While waiting to see our veterinarian this week I observed a large dog lying at his owner’s feet—a stuffed toy nearby. I talk to dogs and cats, you see—and birds, so I greeted the dog as I walked by, saying, “Oh, how cute. You brought your toy with you.”
His owner laughed, and said, “But he won’t 
pay any attention to it until we get home. He doesn’t want anyone to see him playing with his toy. He does that in private.” She said, “He’s totally ignoring the toy.”
That’s kind of cat-like, don’t you think so? The dog must have learned that from a cat. I know that our cats won’t play on command or acknowledge a favorite toy 
unless they’re in the mood. Our sweet torbie, Lily, loved small stuffed toys and she had quite a collection. We kept them in a basket and every morning, she’d pick out a toy and bring it to me. She didn’t want me to toss it or anything, she just wanted to present me with a gift. Some mornings I received a pile of gifts from Lily, but there were a couple of definite favorites among them. Lily often picked out her stuffed baby possum, her stuffed turtle, and a tiny raggedy bear.
Our tortie, Sophie, watched me open a Cat Lady gift 
box once and she unpacked a stuffed toy that to her last days was her favorite. She would lay with it, roll around with it, and bat it across the floor. When Sophie was younger, she loved tossing stuffed mice by the tail and pouncing on them.
We still keep the cat toys in a basket and Olivia (our two year old) has her favorites, but she never disturbs that basket. She plays only with whatever toys I’ve 
taken out of the basket for her–usually small balls, furry mice, and just about anything that she can chase over our wood floors.
There are thousands of cat toys out there to entice our cats to play, but sometimes all it takes to get their attention is a wad of paper, a pen they delight in pushing off the desk, an earring they find on your dresser, a twister tie they found on the floor, kibbles from their bowl, or your shoestring—of course while you’re trying to tie your shoe. Does your cat have a favorite toy?
