You’ve probably seen that Twizzler commercial where grumpy or serious people are tempted by a Twizzler and have trouble keeping that straight face. Cats (especially kittens) have a similar affect. Just try to be melancholy, angry, or stoic when a cat is at play. I mean, what other animal has the sense of humor of a cat? They’re the clowns of the animal kingdom and their whole world is a circus.
Just think about what they can do with the simplest item—a wad of paper, for example. They might attack it, play soccer with it or hide-and-seek. They’ll chase it, leap for it, and even take it for a swim in their water bowl. Give a cat a box and you can see their imagination soar. They become swashbuckling buccaneers, explorers of the bravest kind, or maybe the king of the jungle as they take on imaginary adversaries in and around that box. Throw a toy mouse in the mix and the cat’s antics escalate.
Lily becomes a comic on catnip. And Sophie sometimes entertains us with her athletic prowess when we give her a toy mouse—especially if it has a tail. Like any accomplished feline huntress, she tosses that mouse in the air, then pounces on it. She flings it and chases it; lays on it, rolls over it a few times, then tosses it across the room for the chase.
When it comes to Lily and catnip, she turns in place meowing excitedly when I pull the catnip package out of the freezer. She’s practically beside herself as I approach their cat tree where I dispense the “drug,” and she releases all inhibitions upon her first scent of the stuff. She eats it, rolls in it, and otherwise fills her body and soul with it until she becomes a limp dishrag. I’m sure she must see psychedelic images or something for a while after the treat as she seems to have no backbone—she’s a wet noodle and she delights in staring at is from upside down.
What does your cat do to entertain you and make you laugh?