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So my bandmates recently adopted a pair of cats — mother and daughter (the latter a youngish kitten). The kitten needs to be weaned, but didn’t seem to be doing it on her own — so I’m borrowing the mother (Emma) for a week or so in order to force the issue.
I haven’t had a cat since I was a teenager. I always had a cat when I was growing up, and loved them, but in my nascent adulthood have generally shirked responsibility for things that needed care and feeding (except for my African Violets and guppies — subjects of future posts, to be sure). So now I have a temporary cat. This leads me to ask you, dear readers: what do you do with a borrowed cat?
My list so far includes:
1. Make my own LOL Cats. Have camera, will follow cat around till something funny happens. This could take a while.
2. Spoil cat with liberal applications of cat treats. I have learned in the first half hour that cat responds favorably to bribes. Research note: cat appears to prefer chicken over fish flavor, or perhaps is full.
3. Teach cat about frustration and self-restraint by viewing, but not eating, my guppies. So far, cat has not figured out that guppies are fish, and thus edible. I expect her research to lead her in this direction shortly.
4. Online cat games. To be honest, these don’t really appeal to me as I could play them without the actual physical cat around. If I can find something interactive that cat will do, I’m there.
5. Determine whether cat likes corn. Let’s let YouTube explain this one:
And, despite that cat looking very much like Emma, it’s just some internet cat. I have not attempted to feed Emma any corn yet. Though she is now nudging the foil bag of treats again….
So — what do you suggest I do with my borrowed cat, Emma? And yes, above she is pictured having a mini-freakout, clawing at a copy of Crime and Punishment.
Comments (54)
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My boyfriend’s old cat loved corn on the cob too. It’s worth a couple minutes of entertainment. Oh, and do the obvious: put tape on its paws (preferably on a wood floor or other smooth surface.)
posted by kaliah on 7-19-2007 at 10:24 am
Laser lights = hours of phone for you and the feline friend.
Also laundry baskets are the absolute height of entertainment for a cat, especially if they are still warm from fresh wash. For example they can be used as a cat jail, heated bed, spaceship, battle tank, kitty-cat tilt-a-whirl.
Go nuts!
posted by Becky on 7-19-2007 at 10:37 am
A laser pointer is always useful in your quest for entertainment; entertainment for you – workout for the cat. Try zipping the light up and down a hallway quickly, it’s like windsprints. Then you can run it up the wall and watch as kitty tries to climb vertically. Check after 15 minutes or so, usually my cat will start to pant at that point. Have fun!
posted by bjsdoc on 7-19-2007 at 10:43 am
Better than cat treats is good quality catnip. My cats go crazy for it. It provides a lot of amusement watching them roll around in it, totally tripping out.
posted by Karen on 7-19-2007 at 10:43 am
2 words – laser pointer.
posted by kelly on 7-19-2007 at 10:52 am
One word: lasers
posted by Kasee on 7-19-2007 at 10:56 am
Similar to the tape on paws thing, if you stick something to a cat’s side it will walk sideways. Also, go and buy a feather toy (a string with feathers on the end attached to a stick); they’re cheap and hours of entertainment.
posted by Sally on 7-19-2007 at 11:26 am
I agree with the laundry basket thing. My cat and I have this game called “kitty choo choo”. lol. I push him around and throw toys in. He loves it! My other cat is obsessed with those little fur covored mice. She plays fetch and brings them back to me with a long high pitched meow! I have to object the lazer pointer tho. I feel like I’m teasing them with somthing they can never catch. It’s not fair.
posted by julie on 7-19-2007 at 12:00 pm
If you need a vocal workout, hang out near Emma and make all the strange sounds you can. It’s amusing to watch cats try to figure out where the unusual noises are coming from – and then they are puzzled when the noises seem to be coming from you.
If you have a stool that spins and if Emma will let you hold her still by putting a little bit of pressure on her back, I suggest spinning the stool (w/cat firmly in place) quickly. Then let Emma walk around and enjoy the laughter that ensues. My brothers and I used to do this to our cat Numbnuts and he never really protested the treatment.
