Pets and their Toys
Each time I stock up on food for my pretty cat Princess (yes, that’s her in the photo), I have to stop and stare at all of the fun toys I just know she’ll love. And all too often I give in and buy her the latest and greatest thing in cat toys.
Sometimes Princess will actually express a bit of interest in her new toy. But more often than not, she’ll just turn up her nose and walk away from my latest offering. Soon, I’ll relegate it to the pile of toys in her cat carrier.
Now don’t get me wrong. Despite her advancing age, Princess plays a lot. Most days when I come home from work I’ll discover that she’s pulled one of her toys (generally an old toy) out of her cat carrier and has dragged it around our home. She just doesn’t seem to like new toys. I guess they have to age a bit to win her favor.
But this week, she’s discover a new favorite thing: dirty laundry. Last night when I got home from work I discovered four athletic socks spread around the living room. Since I knew I hadn’t left them there in the morning, the culprit was obvious. I put the socks back in my laundry basket and went about my tasks.
Later last night I heard a strange noise. I looked up and saw something white flying through the air. Princess had dragged yet another dirty white athletic sock out of the laundry and was tossing it into the air, catching it, and then dragging it around. Not bad for a 14-year old kitty.
Do you have pets? What are some of their favorite toys?
LinnieGayl
I just circled back and read the comments, LG. We all love our pets, don’t we?
And thanks, Kathy! Rufus says hello right back!
I just discovered a book called CHEWED by photographers Arne Svenson and Ron Warren. It’s pictures of seriously loved dog toys and includes some short prose pieces by well known writers. My dogs always de-squeek their toys first.
:) Very sweet of Clancey, Kathy! I’ll pass that along to Princess.
P.S. Clancey has asked me to say “hello” to Rufus and Princess and I forgot to so, hello Rufus and Princess!
Kathy, your cat does indeed have a live toy :) That’s very cute. And I can just see Clancey hiding in wait for the papillon.
Tee, your dog is definitely a walker!
Same experience we have here with our rescue Lab. She does not appear to be interested in toys unless another dog is playing with something. Our other dogs loved to play, but this one doesn’t. All she wants to do is walk and walk and walk some more. She could do it 24 hours a day.
I have a 14 lb. Ragdoll named Clancey and a 4 lb. Papillon named Flynn. So basically Clancey has a real live toy. He hides around door ways and furniture waiting for Flynn to come by. I’ll wonder where Flynn is and I’ll find him in a room not coming out because Clancey is right outside the door. They are always making us laugh.
I third it that she is gorgeous.
And to correct some typos. . . same litter rather than liter. . and he was able to pick out a toy from the toy box.
I am a person that definitely needs an edit button. I feel like I did when I was typing on a typewriter, using whiteout (grin).
Rufus cracks me up, Sandy. Oh yes, diet coke tops would be very painful. It reminds me quite a few years ago a great favorite of Princess was bread ties. When we moved from our place in Chicago I found them under all the heavy furniture.
Leigh, Lily eating the ears and feet off her toys reminds me of when my niece was little. Their dog would routinely sneak into her bedroom and eat the heads off all her dolls and stuffed animals.
Missie, ah yes, Christmas is a favorite time here as well. I have to strategically position various ornaments and things on the tree so that they aren’t quite as easy a target for Princess.
Thanks, Lee. Believe me, Princess knows she’s gorgeous :)
No pets but just wanted to say, yet again, Princess is gorgeous. :)
Princess is so beautiful!
Ally enjoys snuggling into our dirty laundry for a snooze.
We having a “fishing pole” that our kitties — Ally and LBK — enjoy playing with sometimes. They also enjoy paper rolled up into a ball, and curl ribbon sometimes provides us all with enjoyment. They sometimes show a passing interest in other toys we’ve gotten them — stuffed mousies and such — but the pole, paper, and ribbon seem to be their favorites.
They both also enjoy it when we’re getting out all the Christmas stuff — it’s quite a “game,” trying to keep them out of the boxes of tissue paper. And Ally, especially, wants to “help” when we wrap gifts — and I must say that we don’t find her to be too helpful with gift-wrapping. ;-)
I have had only two cats, and since then had dogs. My first pair were Lady and Sassy, blond-parti cockers. They loved their hamburger toy, made out of latex. In fact Lady (I guess in a hormonal period) would carry it around like a pup. And hide with it.
Lily and Lyla, my next set of parti-cockers, black and white this time, and liter mates love cloth toys, typically creatures like squirrel or bird, or duck. After Lily started eating the feet and ears off the toys, and then they started fighting over them (let me tell you breaking up a dog fight is no fun) I haven’t been as diligent about buying them. Plus I have two more dogs, Lola & Luca (again, cockers) and I feel bad about buying Lyla & Lily toys and not them. But at $7.00 a toy, $24.00 is a bit much to do often.
Plus they take them outside to hide them, and I then run over them with the lawn mower, killing them.
Lola & Lucas are rescue dogs, and don’t really seem that interested in toys. Maybe because they weren’t really puppies when they joined our family.
I have tried other type toys and they are just not that interested. Although Lola had a fascination with dust brush for my vacuum cleaner and I haven’t been able to find it.
My neighbor’s dog had a Felix the cat toy, similar to a stuffed animal, and he loved that toy. I think it had to be 8 years old. And then another of her dogs, loved going to the vet, because they have a toy box, and he gets to pick a toy out of it.
Rufus is anti-toy. I can’t tell you how much money I’ve spent over the years buying toys, always with the hope “this is gonna be the one, I just know it!” He drags mousies out of the treasure horde and position them in spots on the floor, but that’s it.
His favorite “toy” is diet coke caps. They make excellent soccer balls and really hurt if I happen to step on one with bare feet. Double win!