Lucy loves scratching pictures and t.v.s by: Christym111
Lucy got her "glass scratching" habit from her sibling Piper when she saw her scratch the t.v. during a Ford truck commercial. Piper has since kicked the habit, but Lucy refuses.
She gets the "itch" to scratch just as I lay down to sleep and paws at the picture above my couch or above my desk. As soon as I stand up and yell "Lucy!" she bolts and acts bewildered as to why I wouldn't be pleased.
I have no clue why she waits for me to nap or go to sleep, but the only reprieve I get is when I keep a laser pointer toy on my night stand to click so I don't have to get up mid-sleep and chase her around the living room.
Also, a water bottle with good aim might help incessant scratching at 3:00AM. Just a suggestion. :)
Jun 17, 2010 Rating
Not mirrors but the glass in the shower by: Amy Lu
There are lots of mirrored closet doors that our year old cat ignores but something about the glass stand up shower drives her nuts. If I don't yell at her to stop she will scratch at the glass for 15 minutes at a time.
I don't know what she needs, sometimes she whines like something is wrong. I'm mostly curious but it does get annoying. It seems like no one is agreeing here on why or how to stop this behavior.
Mar 25, 2010 Rating
My cat does it too by: Kyle
I just wanted to add to the "me too"s. My cat does it too. We just installed a full-length mirror on our closet door. It took her about a week to discover it, and now she does it all the time.
We think it may be that she is asking us to open the bedroom door so that she can go out. She does not look at herself in the mirror, she looks back at us in the bed and says "meow" and it gives us the feeling that she's saying, "Please?"
It can definitely get annoying at night or early in the morning, but if we yell at her, she stops and comes back to bed.
Jan 20, 2010 Rating
Seems its a texture or sound thing with mine by: Anonymous
I thought maybe our Taz just had a crazy obsession and then I came across others here reporting similar experiences! We are sleepless these days too with our 4 year old tabby "scratching" during the night on the dresser mirror usually between 2AM - 4AM.
She is extremely smart and physical. An attention-seeker. The arm movements are fast, strong and even paced much like when (humans) tread water or jog. She does not seem to use her nails. It's more of a substantial tapping sound.
Her preferred surface for the past few years was our glass French Doors. We moved a year ago and haven't cluttered up the dresser in our bedroom yet, which has left it wide and clear for Taz's "tap dancing" against the mirror. She occasionally does this on the full length mirror that's just outside our bedroom too.
We had been piling cushions and pillows up over the mirrors overnight. But undeterred, she just seems to find a gap. As soon as she manages to wake us she RUNS under the bed before cautiously emerging again within a minute or so.
We think she knows full well what she is doing is to wake us for some playtime or affection. We believe she is enjoying the texture and the tapping sounds. She can do this for several minutes time. Now that I've read others' comments and written this up I think I see the solutions more clearly. Thank you!
Jan 04, 2010 Rating
I think mine does it for attention by: Anonymous
My female scratches at our full length mirror and she is not interested in looking at herself even when held up to a mirror she's not interested in the cute cat in front of her. She's very smart and I think she knows it's her reflection.
I can yell at her and throw things at her but the only thing that gets her to stop is by picking her up and giving her some attention.
As an indoor cat that has escaped a couple of times she also scratches at the windows sometimes which I'm pretty sure means she wants to go outside because she also does this to rarely closed doors as well as jumping and pushing the door to try to open it.
The middle of the night thing from one of the comments, have you tried covering the mirror when you go to bed? That may help you sleep.
Sep 22, 2009 Rating
i know why they do that by: toxius
my cat-LOLA ,does the same thing. But here is the scary part. I've realized that she does it ONLY when something bad is about to happen (sometimes something extremely bad).
she did that just 15 minutes before a family member had an accident. The next time she did it, someone else from the building passed away the next day.
Another reason is because they sense spirits. That is when they start running around like homing missiles. And when you open the outside door, they calm down.
Sep 07, 2009 Rating
Not territorial and not playing by: Anonymous
Contrary to a lot of people suggesting that the kitty is territorial or "wants to play," I don't think this is the behavior at all.
One of my two cats scratches at our bedroom mirror on the back of the door quite often. However, she doesn't even seem to "see" herself in the mirror.
If you watch her, she seems to be looking up, and when holding her up to the mirror, doesn't seem to have any interest in her reflection whatsoever.
She used to do the exact same thing with a large aquarium we had at our old apartment. Again, watching her behavior careful indicated she wasn't after any one particular fish, she just seemed to like scratching on the glass-like surface.
I have no explanation for this behavior, unfortunately, and searching for an explanation brought me here. Sometimes she meows while doing this, sometimes she doesn't say anything. It's pretty amusing behavior, but I'm at a loss to explain it.
She has a brother to play and fight with and the way she scratches the mirror tells me she is NOT trying to be territorial or to play...it's completely unlike the way she plays or fights with the other cat.
My best guess is that it's a texture thing. Also, she isn't the brightest of cats, but I don't know if that plays into it.
Aug 24, 2009 Rating
Scratching mirror... by: Cheryl
I would LOVE to find out how to stop this behavior. Max just started this within the past couple weeks. I wouldn't mind if he did this during the day but he's doing this in the middle of the night.
And did I mention it's the mirror on the dresser in my bedroom? I haven't had a good night's sleep in quite a bit. :(
Feb 10, 2009 Rating
Cat scratching ours does it too! by: Anonymous
Cat scratching ours does it too! Our oldest cat when she would see her reflection in the stove, she would run around the corner to "find" the rest of the cat. When she didn't, she would run back to the front and bat at her reflection again.
Our youngest cat once ran head first into our mirrored closet doors because she saw her reflection from across the room and I'm going to assume that it was because she thought it was another cat.
Wouldn't it be great though if they could tell you what was going on in their heads?
Feb 09, 2009 Rating
cat seeing himself by: Anonymous
your cat is seeing himself in the mirror. some cats are so territorial that they will attack their own reflection. either that or they want to play with "the other kitty." is he an only kitty?? maybe you should think about getting him a buddy.
Feb 08, 2009 Rating
Cat scratching mine too by: Anonymous
My cat does the same thing except she scratches at all the windows as if she is trying to dig her way out. She has always done this since she was a kitten. I just let her do it.
