Friday, August 19, 2016

The Unbusy Bee

My cats aren’t very playful. They do play; I play with them, and they play by themselves, now and then. Rarely, they play with each other. But they don’t play often or for long.

I try to interest them in different things. I change the toys that I use. I provide toys with which the beasts may amuse themselves. They use them: Cammie will carry about the yellow and white mouse and deposit it near her cat-tree in the bedroom. Tucker enjoys knocking the plastic rings from milk jugs about; there are usually half a dozen under the microwave oven stand at any given time. But by and large, the animals are a passive lot.

I alternate the entertainments available and produce new ones; these changes create some excitement, sometimes, for a while. My latest attempt has been a toy called The Busy Bee. It is a simulated bee on a narrow plastic wand, suspended from a clamp that can be fixed to a door handle or furniture leg. I could not find the Cat Dancer in my town and so thought I would try this substitute.


After the initial and predictable period of all the cats looking at the new device for varying amounts of time (I think Cammie hissed at it once), they largely ignored it. Renn did play with it intermittently the afternoon I brought it home. My big boy can be most energetic when he wants to be, and he jumped and grabbed and chewed at The Busy Bee, briefly. Since then, the new addition has been unused. I think I’ve walked into it ten times more often than any of the cats contemplated playing with it.





And so it will probably join the other toys and would-be attractions worth which I attempt to stimulate the energy of my lethargic pets. It, as are the others, are brought out at different times, and are joined by new purchases, but I feel rather like the parent who buys a room-full of toys and gadgets for his children, only to hear them complain of their boredom. The Busy Bee will go into storage for now, to be dusted off in a couple of weeks or a month and shown to the reluctant recipients again. Given the frequency and directions by which my beasts change their minds, the toy may experience a busy day yet.

17 comments:

  1. I have begun to believe cats have a very short attention span with toys.

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    1. That's why I provide so many toys. Maybe a few seconds with each will make for a fun evening for them. Not so far.

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  2. My four are like that, too. Aside from cardboard boxes (the thrill of those never palls,) the only "toy" that interests them is a length of elastic sewing tape. When I dangle it above their heads, they'll bat it around for a bit, but even that bores them after a while. Then they yawn and ask, "When's dinner?"

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    1. One of the foster-guardians in the rescue-group I'm with said that the cat in their care wanted to play for only a quarter-hour at a time. We thought, 'What an active cat!'

      I wondered how many felines you had.

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  3. Ditto, my boys seems to bore easily. What interests them the most, other than moth-chasing in summer, is Mr Stick. Any wand stick. Nicki likes the stick end, Derry likes the feathered end. But sometimes *I* get bored with trying to entice them into play!

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    1. I know what you mean. When they do want to play, it isn't always the most interesting games for humans.

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  4. My Danni is a "toy hog". She will play with toys a little, but in an effort to keep my other cats from enjoying a toy, she will hide it. (No wonder my other cats would never vote her Favorite Feline!) But it makes life interesting, as I never know what cat toy I'll find hidden among the blankets on my bed.

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    1. I'd consider that an improvement on mine; at least they'd be using the toys.

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  5. I never know what the girls want to play with.

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  6. Cats are so funny when we buy them something, they would prefer the box it comes in. One toy that is always a hit is dabird, it is on a fishing pole type wand.

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  7. Holly liked playing with toys on the bed. She plays rather aggressively and flings the toys off the bed expecting me to pick it up and give it back to her. She then flings it back on the floor and I pick it up....

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    1. Cats enjoy playing games with their servants. I know.

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  8. I loved your comment on my bloggie about Padma's toupee! *kitty smile*

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  9. The latest favorite is the fallen twigs with leaves, never-mind all the store-bought toys with these two :)

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  10. I have a basket full of cat toys the cats have occasionally played with but have no sustained interest in in my spare room. The faves here are a mouse that Sami carries about, Saku's blanked (not really a toy), and Sasha's rubber toy that comes out only when I find it's hiding place. My cats aren't players either...they're more content to nap and when the mood strikes them run from one end of the house to the other!

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  11. I think if cats realize they can't kill a thing, they'll stop trying. Kittens take longer to figure that out so they will play for a very long time.

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