People Are Sharing Their Cats’ Toxic Traits—And They Don’t Disappoint

As adorable and snuggly as your felines might be, they aren’t always perfect. Their quirky personalities or habits can sometimes get on your nerves, but thankfully one Reddit post revealed your cat isn’t the only one with toxic traits.

In the subreddit channel r/cats, user _themoonandme_ asked cat owners what toxic trait their feline has, followed by an example from her cat and the answers did not disappoint.

Nova’s owner shared with Newsweek via Reddit that they call Nova their “magic kitty” after she was born during a solar eclipse. They took her mom in who was a pregnant stray.

“[We] tried to find if she had a home already, but with no answers, we took her to our local shelter,” the owner said. “Momma ended up escaping out of the workers’ hands during transport and traveled a few miles all the way back to us! We kept her and one kitten, Nova, and found homes for the rest of the litter.”

Now, after getting a taste of luxury, Nova lives like royalty. She doesn’t care about messes or the owner cleaning up after her. She’s a toxic queen of the house.

The owner wrote on the post, accompanied by a photo of Nova: “This is Nova and her toxic trait is that she loves to drop her toys in her water bowl and then bring them to me on the bed absolutely soaked–leaving wet spots all over my bedding.”

Other cat owners flooded the post to reveal their felines’ toxic traits. As of Monday afternoon, the Reddit post has amassed over 9,500 upvotes and nearly 2,000 comments.

“This is Black Bean. His toxic trait is he desperately wants attention. Yells for it constantly. But when the humans try to give him such attention, he runs away. He only wants pets on the pet hammock or a cat tree of his choosing,” one pet parent wrote.

Another shared: “His toxic trait is his obsessive need to stick his paws into EVERYTHING. Cups, cup holders, under seat cushions, trash bins.”

Getting no personal space, one owner commented: “Getting his little face reeeeeally close to my face and ef-ing sneezing on me.”

A fourth posted: “eats any – and every – peice [sic] of plastic/trash he sees.”

As for this reporter, my two cats are no strangers to frustrating behaviors. Both have toxic traits centered around food, and who can blame them? I get hangry too.

I wish someone would’ve warned me about tortoiseshell cat’s “tortitude” before I adopted Willow in 2023. She’s a vocal cat who knows how to use her voice to get her way. Her toxic trait is knowing exactly when it’s time to eat and causing destruction the moment I or my husband are a minute late. She will use her paws to knock items off my desk, usually my glasses or water bottle. If we’re trying to watch television, she’ll scratch at the couch knowing very well it will get us up to feed her.

George, on the other hand, is still a kitten. Within days of rescuing him, we learned about his obsession with food, which we believe is likely because he was found in a trashcan with his littermates. But his toxic trait is constantly going after our food and Willow’s. We feed them at the same time, but because he scarfs it down, he runs to Willow’s bowl, pushes her out of the way and starts devouring as much as he can until we get to him.

We’ve learned our lesson to stand guard while Willow eats as her adult food doesn’t sit well in his stomach. One too many disgusting clean-ups we’ve dealt with to do again. Plus, he doesn’t need the extra food. He already outgrew Willow.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.