Cat toys

When I first came to live with my human, her husband - the one who loathes cats, remember? - bought me a "welcome" toy. It was more, I suspect, to please her than me.

It cost him about $18, this plastic bowl-like structure in lime green. It rocked about on its round bottom and had a rod sticking out of the flat top, to which was tied a piece of string, at the end of which was a feather.

I was supposed to swat it and go stir-crazy chasing the feather, which would dance as the bowl rocked. Cool enough for amusement, I guess - but it kept me occupied for all of less than half a day. It just collected dust thereafter.

Over the years, with a steady stream of her visitors falling prey to my obvious charms, I was to get a few more cat toys. A fake grey rat, a pink ball with a bell embedded in it...

But my all-time favourite toy [see two samples in picture above] really doesn't cost any money. It is simply a balled- up plastic bag, held in shape by a rubber band. I could play pawball for an hour straight with this thing - and my human's home with its smooth, white floors makes a perfect playing surface.

The ball goes far with each swat and I get my workout. It's like doing the "zooms" with a purpose. [You do know what the "zooms" are, right? It's when we cats just dash madly up and down the longest runway we can find in our homes with no particular object of the chase in mind.]

The crackling sound of the plastic just drives me crazy. It's better than catnip. Hearing the sound of those plastic bags being bunched up is enough to make me drop whatever I'm doing - be it eating, dozing, watching those *&^% birds or just "being". [Sometimes, when I think a pawball session is imminent, it's a false alarm. My human, going about housework, is simply fiddling with these bags to bag up her trash, not make me a pawball. Dang!]

The best play sessions have been the ones where my human joins in. She picks up the ball, tosses it and I go after it. Sometimes we race to get it.

Those days are past now. Am I a fool to hope they will return?