The Games I Play!

When we first met Fluffy we were not sure if she ever had toys or if she would even know what to do with a toy. We decided to introduce the concept of playing and toys to her by using a shoe string. Sam would dangle the shoe string in front of Fluffy and she would bat at it. The shoe string was a hit! The next item we gave Fluffy was a red hand towel that she loved to lay on and to try and look under to see what could be hiding from her. We would stick our hand under the towel and move it and she would love to lunge at whoever's hand was under there and more times than not she would get us. We have a few scars to show from out first playing adventures with Fluffy.

Over time we introduced more traditional cat toys to Fluffy. Her first official store bought toy was an avocado. It had mesh over the front of it and she loved to roll on her back with the avocado between her front paws and then she would get her back legs working to scratch the avocado the best she could with her back claws That was her first and by far her favorite toy. At the time we gave her the avocado we did not know how old she was, but she seemed like a young kitten when playing with that toy. She also loved those long plastic sticks with feathers at the end, we went through several of those. When the feathers were gone we would place the plastic stick under her read towel with a small portion of it visible and she would love to come running at the towel and jump on the stick to see if she could get it before it disappeared under the towel. Each year for Christmas we would order Fluffy a stocking full of various cat toys. There would be an assortment of balls, springs, and stuffed characters. She would shy away from the toys that had bells on or in them as the noise would startle her at first. Fluffy eventually warmed up to those toys and we would hear her playing with them in the middle of the night.

Fluffy loved to watch nature videos full of birds and squirrels so one day I order her a birdie that made a tweeting sound when you touch it. At first she did not like the toy as it was a bit loud and confusing. Eventually though she came around and enjoyed pawing at the birdie and trying to pull off its' feathers.

When Fluffy grew tired of her toys, she would create her own games. For instance, one day a hair tie of mine fell on the floor and before I could bend over to pick it up she pounced on it and was batting it across the floor. She also liked to hide and then run in front of Sam as he was walking to the bedroom or kitchen. Without my knowledge, she would follow/stalk me when I went to the bathroom and then she would startle me when I opened the door. A few times I would let out a shriek when I spotted her and we both ended up scared. One of her favorite games was to flop in front of you as if she wanted attention and then when you were on the floor beside her giving her pets she would pop up and make a mad dash for her food dish. It was always more of a ploy for food than for pets.

Fluffy loved to play, especially at night while we were fast asleep. We loved to play with her and to find new toys to introduce her to. As I mentioned before, she reminded us of a kitten when she would play and when playing with her, we got to feel like children again.