I have one who will take off with rubber bands, twist ties and the like. We have them in an open container on the bottom shelf of an upper cabinet by the coffee filters. If DH leaves the cabinet door open it is just a matter of time before she notices and starts pulling stuff out of there. One of my previous cats was known to get on the vanity and pull the makeup brush out of my bag and carry it off as if it was a mouse.

I had two cats who would open the kitchen drawer where I kept new sponges. I’d come home from work to find sponges scattered across the living room floor.

Our golden is wanted in 3 states. First, for stealing a lovely chunk of pricey aged gouda from the counter. Second, when workmen are doing the landscaping, she loves stealing their gloves and lunches and running around the pond with them. Lastly, when we have outdoor kid parties, she'll grab their beach towels carefully laid out on the lawn and chases ensue.

Rubber bands do have a distinctive smell, don't they? Bet your kitty sniffed it out.

Not pets, but the squirrels at the park where I work have become unbelievably bold, and there seem to be many more than previously. Yesterday a little girl left her backpack laying on a picnic table and a squirrel sniffed out the snacks she had in there and chewed a hole through the front, and through the lining, and pulled the baggie with the snacks partway out through the hole and ate them. We were nearby the whole time, with a group of kids too - those squirrels have become ruthless!

She was distraught and crying, so I repaired the hole for her with some fabric and fabric glue.

If the bottom drawer of my dresser isn't completely closed, I wake up to find my workout clothes strewn all over the floor. I call my cat Indiana "the Unpackinator."

When I leave the house for more than a couple of hours I often come home to one of my slippers or one of DH's workout shoes up on our bed. Daisy Mae never chews so there is something comforting in the smell. My slippers are only 10 ft away from the bed but DH's shoes are down the hall, down the stairs to the basement at the far end of the house then all the way back to the bed carrying a shoe that is almost half her size.

Not now, but a golden lab who delighted in clearing the picnic and swim dock at BILs lake house. She would wait until everyone was in the water enjoying themselves, then carry towels, tees, shoes back up the flight of stairs from lake to house. The kids - and those of us older - would get out of the water shivering and with nothing to dry off or put on their feet. And I'm sure she knew it was naughty.

What a pretty kitty! Love all these stories - especially cooper whose cat puts things in her purse! LOL

We used to have a cat who would bring us sticks every night. He'd leave them on the doormats and wait for us to praise him. One night he brought home a toothbrush. :)

Donna

Cute little thief.

I only have this regular visitor who helps himself to my geraniums in the middle of the night.

Socks move all over the house. Usually not mine as much as alpha's, because I am not the mother, I am probably just a sibling.

Thank you for sharing your stories. I'm getting some good laughs in here especially picturing the acts in my mind.

He did have to dig for this particular one so maybe they do have a smell. This is a fabric coated one similar to those used in elastic waistbands. It was under a stack of note paper and some business cards. I should have taken a video as it took him a few tries to get it out, before he used his mouth to grab it. He almost go derailed by the ziplock bag of marinating meat which I was going to freeze and needed to write the date and contents on the bag, hence needing the sharpie.

Golden Retrievers are notorious. Kesey recently took a whole, uncut cantaloupe off the counter, left there because who would EVER expect him to steal that. He ate almost 1/2 of it, rind and all. The other day he took a 1/2 banana complete with skin and ate that. My back was turned for 30 seconds while I took something into the pantry which is adjacent to the kitchen.

My furbaby has never liked to play with toys or go fetch. But, she does like to carry off with one of dh thongs he leaves by the back patio door. Everyday he has to go search for it. So, I think she has trained him to fetch. 😂

My bedside drawer does sometimes contain the fishing pole or toy mice and she does seem to be able to smell them if the drawer is opened and they are in there, and she will fish around with her paw through the slightest opening.

When you havent kooked under the bed in a while…

One of my cats adores pony tail holders. Those must be kept out of sight. If the drawer is open, he's after them. Same cat will steal bacon off your plate or on the way to your mouth.

My dog loves to carry socks around the house, always in pairs. My son's greyhound is a counter surfer. One evening she stole a whole piece of seasoned swordfish (raw) off a platter in the kitchen without anyone noticing. I saw my dog licking the dog bed and when we went to investigate we could smell the blackening seasonings. She also ate 2 pounds of raw meatballs my son had just finished prepping...twice! Garden gloves are also a favorite of both dogs.

