Cat Never Shows Interest in Indoor Tree Until Owner Does the Unthinkable

It’s often said that you want what you can’t have and for several years Jones the cat hasn’t cared about sitting in his cat tree. However, that all changed when his owners were about to throw it out. Now, he can hardly get enough of it.

When he was a kitten, Jones would often sit in his cat tree for several hours a day, but he quickly outgrew it as he got older. At that point, he wouldn’t dare be seen perched inside the tree, so his owner, K.A. Riley thought it was a wise decision to get rid of it instead. How wrong she was.

Riley, from Ontario, Canada, told Newsweek that Jones “grew obsessed with the outdoors” and he never wanted to sit in his cat tree, which was inside the house. So, rather than needlessly allowing it to take up so much space in her home, she placed it outside ready to get rid of it, but it appears that Jones rediscovered his love for it in that moment.

“He stayed in there for several hours while his big brother, our golden retriever, watched over him. We’ve even shifted it a few feet over on the deck to a spot which receives lots of sunlight, and he lay in it this morning,” Riley said.

Jones never ceases to amaze his owner, author of Recruitment and The Cure, and after catching him in the cat tree outside, she couldn’t resist sharing it to TikTok under the username @karileywrites. The hilarious antics of her “gremlin cat” amused plenty of social media users, and since it was posted on April 10, the video has gained over 1.9 million views and more than 217,400 likes.

Layered over the footage, the caption reads: “The cat never uses his tree inside, so we decided to get rid of it. Now the little jerkface wants to lie in it.”

TikTok Users React

The garbage bags wrapped around the cat tree certainly weren’t off-putting to Jones, and he was more than happy with his new spot. After going viral, many TikTok users lauded his mischievous behavior, and even shared their thoughts as to why he’s suddenly taken a newfound interest in the cat tree, despite having none for the previous two years.

“The social media reaction has been primarily good-natured, with people telling me that my cat clearly wasn’t happy with where his tree was when it was inside the house, and others who agree that this is extremely typical cat behaviour. As an author, it’s always entertaining to encounter so many new people on TikTok through my pets,” Riley told Newsweek.

With more than 1,100 comments on the TikTok post already, Jones has undoubtedly won over many new followers with his unexpected reaction to the cat tree.

“I don’t want it, but it’s mine, so you can’t throw it away!” one TikTok user wrote.

Another user commented: “But it’s different when it’s outside. It’s like he’s camping! I can totally relate!”

While another TikTok user joked: “Well now that it has solar heating, of course he wants it!”

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