High quality catnip is always a treat.
posted by Kate on 7-19-2007 at 12:03 pm
Whatever you do, avoid the cruel laser pointer that you strap to their neck like a collar. The gist is, the cat chases laser dot which is continuously a few inches in front of her. But the effect is, she freaks out and tries to hide, only increasing her terror as the light gets brighter in an enclosed space.
And of course, never point the laser at her eyes.
posted by Johnny Cat on 7-19-2007 at 12:15 pm
sprinkle cat nip on a carpet for easy vacuum clean-up. String or ribbon is always good. A cardboard box can provide hours of entertainment. Feathers. Balls of paper (trash) Newspaper (to shred). dress it up in weird outfits and take pictures. Pull up pictures of famous landmarks on your computer screen and take a picture of you and the cat (a photo album of memories). Go to KB Toys and buy one of those birds that fly in circles (hanging from a string on your ceiling). Get a dog to chase it. put a marble in the bath tub. tuna fish. (mine loves PBJ’s) make a pile of pillows and blankets and throw the cat onto them.
plants. . . . . they like to eat them.
so watch the African violets.
posted by Janet on 7-19-2007 at 12:19 pm
A foil ball gives my cats hours of fun. Also, twisty ties. The younger of my two cats brings them to me all the time (when I swear I’ve thrown them away).
Flashlights are good, too (a lower tech version of the laser pointers).
Or, you could have Emma write an essay on her disdain of Crime and Punishment.
posted by Catsfan on 7-19-2007 at 12:22 pm
You guys are awesome! I’m going to implement a bunch of these suggestions immediately.
Update: Emma has discovered the family of pigeons living across the way. She is now occupying the window (blocked by a screen, thankfully), making bird-noises.
posted by Higgins on 7-19-2007 at 12:43 pm
We quickly discovered that our cats enjoy scrunchies and other hairbands more than actual toys. It’s gotten to the point where we have to hide anything we want to actually, you know, use in our hair. And the cats are very clever. Put them on the mouthwash bottle, and they knock it over. Put it on the doorknob, and they’ll hang desperately from the bathroom counter trying to reach it. But at least they never lack for toys.
Most cats I’ve known also like cardboard boxes. The laser-pointer and a cardboard box can be a hilarious combination.
posted by scoobnut on 7-19-2007 at 12:54 pm
I think you should get even more cats and start your own cat lending service! It’s a niche market that no one has taken advantage of yet! I’m sure there are plenty of people who would love to borrow a cat at reasonable rates…
posted by Jason! on 7-19-2007 at 1:08 pm
My cats’ favorite toys are, thankfully, cheap: pipe cleaners, origami cranes, and those plastic rings off the necks of milk jugs.
posted by Coeli on 7-19-2007 at 1:22 pm
Ooh! Ooh! You could tape bacon to her! :)
posted by Pointy-Hatted Geek on 7-19-2007 at 2:23 pm
Take a shoestring and pull it under a throw rug – my (late, great)cat used to plow her front paws under the rug to try to get the string. Also twirling the string in a circle above the cat can make them go in circles (a la chasing their own tail) and a dizzy cat is loads of fun – watch their eyes go in circles once their bodies stop spinning in circles.
On another track, you can just sit with her, sctach her ears, and listen to the best sound ever – purring.
posted by Keeker on 7-19-2007 at 2:43 pm
Our one cat loved to “hide” in a paper bag (she could never get her back end in). We’d tap on the outside of the bag and she’d try to catch whatever was making that noise that she couldn’t see. Our other cat loved ping pong balls (fun to knock down stairs, especially into the basement)and wire nuts. His favorite game was to send the wire nut under the fridge, watch while one of us fished it out with a yard stick, and then send it right back under the fridge. I think we entertained him more than he entertained us.
posted by Camille on 7-19-2007 at 5:09 pm
As a thank you present to the cat you could give it some cat-nip. But what I don’t understand is what is cat-nip? and why does it make cats act weird (so I’ve heard)?
posted by Rachel on 7-19-2007 at 5:43 pm
I’ve got this recipe for a fantastic wine sauce that goes really well with cat.
Just kidding! ;o)
Back in the days I kept cats (two survivors from an abandoned litter that I hand-raised years ago), the most fun (for them anyway) was a game of 3am Racing Cats; the course naturally crossed over my pillow. Which was occupied at the time.
