The Mighty Mushroom or What to do When Your Cats are Engineers

Another really cool gift Sandy Claws brought the kitties was a multifunctional mushroom-shaped play center. As designed, the unit is predominantly made of unvarnished wood — some of it covered with a sisal scratching surface. The bottom-most disc is grooved and, together with the next disc, holds several large plastic balls with bells that can be rolled around inside the groove. Balls can be accessed both from the side and through a series of large holes on the upper disc. That large upper disc also is grooved on the top surface. When combined with two smaller discs, it holds a series of 5 small wooden balls. A central spindle provides a tough sisal scratching surface, and the large cap also is covered with sisal, providing yet another tough scratching surface. There’s even a pom-pom that hangs down on a string from the top, which is what Pepe is beating on in the image above.

It only took a few hours the first evening for the kitties to figure out how to tip the mushroom over on its side and pop the 2 large balls out of holes from the top of the second large disc. Where those balls have gone is anyone’s guess. Also missing are 2 of the 5 small wooden balls. The human really did crank the whole assembly down pretty tight with the supplied Allen wrench — not enough that it hindered movement of the balls, but it certainly should have been tight enough to keep the cats from popping over half the balls out of the assembly. The human tried adding some additional big balls, but the replacements have also disappeared.

Despite the fact that only 3 small wooden balls currently remain in the system, the cats — especially Mac (shown above) and the Terrible Twins — really enjoying sharpening their claws on the sisal scratching surface. And occasionally, someone will knock the remaining 3 small wooden balls around inside their discs. Thanks, M&J!

(c) Copyright 2023, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Sandy Claws brings Kitties a Stocking (Tunnel)

Those fortunate kitties received three fun toys from Sandy Claws this holiday. Their first was a large Christmas stocking tunnel made with crackly fabric that Pepe had to try out right after inspecting the box it arrived in (just to the left).

Goofy Boy began by checking out the secondary escape hatch. After studying it for a minute, he stuck his head and neck inside.

Then he pulled out and stuck his paw in. Always the paw…

Next, he came around to the front of the toy to check it out.

After a quick sniff, he stuck his head and neck in this end. More of him fit this time, but clearly not all of him did. (He’s a big boy.) He pulled out and discovered the two dangling balls hanging down. It’s hard to see in this shot, but he batting them wildly with his right paw.

Every few days, the human sees him walk by the toy and stop to bat those balls. He sure is intrigued with the dangling toys, one of which has a bell and tinkles when he hits it. Many thanks to JC for the gift!

(c) Copyright 2023, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Ignored

To celebrate the kitties’ arrival anniversaries, which are less than 2 weeks apart, the silly human purchased two toys that were supposed to enrich their environment and stimulate both their problem-solving and hunting skills. Both toys have been pretty much ignored. For example, this cute one is a rectangular box covered with fake grass on top and with cutouts both on top and on the sides. It has 3 or 4 cute little blue balls inside (with bells) that the cats are supposed to cuff around by poking their paws through the holes. They can’t pull the balls out through the holes in the side of the box but they can scoop them out through the top.  Only Pepe plays with this toy and only when the human has run the laser pointer’s red dot along its surface.  So much for smart toys for smart cats.

 

(c) Copyright 2019, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

The Toll Collector

As the silly human began walking up to the second floor, she saw the Big Guy holding court and keeping watch from the kitty condo at the top of the stairs. (Note how well scratched that sisal rope is?)  She moved slowly because Caesar Tiger Bear still is a bit spooky when the human is walking around — particularly when she’s walking around with her camera. Here he is trying to look nonchalant, as though the human walking by is no big deal.  Of course, because she’s the evil human, she had to stop for a visit, including pets. If the Emperor hadn’t already tucked his feet under him, she’d have tried to touch his big soft paws — a real no no in this house.  (Notice the lack of any visible paws?)<<Just keep looking the other way and maybe she’ll walk by and leave you alone.>> That strategy worked. The human soon walked off to do other things and the Big Guy was left to ponder the meaning of life on his own.

