What should I do if my Abyssinian steals small objects?

Hide your shiny stuff better-Abyssinians are natural kleptos, they love collecting trinkets like magpies. I’d start by locking away keys, jewelry, or anything small in drawers or containers they can’t open. Give them a stash box of their own with crumpled paper or catnip toys to satisfy that hunting urge. Oh wait, make sure they’re not swallowing anything-my cat once stole an earring, and I had to fish it out of his bed later.

Redirect that thieving energy into something productive instead of chasing after your keys. I’ve found that a daily treasure hunt with treats hidden in puzzle feeders works wonders-they get that same thrill of discovery without raiding your desk. If you leave out a bowl of jingly balls or crinkly toys in a spot they frequent, it’ll become their go-to stash over your earrings.

Treat it like a software bug - you can't just delete the behavior, you need to redirect the process. I’d set up a "decoy cache" with cheap, noisy items like bottle caps or foil balls in a box they can access, so their drive to "collect" gets a sanctioned output. If they snatch your USB drive or pen, swap it for a decoy mid-theft and praise them, almost like hot-swapping hardware to avoid a system crash.