Mew - the cat in a box! (DIY Cat Toys)

Member Name: SusanLesley

Product:	DIY Cat Toys
Date:	24/01/09 (245 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun to watch and good exercise for Mew

Disadvantages: None providing you can move your fingers quickly!

As most of you know when we moved into our cottage on the slopes of the Great Orme in Llandudno last year we were adopted by a cat who we named Mew. Actually we asked him what his name was and that was what he told us!

Over the months he has received a few cat toys from my sister, friends and from us but he really has two favourites - a piece of string and any cardboard box!

A few weeks ago Dave (hubby) had been using string for something and Mew caught sight of it and began playing with it. He does have two special toys of sticks with cord attached with feathers on the end of one and a felt spider on the end of the other but no; the string is much more fun!

Dave gets the string and pulls it along the floor. Mew watches for a while then down on his haunches he goes, bum up in the air. Then with a waggle of his bum he launches himself at the end of the string as though his life depended upon it! He doesn't mind what is in the way and regularly bumps into the door or the wall but doesn't seem to even notice, such is the fun involved in stalking a piece of household string! If he manages to catch it before Dave pulls it away he'll have a chew at it as well although I can't imagine that it tastes particularly nice!

If Dave dangles the string in mid air Mew will stand up on his back paws trying to catch the end of it. He's very athletic and happily jumps and somersaults in pursuit of the wonderful string!

His other favourite is a cardboard box - any cardboard box that is big enough for him to sit in. He will happily jump in the box, sit there and look round and then jump back out but if he can get Dave or me to play as well then it all gets to be much more fun!

We put the box on its side having first cut a small hole in the corner of the base so now this hole is effectively in the side of the box at the bottom edge - a bit like the caricature mouse hole in the skirting board!

One of us then uses one of Mew's aforementioned stick toys and pokes the end of the stick slightly through the hole from the outside of the box to the inside knocking the edges of the hole to make a noise as we do so.

Again Mew gets down on his haunches, sizes up the situation, bum in the air, waggle and launch at the hole in the box usually moving the box across the floor as he does so! He twists and turns in the box with one or two paws out through the hole trying to catch whatever it is we're using to play with him.

This game then gets expanded as we tap the box with the stick and Mew goes mad trying to catch it through the hole or back through the open end of the box twisting himself in positions that a contortionist would be proud of as he does so.

Last night I foolishly got the box in which our new bathroom scales had arrived, cut a small hole in the corner of the base, turned the box on its side and waggled my finger through the hole. Yes, I know now! Mew watched, waggled and launched and I didn't move my hand quickly enough and ended up with a piece taken out of my finger and blood dripping everywhere! His paw had come through the hole and one of his claws had got caught in the end of my finger!

I couldn't be cross with him as it was my own fault so I just made sure it was clean and wrapped a tissue round it - my tetanus jab is up to date so I knew I was OK. That was the first time in nearly a year of him living with us that he has drawn blood on me. He sometimes tries to bite when we are playing but never closes his teeth hard so he obviously doesn't intend to hurt us.

He also likes to sit in the box as Dave spins it round on the floor like some sort of white knuckle - or should that be white paw - ride as Mew paws at the inside corners of the box because the movement of the box on the carpet makes a slight noise. Maybe we should take him to a theme park? LOL!

His other favourite game requires no toys at all either DIY or otherwise. He loves to stalk Dave! You may think this sounds strange but even stranger is that Dave also stalks the cat! It is really funny to watch Dave down on all fours creeping up on the cat who gets flat on the floor watching until the last minute and then runs like a mad thing across the room. He then tries to creep up on Dave but if Dave hides behind a wall and steps out at the last minute Mew has been know to leap in the air and somersault before running away! It is during these sessions that I often wonder who is playing with whom?

So there you are - all you need to keep your cat entertained is a piece of string, a cardboard box and a daft husband!

Summary: A piece of string and a cardboard box = fun!