 

(c) Copyright 2019, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Most Evil Cat Torture Device?

Which torture device do you think is most scary?  It’s a close call between the nail clippers and the vacuum.  However, the clippers only come out once a month and only three of the cats have front claws that need to be trimmed.  The vacuum, on the other hand, comes out multiple times a week and causes pandemonium among all the boy kitties.  Yes, you guessed it, Miss Mac is not afraid of the vacuum as long as she’s up high and it stays down on the floor and doesn’t come too near. She just smirks at it. The boys, on the other hand, run for the next floor whenever they even hear the cord rattle and long before the scary motor turns on.

By the way, bells didn’t even make the list this year. That’s got to be progress of a type.

 

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. First photo from Fotolia.com. Other photos my own.

Mr. Sparkles

Corky and Pepe are each sporting new kitty collars.  The human keeps both boys in collars with bells so Fireball has a bit of warning that they’re after him.  The Trio, who still are somewhat afraid of tiny bells, opt out. The new break-away collars are extra sparkly and even sport a “diamond” at the clasp. Unfortunately, Corky’s jewel fell out the first week he wore it, so he’s a bit less sparkly than his big brother.

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Konfuse-a-Kat

It’s the human’s fault.  She was trying to add variety and hunting opportunities to the kitties’ daily repertoire.  The meows were pestering for snacks, so the 2-legged flipped the much-beloved scratching disc upside down. On the reverse side, there is a maze-like structure with a ball inside — yes, a ball with a bell! — and a series of interesting holes on top that are just the perfect size for kitty paws to explore.To entice the kitties to investigate the holes, the human put a small pile of dried organic catnip on top and then carefully — while the felines were watching — nudged raw freeze-dried meat snacks from the surface of the maze into the holes.  The kitties watched with fascination and even went over and looked inside the structure. The Merkitty hopped up, took a sniff of the ‘nip, and immediately was overcome with paroxysms of delight.  The other cats had to move back or risk getting hit by her flailing limbs and rolling body.  As she thrashed about, she would bat the ball that rolls along the track on the outside of the toy sending it spinning around the track.  Pretty quickly, she cleared the deck of other cats. Over a period of several days, the human added more snacks and more ‘nip to the surface, but she never saw a single kitty paw raised to explore.  Eventually, she fished out the snacks and turned the disc back over so the scratching surface was face up. Some hunters they are!

 

(c) Copyright 2018, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.

Disco Inferno (or The Human Redeemed?)

The foolish human may have temporarily redeemed herself the other day. She stopped at her favorite pet-food store to get a bag of litter and grab a few cans of soft food that she hadn’t hauled home of late. Shockingly, they gobbled the first can down the very next morning. (Unfortunately, that pattern hasn’t continued with cans 2 and 3.)She got even more points because she picked up a cute cardboard scratching disc that is mounted into a plastic frame containing two interesting features. The first is a track between the upper and lower frame that holds a hard white plastic ball. The cats had no end of fun standing on top of the disc and cuffing the ball as it raced around in the track.In fact, the Merkitty stood off to the side and would dive forward holding both forepaws out to try and stop the ball as it whizzed past her in the track while Pepe stood guard from on high.The cats also greatly enjoyed the organic catnip that the human kept sprinkling all over the disc.
Several of the cats rolled on the disc while others wrapped themselves around the top and hung over the sides, impeding the movement of the ball racing along the track on the outside of the disc. No matter, they were not to be budged while they indulged in a little more catnip.Another feature that hasn’t yet captured the cats’ interest is on the bottom face of the unit. When you flip the scratching disc over and lay it on the floor, there is a series of holes that are just perfect for kitty paws to explore. Inside the maze of cutouts is another white ball, this time with a jingly bell inside. Hmm, perhaps there’s the problem — that bell. Never mind, the human is completely jazzed that at least they like the scratching disc and are having fun chasing the ball along the track on the outside. Getting them to like two out of three features is not an inconsequential feat when dealing with cats. Who knows, before we’re done, maybe they will no longer be afraid of bells…

(c) Copyright 2017, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Photos my own.