The human found a nice soft kitty bed of just the right size at just the right price and bought it for the meows. This particular high-sided bed can be flipped inside out to assume a slightly different shape. To date, Mac, Fireball, and Taz have slept in it. However, per usual, Mac spends the most time in it. It’s her after-breakfast/before-midday/I-don’t-have-to-share-with-anyone-else posh puff. Here she is hanging out of it with a restrained double-paw dangle. She also has a yellow toy mouse beside her. Such a lucky kitty!
(c) Copyright 2024, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.
The human tries to keep her 4-legged companions mentally engaged and entertained, so the 2-legged is always on the lookout for an “enrichment” toy. Unfortunately, if you’ve followed this blog for a while, you know that the human has a pretty bad track record of finding enrichment toys the cats will play with for more than 15 minutes — if they play with it at all.
However, the 2-legged struck gold in late January when she purchased a well-made wooden box that has large holes around the sides and top meant to hold squishy balls. Well, the kitties very quickly removed the balls and then wondered what the human would do next. Their servant remembered reading something on the box’s cover that said snacks could be put in the box, so she poured in some raw freeze-dried nibblets. Oh my goodness, the cats all circled around the box and started poking paws inside to cuff snacks out and eat them. This has become a nearly nightly routine. (They might as well do a little bit of work for their treats.)
Wiley Taz Bird has learned to hang back a bit and watch. As soon as one of the bigger cats knocks a snack out one of the holes on the side, she darts in, steals the snack, and runs off to eat it. Meanwhile, the cat that did all the work is left with nothing. Shahjah has his own unique way of interacting with the box. He climbs on top of it and then tries to cuff snacks out. Often, all 4 of his paws are down inside the box.
The cats are entertained by the box and the human is entertained by the cats’ antics with the box. In fact, everyone enjoyed the toy so much that the human bought a second for downstairs, and then bought a third for their kitty cousin back East. Finally, an enrichment toy that does the job.
(c) Copyright 2023, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.
The human is clumsy and stupid, doesn’t understand cat speak, and can’t purr to save herself. Worse, she often leaves a lousy food offering for her masters. Since the 2-legged doesn’t understand when the cats try to explain to her that they don’t like their food, the best way is to show her by leaving a toy mouse or two in the bowl. <<<Food not even fit for a (toy) mouse!>>>
(c) Copyright 2023, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.
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.
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.
Living with Carnivores 