Last summer we stayed at a friend's beach house and my dog would not stop whining at a cabinet door in the living room. Turns out that is where the friend kept their Rottie's chew bones, which he agreed to share with my dog (only because he wasn't there).

I've never known my cats to steal anything, but if Peach hears me open the bedroom door he will appear from nowhere to jump up on the bed. Then he proceeds to gather whatever blankets are there into a pile and lay on top of it. Or burrow under them. He's mainly an outside cat so not sure where he learned this behavior.

Reminds me of our sweet cat, Allie, who loved (and stole) gold jewelry and troll dolls (late 80s-90s). She occasionally let us pet her, but would only sit on our lap with a newspaper between us. She nearly died as a kitten, then had a few seizures, leaving her with a permanent tilt to her head. She lived 23 years.

she does like to carry off with one of dh thongs he leaves by the back patio door.

I was a little surprised you'd post this. And then I went "ohhh, DUH!"

Too funny mtn! I guess I should have said flip flops. 😊

yeah, I'm thinkin', must be wild out on that patio!

LOL about the "Thong" I didn't even think of it any other way than flip flop because of the back door, but now I'm laughing.

Hair ties are a hot commodity with both our cats, but they have their own so don't tend to steal ours and of course we are careful with where we put ours.

I'm curious for those of you who have a fur baby who "borrows" from others if the normal reaction for them is to just laugh (like I would) or do they get upset? I find animals and their actions to always be entertaining whether funny or just amazing at times what they know and what they do.

Haha! I’m dating myself.

I had one cat - before I developed an allergy to cats - that would only play with one toy, which was a pipe cleaner that I wound into a sort of spring. The cat (Eichendorff) would bounce the spring around until eventually he lost it under some furniture and then could not find it.

In 1958 I had a pet raccoon that I had raised from when it was a small baby, and when my father would come home, the raccoon would jump on him and steal silver coins from his pockets and hide them under my bed. He especially liked half dollar coins but also liked quarters. He would take the coins and roll them over and over in his hands. He liked shiny things.

I only have one photo of Roki doing his snatch and run thing. I wasnt expecting him to steal a mushroom. This is after he ran off with it. He has also grabbed DH’s peanut butter sandwich

Our beds are a platform with a toe kick all around so there is no " under the bed" for cats or their things.

We have to be super careful with leaving any food out. Little girl is so small and light she is stealthy. Her latest thing she is obsessed with is avocados. If we slice one, she will jump up and try to steal pieces.

One of my favorites was she jumped up on the barstool on my lap and took a salmon skin off my plate and ran off with it under the bed to eat it.

We have to clean up right away after dinner and make sure things like fish skins, etc, are taken out to the trash tote.

Cooper8828, one of my previous cats would put his toy mice in my purse/tote bags. It was always fun to find them in my bag.

Great stories! I have three cats and live in a small apartment. If I do not not put every last thing away they will move it, eat it, break it, chew it etc. I have found one that manages to open drawers and remove what suits him out of the drawers. If I am gone for too long and a glass is out you can count on it being broken on the ground. I am not sure if they are just ticked off that I have been gone or bored.

Gscience, I had a super-smart cat who was a real food thief. I had gotten a turkey from work for Thanksgiving, but living alone I cooked it and cut it up it for the freezer. As I turned to put some slices on a plate of wrap, the cat leaped in the air, snatched a whole slice, from the carving board, and flew into the living room. I swear his feet never touched the counter or the ground!

Another time, I was sitting on the floor at the coffee table eating a hamburger while doing a crossword. (did I mention I lived alone?) I took a bite, set the burger on the plate, and turned my attention to the crossword. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him slide the meat out from between the buns.

Our current cats aren’t thieves, they just beg. Our last cat loved the ground coffee that spilled on the floor, and sugar. If we left out a bag of marshmallows, she’d open a corner and take one or two. THAT one taught us to out groceries away immediately and leave nothing sweet out.

Our late dog would steal socks and slippers. He never destroyed them but used them as almost a comfort thing. If you saw him with one and asked ”where is my sock?” he would get them further under his paw to hide them.

We have a cat who thinks she is a dog and steals food. DH left his popcorn on the coffee table for a minute amd it was almost gone when he returned.