Saturday, February 2, 2008

Cat Toys: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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The carpets around my house are beginning to resemble an ancient burial ground for prehistoric cat toys. Strewn hither and yon, I am considering hiring an anthropologist to help discover their origin.

Now I realize that a few of these tattered toys amazingly remain my cats' favorites, but as I  run across fragments of eyes, pieces of ears and stumps of tails that were at one time part of what I considered to be attractive playthings,  it is difficult for me to understand what keeps these skeletons so alluring to my cats.  I have to admit that I sometimes dispose of them, much to their chagrin.

As I wander through my house, I am aghast at the number of little furry or feathered bodies which were at one time recognizable, tossed aloft and deftly chased with enthusiasm by my pussycat predators. I had forgotten about most of them, but I suspect  my cats stash them away for a rainy day, leaving them scattered around randomly in almost every room for their convenience.

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It seems that the bathroom is the storage spot in which my cats prefer to hide their "loot". I discovered these two bandits this morning apparently gloating over the bodies of their kill.

rosierat 
These adorable "Rosie  Rats" won't last long, sadly to say. Within a week or two, my three hunters will annihilate  these pristine furry critters, tailoring them to fit their needs.

Now I ask you what should a kitty mom do to keep them happy?  I far prefer the appearance of these adorable little guys to the worn out remains that they seem to adore. Am I being selfish?

Of course my kitty gifts really should be unconditional. I guess I will just have to continuously restock their supply as the toys fall apart from their constant use. It  must mean that I have hit the jackpot in finding toys that they most enjoy.

Do your cats appear to favor their older "used up" toys over the newer, more attractive and appealing variety?  Please leave a comment and share your cat toy experiences.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mine definitely prefer the old, broken in ones. Some have just disappeared...I'm sure hidden for a rainy day! The rest of the toys just sit in the baskets. Every now and again I come home and someone's taken a different one out, but by FAR, the favorite toys are the 'fishing pole' ones and just crumbled up pieces of paper (that they bring to bed with them) hehe

Anonymous said...

We have a black cat, and were able to get some beanie baby black cats. Our cat, Sheeba, likes to toss them around. When we put a little cat nip on them, then he hugs and back-paw scratches in abandon. Cute site. Bucko :o)
http://journals.aol.com/buckoclown/Bucko/

Anonymous said...

I purchase toys that occupy their minds. Usually some form of a gym they can crawl into with toys attached. I also purchase free standing toys they can play with over and over again. But I do keep the toys in a seperate room where the doggies can't get at them. It also helps the kitties relax more in their own gated off room.

Kathryn Levy Feldman (Kit) said...

My dogs also leave remnants of their toys scattered all over the house. Their favorite: a very "dead' fox stuffed toy of which all that is left is a barely recognizable tail! And yet, if I were to part with these treasures, they might never forgive me!

Anonymous said...

My sisters cat used to take her jewelry and hide it on her! It took her a while to find this out. One day she came across his loot hiding spot and sis found out she wasn't crazy!

Anonymous said...

Our little Saki loves his homemade cardboard fort! After months and mucho money buying different toys for him, only to be chewed and ripped apart in minutes, we discovered that his favoirte thing in the whole world was boxes and heavy duty shipping paper. So, a large corner in our bedroom is the home of this homemade cardboard fort/castle/clubhouse-whatever you want to call it. It has windows and flaps and doors for him to peek out of, and even ha a chimney! We have a long box, like a tunnel that he runes up and down. We cut squares out to fit other smaller boxes in, so there are different rooms and WINGS of this fort. LOL We balled up paper for him to wrestle around with. He does indeed believe the paper is alive, and he tackles it around and pins it done, and hides under it. Absolutely hours of the best free entertainment!

Anonymous said...

this was just toooo funny to read!!! i guess i'm not the only one who has destroyed cat toys scattered all over the house. there is one toy in particular -- brightly coloured bits of 'fur?' that i don't even know WHAT it was when it was whole.

every other day or so i throw these many coloured fragments of fur into the cat's toy box, only to discover them yet again scattered all over the living room when i return home.

and i also find cat toys in the bathroom. every so often one or two of them accidentally get washed, because i just scoop up clothes from the floor and throw them into the washing machine.


annie!

Anonymous said...

Knot a Snakes win here .

Linda