Ivy received her KitNipBox yesterday in the mail. It comes once a month. They always send about 4 toys and several packages of kitty treats. Different kinds each time.
I like this company because it donates part of its proceeds each month to rescues and shelters.
When I saw it setting in the mailbox yesterday I said to Ivy: “You’re KitNipBox is here, Ivy.”
She is curious when I bring it in and open the box. She knows this is hers and she becomes excited.
I put it on the couch where she had been napping and she immediately started digging it at the toys. I got up to get the scissors because she was having a tough time with the bulk of the cardboard the toys were each connected to.
I cut the tags off and Ivy digs around in the box and chooses the largest of the toys, one that makes weird sounds when you shake it. It’s at least a foot long and furry.
That one is her favorite at the moment. She immediately took it and tried to jump up to the top of her cat tower with it. But she kept dropping it. So I put it up there for her.
She’s had a great time with that long furry toy this morning. She jumps in and out of her cat tower holes and drags it with her. Then she will leave it on the floor and jump at it like it is a mouse or something.
Below she has it in the middle part of her cat tower and is pawing at it.
Do you recall the first night Ivy came to live here, which was October 2018, she somehow found this curtain tie back and it has been one of her favorite toys ever since. Some time ago she found the other one and put it in her toy box too.
I guess she must have found them in one of my closets somewhere. Why she likes those curtain tie backs is a mystery to me.
She has been playing with that silly furry toy all morning. I have never had a cat that will play as much and as long and enthusiastically as Ivy.
I just looked up from typing this and she’s now asleep at the top of her cat tower. I guess she wore herself out.
When that cat tower arrived she timidly crawled to the top of it along the sides. Now she just makes a flying leap and jumps up there. At least she’s getting some exercise.
Meanwhile Charlie sniffs around at the toys. He’s never played with toys or I would get him his own box.
“Meh”, seems to be his reaction.
He must think she’s taken leave of her senses with how acrobatic and animated she gets with her toys. He just looks on with wonder.
Do your pets like to play with toys?
My dogs never really liked their toys but they played with each other a lot. I love seeing pictures of your fur babies… pure joy! I like the turquoise pillow and the throw on your sofa .
I love hearing about Ivy because she’s still so young and active. My two are just perfect as far as living companions but at 6 and 10 years old they’re pretty much over toys but very much involved with what’s going on around here and also like to lie under the cars out on the driveway where they feel safe. The little mouse you have in the picture reminded me of one that Sam Elliott really loved when he was a kitten and it kind of disappeared when we moved to this house. We now live in the country where wild things roam and when I’d drive my car I could hear a mouse squeaking, which pretty much freaked me out. Who wants to be trapped in the car with a mouse? When I started to investigate, wondering what I would do if I found the mouse, I found Sam’s lost toy under my car seat. Had a good laugh over that! They sound so real!
PS – silly me, I forgot that Clementine does have one special toy that she’s obsessed with. It’s a felted wool ball that she chases and meows loudly at, and carries it around in her mouth. She even emits this guttural, deep meow sometimes when she has it in her mouth. She loves to chase it down the stairs and into the basement. I must throw that ball down there for here at least 20x/day.
My cats only played with toys when they were young. They have an entire drawer (in my living room console table) full of toys and they’re not interested anymore. I try to entire them with different toys every day but it only lasts for a few seconds. The only thing they’re both interested in now that they’re older is fresh catnip or anything with a string. Of course, that means that I’m the one playing with them with the string. I currently have an old, long shoelace with a fuzzy toy tied to the end of it. If I drag that around the floor, they’ll chase it. But they won’t play with it on their own. Monkey can still leap to the top of his cat tower and he’s almost 10 years old. Clementine is 11-12 and she still jumps on top of the vintage cart in my kitchen, then to the top of the china cabinet from there. So cats remain quite agile and strong for a long time!
My mom’s little Pomeranian was like Charlie – she was never interested in any toys. She had one stuffed animal that she liked to sleep with, but that was it. I always told my mom I had never seen a dog that wasn’t interested in toys. Now I’ll have to tell her that your doggie is the same way!
I love seeing Ivy enjoy life in your little family! My six cats are aged 12 and up. Toys don’t interest them much any more, even though there’s a basket full of them, left over from kitten days, behind the couch. The grandkids love them more than the cats do! But once in awhile I’ll see one of the six batting about a tiny ball or dragging an old catnip mouse through the house accompanied by a howl that translates, “I’m a fearless hunter and look at the prey I caught all by myself and am bringing home to YOU, mommy!” Lots of praise for his/her feat follows those performances!
I like how Ivy’s monthly treats mean a shelter or rescue donation!
We get a monthly Bark Box for our dogs and we enjoy watching them look in the box and play with their goodies. I had no idea cats would like toys like that. Pets are so much fun.
My dog, PB, loves his toys. He spaces them in lines in the house and in the yard. Some he leaves outdoors for weeks and then he brings them indoors. He is very possessive of them. When he squeaks them I consider it a concert whether it is day or night. PB is an eight year old rescue dog now. I picked him out when he was a little over one. The person who brought him to me said she thought there are three types of dogs. They like either people, other dogs, or toys. She said PB would have to have toys. She was right.
Off-topic, but just read that Oklahoma will get dangerously-high heat…now I’m worried about you and your plants– and that the A/C situation your landlord has stuck you with will continue to work for you and Charlie and Ivy!!
I’ve never had a pet that was crazy about toys. My sister has two small dogs that I think are Yorkie-poos, and they love toys. She has a basket or two full of toys that they play with constantly. We currently have two cats, and the youngest one, a three-year-old ginger male called Binky or Binko, does like to play but he gets bored with things very quickly. So, we haven’t bought toys in awhile. My husband makes flies for fly fishing, and he has the most attractive bits of thread and feathers and so on that little Binko finds intriguing. So my husband will sometimes give him a piece of something to bat around. I dropped a cotton ball on the floor the other day and he had fun pulling it to pieces but when I gave him another one today he looked at me like I had insulted him and he walked away. He is most interested in batting water coming from the kitchen faucet and loves to watch me wash dishes. I’d say that his favorite way of playing is to “help” me do the dishes.
Our cats like to play with toys and one of our dogs will play with new toys for a few days and then he will lose interest and occasionally will drag a toy out of the laundry basket where we keep all the toys. My daughter use to have Bark Box dog toys and treats delivered each month, but then we had too many toys accumulate so she stopped it.
Brenda,
I have four cats and a new rescue Brittany puppy that just turned 5 months old a few days ago. They all love to play with various toys. The cat’s play with a homemade mouse stuffed with catnip. A friend who is crafty, made it from felted wool scraps so it’s durable. I stuff it occasionally with new catnip. One cat, “Sweetie” loves a small golf-ball sized foam ball. She bats it and throws it into the air and chases it down. After a while, she picks it up and carries it like a lion with prey in her mouth. The look on her face as she walks with it is vaguely disturbing; she really looks primal.
The pup, “Lucy” loves squeaking toys! I try to ease her away from these toys at night; because I can’t listen to the T.V. Like you , I get to laughing at all of their antics. And there is nothing in this world like a good belly laugh!
Take care,
Susan
My wish is that all pets were as well loved and cared for as Ivy is
Me, too!! 😁
Most of our dogs played with toys, balls especially. But I say, that Ivy is something else…never heard of a cat like her…I think she might be one of a kind! Our last dog was one of a kind…others always were amazed at her too. Makes like more interesting doesn’t it?
My cat loves toys!! He is part Bengal, and they can get pretty rowdy while their playing!!!
Our cat “Tri” is a tuxedo (or does that just apply to males?) like Ivy. Tri is barely playful; each new toy we’ve added gets minimal interest. The biggest hit has been crinkly three foot long tube with an exit port midway. Occasionally he has one of the wild spurts of playful energy. He is mellow and loves a lap. His story: He was found in a dumpster at a school when a student heard his cries and alerted a teacher. His front leg was badly broken and had to be amputated. He found his way to us through Caring for Cats, a rescue.