OUR NEW TOYS

Today the humans went on an outing not authorized by the cats at the The House of Blues. Not only did they go away for the day, but we also had to stay in the house because of the continued cold temperatures and snow on the ground. And, of course, six of us are still experiencing sneezies; though, those with weepy eyes, except for Lisbeth, have improved.

Their outing was to the Star City Cat Fanciers Allbreed Cat Show. We cannot figure out why they needed to look at kitties they don’t even know with our eight darling selves right here at home. And Mom also visits all our kitty friends on their blogs. Humans are impossible to figure out so we don’t even bother to try. It takes more energy than we are willing to expend.

So we just lay around the house waiting for their return. All of us, except Lily Olivia, were in the foyer watching them through the window as they came up on the porch. We wanted them to hurry up so we could coax them into letting us outside. To our surprise we discovered they had brought presents with them.

Calista plays with the fling-ama-string.

Calista plays with the fling-ama-string.

We got three new kitty toys! Of course, we couldn’t show too much interest and had to play hard-to-get for at least a little while. We didn’t want them to think they could so easily bribe us to get our forgiveness and affection. And we were pretty upset because our human mom was talking about these ocicats she saw and how much she’d like to have one. Good news for us, however: Our human dad won’t let her bring another kitty home. Just like that old television program, “Eight Is Enough,” according to him. Yippee for his good sense!

Fiona plays with the shoelace toy.

Fiona plays with the shoelace toy.

Miss goodie-goodie kitty, Fiona, was the first to give in and play with the tie-dyed shoelaces hanging from a wand with a bell and puff ball at it’s end. Calista Jo joined in pretty quickly. We couldn’t really blame her too much as she is just a kitten after all. The rest of us were more interested in getting in a little outside time while the temp was in the upper 30s and it was still light outside.

While we were out watching our birdy buddies, Dad hooked up another toy called a fling-ama-string. Giulietta was the first to try to capture the string. She did okay. But then her sis, Fiona, came along. Her eye-to-paw coordination is excellent and she trapped the string single-pawed (she’s able to use either her left or right paw) whenever it appeared with only a couple of misses. When she grew bored she was the first to play with our third toy—a bright purple, rattling, nubby, fabric-covered mouse.

All but, Lily, Misty May and Mauricio played with the string toy. But they are the oldest and not as easily tempted by new toys. Lily, though, surprised us by playing with mom and the shoelace toy.

Giulietta takes a rest with the box from one of the new toys.

Giulietta takes a rest with the box from one of the new toys.

So, we’ve agreed not too get miffed if they decide to go to another kitty event…unless they come home with an ocicat or no toys for us. Giulietta, however, has decided not to be so quick to give her affection. Mom learned from a Maine Coon breeder how to keep Giulietta’s fluffy fur, name tag and bell out of her water dish and the litter box. Mom will let you know in another post if the coffee filter bib does the trick!

Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette