Posted: May 12, 2009, 3 a.m. EDT
KIng goes crazy over a wand toy, above, while Baby, below, loves to carry his rubber snake around the house. |
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This week I watched a video of my boss’s new kitten. Of course, she was adorable but what really struck me was how she could make a game out of anything and the pure joy of play that she demonstrated.
I also cared for a
Siamese boy and beautiful silver tabby this week while their owners were out of town. King and Princess stay in a double garage that is tricked out for the cats. There are lots of cushy beds, a nice scratching post and, of course, a large litterbox and food and water dishes. But what I found was missing were
cat toys.
On my second day there, I took a wand toy, thinking it might be interesting to the kitties. King went nuts over it. He followed me around the house, trying the get the tentacles that were on the end of the wand. He was having so much fun, he started purring really loudly as we were playing. The rest of the week, he meowed for the toy as soon as he saw me. Naturally, I made a recommendation to the owner to get him a similar toy.
Yesterday I decided to spend some quality playtime with my own kitties. I grabbed another wand toy with feathers and paper on the end of it. I played with my gang for about a half-hour. After they had been running in circles and leaping in the air, they were pooped, except for Baby. I laid the wand down and he amused himself for another half-hour charging the toy, throwing it in the air and rolling on it. I was laughing out loud just watching him.
Make sure you play with your kitties as much as possible. You don’t need to buy toys — I bet you have many potential toys sitting around your house. My Zooey loves to chase wadded-up paper balls. She loves the plastic caps that come on my diabetic syringes even more and will sit and wait for me to throw one for her. She then plays soccer in the kitchen with it for hours.
Baby and Chloe love the plastic rings that come on milk containers. They will fetch them and enjoy throwing them across the room. Baby has another favorite: a rubber snake that I got one Halloween. He carries it throughout the house and likes to hide it under his blanket. He even brings it to bed sometimes.
Watch your kitties at play and I know it will bring you joy. Plus, they are much more entertaining that most of what is on TV these days. Please feel free to share your cats’ antics in the comments.