A biologist interested in the behaviour of kleptocats such as Lotie from Assen

Remember the cat Klepto Lotje from Assen? During the corona times, this cat from the Asser Marsdijk area was in the news a lot due to raids, each time with a special loot for its owner. Pacifiers, gloves, underwear, toys, wet wipes, you name it. Lotje is still active and now also brings items for owner Brunhilde Kuijper every week. At least, is the loot really meant to be a gift for the housemates?

Research needs to be done on this, according to scientist Uke Florian Heemstra. “All cat species in the world show this behavior, which is very interesting to me as a biologist,” Heemstra says.

The scientist wrote the introduction to a photo book about three klepto cats in Spain who stole hundreds of socks and underwear, explaining the behavior. “It is wonderful to browse through this photo book by photographer Anna Jane. The klepto cats’ prey is fully photographed and documented. The fact that it has been systematically recorded makes this book extra special.”

Cat owners may think that the things they bring with them are a thank-you for good care, but biologist Heemstra suspects that there are entirely different motivations behind it. Together with behavioral biologist and cat expert Claudia Finke, he came up with different motivations after a brainstorming session: “It could be to get attention, to trigger play behavior. But it could also be part of the cats’ hunting instinct. Or it could be to do with territorial behavior. If there’s a strong scent, the cats will take it away from their territory.” This could explain why kleptocats often target socks and underwear.

According to the biologist, the motives of klepto cats have not been investigated. That’s why he’s looking for as many examples of collectible cats as possible. “If we have more cases like this, we’ll investigate them scientifically.”

He invites people to tell him about it. He has not yet known about the example of Lotje from Assen, but he responds enthusiastically to stories about it. “Look, that’s beautiful! We’re very curious to see if there are more of these types of cats in the Netherlands. Let’s collect examples first,” he says.

However, the Naturalis researcher already has the necessary international examples. Starting with the three Spanish Klepto cats about whom a picture book was published and for which Heimstra was allowed to write the introduction. “But there is also an example from Texas of a cat who came home with a computer mouse. Charlie from Bristol is also very happy. He came home every day with a plastic dinosaur, which he found in the nursery. They were placed on his owner’s pillow in the morning. He woke up every morning with a dinosaur next to his head, which was a bit like her appearance in The Godfather.

“We see this behavior, and we don’t know what it is,” says Oak Florian Heemstra. “So the research now consists of uncovering more stories like this. So if you know of such a story in your area, let me know.”