presented it, still living, to me!

I remember I shot out of the house, ran to the barn, calling "Tabbiteeee!" The kitty came running, I picked her up and with hugs and kisses told her that I UNDERSTOOD that she had only intended to feed me, and teach me how to kill mice. Because I knew my mother, and I knew she would have given her a beating with the broom and driven her from the house. And I also had seen Tabbity feed her own litters that way, when their eyes were open. She would drop live prey, then sit back and watch the kittens investigate. If the poor prey almost escaped from the kittens, she would round it up and bring it back. Finally she would dispatch it by biting its neck and then present it to the kittens. Eventually they got the idea -- I suppose from the smell of blood. All her kittens were in demand with the neighbors. Tabbity was a famous mouser.

Unfortunately, I have, in fact, "been there, done that" My older cat brought in a mouse to play with and I tried to capture it and "liberate" it. It got away and apparently died somewhere......judging by the flies that suddenly appeared all over my front window. Talked about freaked out!!

My kitties Drown their toys!
And I predict a number of "Previously Living" gifts this summer... they spent their first summer fetching me grasshopper.

Yes, I find a furry mouse or ball floating in the water dish several times a week...They drop them in and then bat at it.

Our Aunt Jane loves to play with the plastic rings you pull off milk jugs. When we were replacing our dining room floor, we moved the china cabinet and found 35 milk rings that she'd put there for safekeeping. There is almost always a milk ring in her water bowl. She'll put her foot in the water to see it move. And as for the living toys...our other kitty brought us a toy last summer. We had just moved to a new house and didn't know where the window screens were. Most houses here aren't air conditioned, so we left the top half of the bedroom windows open. I awoke to find my husband tossing clothes out of the hamper so he could put it over the BAT that had come in. Thank goodness Justa Cat found it before it found us.