Some days you just gotta hang out in the bottom of your tower with the toys.
Posts Tagged ‘cat toys’
Communing With Toys
Posted by terrepruitt on October 29, 2021
Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: cat tower, cat toys, Friday Photo, Nessa, silly cat | Leave a Comment »
Cats At Play
Posted by terrepruitt on July 12, 2021
Since my job is that of a movement instructor I don’t get up and get ready with showering and make-up. When I first started teaching I tried that because I didn’t like to face people without make-up but it just ended up smudged all over my face and so I had to give that up. It made it quick to get ready in the morning. I could basically get up twenty minutes before I had to leave. But I feel that I have an additional job that requires I wake up at least an hour before I need to start getting ready (even though I (currently) teach from home via Zoom, there is still some getting ready that is required). The hour before I need to start getting ready is used for playing with our cats. For those of you that know cats, you know that the entire time playing with cats isn’t necessarily spent actually PLAYING, but I try.
I have learned that sometimes it is not about the action or the toy. I believe that sometimes they just like to do the waiting game together. You know the one where someone just swings the flyer back and forth (or up and down) and they just sit there watching and waiting? They seem content to just let me play with the toy. And while I sometimes get bored and frustrated I really do believe that is part of the play for them and they enjoy it. We are together.
Recently it occurred to me that I am dang fortunate that waiving a toy around or using one to poke under the Ripple Rug is entertainment to them. I remember thinking one morning how funny it was that something so simple brings them so much joy. Then my “oh, how funny” turned into “Thank God!” What if they required something more complicated? What if I had to come up with challenging things above and beyond a change of toy or an occasional “adventure” here or there? Egads I would be in trouble.
I do feel that indoor cats can become bored and that is why I get up every day with the sole purpose of playing with them, and I do think they need a change of pace every once in a while, but I grateful for the most part that they find so much joy in the simple things.
What is your cat’s favorite toy?
Posted in Cats, Teagan and Nessa | Tagged: cat time, cat toys, Nessa, playtime, simple play, Teagan | 4 Comments »
Ripple Rug
Posted by terrepruitt on June 1, 2020
We usually buy gifts for our cats for Christmas. But our cats have so many toys that I didn’t think they needed more stuff last Christmas. They end up with boxes. Sometimes our intent is to let them have the box, but sometimes it is sitting in the room waiting to be taken out to recycle and one of the cats decides they like it, so of course it becomes their box. They also like paper and bags. So packing paper and paper bags that are destined to be put in recycle or put away for use at another time end up being a cat possession. So yes, it is probably unnecessary for me to say we look like we have trash all over our house because basically we do. But is it trash that our cats play with, sit on, sit under, etc. I am sure you understand – those of you with cats. Well, as I said I wasn’t going to buy anything for them for Christmas but I kept seeing the Ripple Rug. I saw it on ads, I saw it on Tweets, and I saw it on posts, so at the last minute I ordered one. I didn’t think it would arrive on time but who cares, they are cats. They don’t know WHEN it is they are receiving a gift.
Well, as you may know or even experience yourself, there is a lot of extra stuff in the house at Christmas time. There is a tree, there are gifts, and again all the boxes and paper that end up hanging out for days – in addition to the boxes and paper that have actually become permanent, so I didn’t give them their rug at Christmastime. In fact I actually waited until Quarantinetime. I thought that since we were all “locked” in the house and the cats were stuck with us they might want something new to distract them, so I took out the Ripple Rug. They love it.
It is quite entertaining.
When we first took it out of the 
package it was very stiff and remained “tented” very well. But now after two months of cats sitting on it and lying on it, it does not “tent” as well. When I opened the package I read the instructions that came with it and they say how to remedy that, but I have not yet bothered because we are still playing fine with it.
Nessa, the tortie, will lie in it for hours. I think that she plans on attacking someone when they walk by but then she ends up falling asleep, but I could be wrong. She just LOVES to lie in it. She also loves to have the wand from their flyers poke out through the holes and edges. That is her latest favorite game.
Teagan just really loves to lie on it.
Nessa and Teagan will both play with each other using the Ripple Rug as a place to hide and smack at the other one.
It is quite large so it takes up a large portion of real estate in the living room, but whatever. It keeps them entertained. And me too to be honest!
Have you heard of the Ripple Rug. How do your cats like to play?
Posted in Cats, Teagan and Nessa | Tagged: cat toys, cats at play, Christmas present, COVID lockdown gift reveal, hiding Nessa, Quarantinetime, Ripple Rug, tent | 10 Comments »
Box And Paper Magic
Posted by terrepruitt on October 9, 2017
When we first got Spot the Cat I wasn’t working. I think I was home for a few months. But when we first got her I still didn’t want to get her a big scratching, lounging type of tower. I couldn’t decide on a tower and I thought it was a good idea to change up her play structures. I thought that having large sturdy boxes that we could change was better for her to play in. I thought it would help her from getting bored. When we first got her my husband worked at a company where there was often surplus boxes around. He worked at a box company so sometimes the mock-up box created for a client would go unused. About once every three or four months either he would bring home a box or we would use one that we had something delivered in. He and I took turns cutting the box. We would cut “doors” and holes in it so she could jump in and out of it or crawl around. It is amazing how much fun cats have in boxes. Eventually we got a tower, but when we had access to a big sturdy box we use it, too. We do the same thing with our two cats now. Boxes and packing paper seem to be items that bring endless hours of entertainment and/or help bring the interest back in a toy.
A while back we got something in a big sturdy box. My husband cut the doors and holes in it and we gave to the cats. They love it. I have made my husband suffer through keeping the box. I move it out into the garage (and this is where the suffering comes in because it gets in our way) every once in a while, taking it away from the cats. I keep it out there for a month or so, then I bring it back in. I think this one, I had it out there for a long time this last time I took it out because my husband threatened to throw it away quite a few times. When I brought it back in the house it was totally worth all of our “suffering”. Our cats, especially Nessa when crazy over it. They rubbed all over it and jumped in it. Nessa was ALWAYS in it. They love their box.
It works well because Nessa is such a tiny light cat, she can jump up on it. Teagan can be on it, but she is not as much of a jumper as Nessa. The chase each other in and out of it. We use the fliers to have them play in the box. They love it.
Christmas is coming so the house gets crowded with the tree so the box will be going out again soon. It will be out for a few months then come back in.
But the packing paper will probably stay for a while. We use that to entertain the cats too. It comes and goes. So many things come packed in packing paper we always have some around. The cats love that too. Teagan will NOT tolerate a flier being under the paper. Or anything for that matter. She can be sound asleep and if you put a toy under the paper she will jump up and pounce on it. She is hilarious when it comes to something under the paper.
Nessa likes to play with toys and the paper, too. It is really as if the toy is brand new.
Two easy ways to bring life back into a neglected toy – use it with a box or packing paper. Also easy and simple ways to give something to the cats to play with. The box alone and the paper alone provide entertainment. Add a toy to it and there ya go.
Does your cat love packing paper? Do your cats love to play in forts made of boxes? Do your cats get hours of entertainment out of packaging?
Posted in Cats, Teagan and Nessa | Tagged: cardboard box, cat entertainment, cat tower, cat toys, lounging tower, Nessa, packing paper, scratching tower, Spot the cat, Teagan | 6 Comments »
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