(no subject)

[vampyrichamster]

Our cat has a box. It's her best and favourite toy, even better than the leopard-printed mouse that came home new with her from the cat factory. She loves it so, and gnaws it so, and we, or at least I, am loathe to throw it out. It's a toilet seat cover box. It's low to the ground, just high enough she can step up and roll over. She is fat and heavy, and frankly, kind of scared of heights. You would be too, if you looked like you should float but sink like the proverbial cement block. It has a window cut in and flaps sticking out the sides of the opening. This gives her a lit spot hiding in the box, and flaps to gnaw on because it excites her to no end that lighted spots are hiding in the box.

I threw the leopard mouse in there a few times. She was fascinated twice, then preferred gnawing on the box raw. When suitably pleased with being fed or having had a fitful nap, she sits on her box, flattening it like a pillow full of pebbles. With, you know, that suitably pleased as punch look. The box, coincidentally enough, is roughly the same size as her, if she tucked her feet in and had the bushy tail hanging off.

After seeing a video of ex-pet tigers in a sanctuary last year playing with recycled Halloween pumpkins, I've wanted something enriching for our cat. Sif isn't much of a box cat. I've tried leaving around various boxes from mailed packages about, hoping one would appeal to her, but she's no Maru (do look him up on Youtube, he's a charming and cheerful Japanese cat). There are random sundry things she might take a fascination to -- supermarket bills accidentally fallen onto the floor, for example, those, every so often, need to be killed with violence. Maybe one of the d20s from time to time. She threatens to chew off bits of cellophane tape, if she thinks we're not waking up and never going to feed her again. And she has a neverending fascination with trying to barrel into our wardrobe after the lights are out.

There is her fascination with pants. The pants!

And feet, because feet are connected to pants, and blankets disguise legs so they can actually be smothered in cat.

Comments

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Pictures!

[eekers.livejournal.com]

Does she like catnip? Am wondering if she might be smell orientated rather than other catty senses? Have you tried a brown paper bag rather than a box?
I love Maru :D

[vampyrichamster.livejournal.com]

She loves catnip, will totally come running for it. I've never thought of this though, that she would have a higher sense of smell than other catty senses. And I've never tried a brown box. I tried a large ball of foil once, but I should frankly make it smaller and unthreatening.

Maru is adorable. So huggable. :)

[eekers.livejournal.com]

So, I make catnip toys for mine, with real cat nip in them, they both really love them. They are never really interested in any shop bought ones I have tried. They both have a scratching strip, its like a cardboard box filled with strips of cardboard, sideways on, making a crinkly effect, I then rub catnip into it. They both love that too, scratch and sniff, and eventually just a good place to sit. Traditionally cats arent meant to like silver foil, (can be used as a topical deterrent if your cat pees around the house.) but Berts particularly likes an empty crisp packets made into a tight ball and flicked across the room. He plays fetch, on his own terms. (It's very small and light.)

Just sharing ideas, you never know what she might be interested in... afterall, she is a cat, so is thus, quite fickle, I hope :)

[vampyrichamster.livejournal.com]

I've tried store-bought stuffable catnip mice too, and Sif wasn't impressed. Even tried marinating the mouse in the catnip jar overnight once, with no effect. She loves very random things -- the cheap 8-pack mice, the free toy from the catnip jar (which probably was slathered in catnip for a year).

I need to remember foil as pee deterrent. Sif is kind enough not to pee on our clothing unless the cat box is in bad shape, or once, if she was upset she got wet food instead of kibble.

Thanks for the catnip rubbing tip! When/if we next have access to boxes, I may construct something for her to play with in that regard.

[desertwolf.livejournal.com]

"She is fat and heavy, and frankly, kind of scared of heights. You would be too, if you looked like you should float but sink like the proverbial cement block."

Wow, Sif and I have so much in common.

We've been feeding a stray we think is preggers but we don't let her inside. I wouldn't mind but my mom thinks she'll bring in every flea & tick inhabiting the entire world. I considered calling her Baka Neko but my mom nixed that so she remains nameless. She has successfully trained me to come to feed her by banging on the security door with her paws and constantly meows.

[vampyrichamster.livejournal.com]

Heh. ;)

My mother has the same vaunted opinion about strays. Mine sits on my head in the morning and rattles the blinds behind me so I will be annoyed enough to wake up and feed her. I trade this for a warming hat over my neck and back when I wake up.

Hopefully, the might-be-pregnant cat will have a safe place to have kittens. The food you give her is likely a big help.

[mokie]

Jade used to lay claim to all the circulars that came in the mail. I'd drop it on the table, and the feel of fresh newsprint on her butt was just too much to resist.

I remember someone said their cats loved those packaging envelopes that have bubblewrap inside--I guess it's the same notion as those crinkly tubes they make for cats and ferrets, but at a much cheaper cost. :)

[vampyrichamster.livejournal.com]

I forget what our cat thought of bubblewrap. I know we had some at one point. I haven't seen her go for our circulars, but they're not usually at a height she can reach. Our fat little bumblebee is not agile.

[mokie]

Jade had her spider monkey moments, but usually it was all about knocking what she was after into the floor so she could sit on it more comfortably down there.

She was also partial to sitting on books you were trying to read and boardgames you were trying to play. And stealing the pieces. So mostly, it was a "You want this? Then no, monkey, you may not have it" thing.

Have you tried empty toilet paper tubes for your Sif? Put a treat or noisy thing inside and roll it for her?

[vampyrichamster.livejournal.com]

I have not tried this, no. She will attack the occasional bill that has fallen to the floor, so she might attack a toilet paper tube. Worth a shot!

Sif has only rarely sat on my books, and avoids board games, preferring to watch us from afar. The books may only be due to my not reading intently around her enough.