Another fun thing was a large paper sack; they’d love hiding in the thing, I’d stand it up, they’d tip it over and run out. One would pounce on the bag if the other was inside making any noise. Unfortunately, allergies prevent me from keeping felines any longer; I miss all that. The canary isn’t nearly as entertaining.
posted by Dave on 7-19-2007 at 9:20 pm
Keep an eye on the screen! Cats have been known to push out a screen. One of my daughter’s cats fell two stories, but survived with only minor injuries.
Have fun! Every cat has its idiosyncracies. We had one who was crazy about Chinese food and pretzels. Another was mad about peas. Another, a red tabby, loved cantaloupe so much he would eat through the rind.
posted by Barbara on 7-19-2007 at 10:28 pm
Take her to a Harry Potter book party tomorrow and call her McGonagall.
Or give her a pen and paper and dictate a letter to her…perhaps a letter to a friend in Seattle?
But don’t do what I did to my childhood cat Biggie: stick a laundry basket on top of him and brush his teeth through the slats.
posted by LeAnne on 7-19-2007 at 11:11 pm
hang a catnip mouse from the cieling and see how high she’ll jump.
My friend did that once and she swears that he cleared five feet on a single jump.
posted by heather on 7-19-2007 at 11:33 pm
put stuff on her (à la stuffonmycat.com). you’d be surprised at the patience she shows, and it’s actually really hysterical!
posted by weeble warble on 7-20-2007 at 12:27 am
Hey, you didn’t make Emma’s picture into a LOLcat. Allow me: “I’m in ur bookcase, scratchin’ ur backs”. OK, lame, but it’s a start, right? Also: cats are awesome, so have fun baby (+mother) sitting.
posted by whimsy on 7-20-2007 at 2:04 am
You should read Crime and Punishment to her, clearly.
Also, have a photoshoot with you & the cat and submit pictures to menandcats.com.
posted by Janiane on 7-20-2007 at 5:58 am
I once had a cat who would eat whatever I was eating, including popcorn, salad, ice cream, and beer (not at the same time). You should see what foods she is willing to eat, steering clear of the obvious no-nos and poisonous foods like chocolate (though my particular feline once ate M&Ms and nothing happened to her)
posted by LorinJuliet on 7-20-2007 at 7:21 am
Ice cubes + any non-carpeted floor. This can get a little messy, as ice does melt. But oh-so-fun, and very little effort required on your part.
posted by thirty7 on 7-20-2007 at 7:41 am
Ping pong balls in bathtub = cat racketball.
posted by Julie on 7-20-2007 at 7:52 am
Never, never, never stick a piece of buttered toast on the cat’s back, butter side up, and then drop her from about 2′ height. Murphy’s Law of Dropped Buttered Toast (always lands butter-side down) comes into conflict with “a cat always lands on its paws”. The poor thing starts to spin in the air, faster and faster until an iconoclastic infindibulum forms, which, as we all know, collapses into a black-hole.
Your neighbors won’t appreciate it.
As for catnip, the statistic is that only 17% of cats are affected/intoxicated by it. So if you want to go that route, get a small amount (borrowed if possible) and test her.
I vote for the laser pointer as well: it’s not torture, it’s exercise, and it’s doing something she can’t help but love: stalk and pounce (and chase and hunt and leap and… you get the idea.) Did y’all know that someone actually applied for apatent on a hand-held laser pointer for use as a cat-exercise/playtoy? The picture included with the claims showed a ray-gun shaped body to the pointer… I saw this over a decade ago. I wonder if it was ever patented, and if so, if a different shaped laser (like the now-standard tube) would be covered?
Then again, the abuse/misuse of patents is another story entirely.
posted by onlyocelot on 7-20-2007 at 8:20 am
Make submissions for stuffonmycat.com!
posted by Sarah on 7-20-2007 at 10:30 am
My cat loves to play with pom-poms and LEGO soccer balls. She bats them all around the house. Often, she will carry them over to me, yowling for me to toss it across the room.
posted by Jenny on 7-20-2007 at 12:59 pm
If you put a long piece of scotch tape down a cat’s back it will think it is in an enclosed space and crawl around. Its pretty entertaining for a few minutes.
posted by Marta on 7-21-2007 at 11:25 am
Just a note on the laser pointer…there have actually been studies on what gives cats the most pleasure, and it’s “quiet biting.” So…I would think that the chasing and pouncing without catching anything would be quite frustrating.
And–don’t ever put sleigh-bells on a cat.
posted by erin on 7-21-2007 at 6:42 pm
If Emma is like my not so intelligent cat, try dangling toys on the top of a glass table, if you have one. It took mine over an hour to realize the toy was on the other side. You could also try it with a window.
posted by Lindsay on 7-21-2007 at 11:39 pm
Since this is a borrowed cat you should shave its side and sell it as advertising space on ebay. Unless the owners are paying you to watch the cat it’ll help you make a profit.
posted by Carol on 7-23-2007 at 4:24 am
We’ve had many cats and IMO the all-time favorite past-time of every cat I’ve ever shared my life with has been playing fetch with an empty cigarette package. It has to be completely emptied of all tobacco flakes, of course, has to be a soft pack, and the key is leaving the cellophane wrapper on the outside of the pack. No cat can resist the crinkling sound or the fun of chasing this “ball” across a tile or wood floor, plus, it’s very easy to pick up with their little teeth and drop it nicely at your feet, on your lap, or halfway across the room if you’ve got a little sadist on your hands. You’ll need at least 10 empty packs because they have a way of getting lost.
We’ve also had a lot of fun offering strange and unique foods to cats, e.g., orange zest (elicited hissing), plain yogurt (sort of kitty fingerpaint), pickles (hissing and swatting), and pimento-stuffed green olives (a smashing sucess). They love the damned things, rolling around on the olives until they’re completely squashed, then they put them in their mouths, drop them, pick them up again, drop them, continuing ad nauseum until they either eventually polish off the olive or we throw the disgusting thing away.
Have fun!
posted by Caffeinated on 7-23-2007 at 1:52 pm
You both should take a NAP!
posted by AimeeD on 7-23-2007 at 9:17 pm
Naughty: Scotch tape on tip of cat’s tail; placing cat in very high places and watching her attempt her way down; cover cat with blanket or bed-quilt and see how long it takes her to get out; practice meowing and various cat-like noises to see what kind of reaction you can elicit; centrifugal force experiments with cat and laundry basket (whee! fly kitty!); flashlight/penlight/laser pointer chasing (rewarding for you, unrewarding for cat).
Nice: Endless photo opps; catnip and resultant antics; snoozing, relaxing, napping, lounging in front of tv; cat “helping” you surf the web/write email; feather toys; crinkly paper; furry mice; when she greets you at the door; quiet purrrrrring moments –and way way more.
If you like having a cat, maybe you should go rescue one from a shelter whenever you have to give back your “loaner” cat.
posted by Jyl on 7-24-2007 at 12:12 pm
ceiling fans. See how long she will hold on
posted by alfred on 7-27-2007 at 12:18 pm
If you have a ceiling fan, try draping a shoelace over one of the blades, then start the fan. My kitten will watch the fan until she starts to get dizzy. Peanut butter on the nose is loads of fun too.
posted by angelj437 on 7-27-2007 at 12:59 pm
ping pong balls. my cat LOVES ping pong balls – they go flying with little effort and bounce off of everything.
if all else fails you can put up a Christmas tree and let her pull off all the ornaments. your friends will thank you, later.
posted by tricia on 7-27-2007 at 1:00 pm
My roommate taught me how to make the
“CatFishin’Rod”
Use the above-mentioned cellophane wrapper from a cig pack or any other similarly crinkly stuff, about 3 or 4 feet of fishing line or strong string, about 2 or 3 feet of stick, and a penny. Wrap the penny in the crinkly stuff and tie one end of the string tightly around it. Tie the other end to the stick, and go
CatFishin’!
You can tucker their little butts out in a hurry with this thing. They *can’t* resist the sound as you twitch it across a hard floor. I think it reminds them of a mouse’s claws skittering along.
You do need to let them get it once in a while or they’ll get tired of it.
posted by beauregaardhooligan on 7-27-2007 at 1:37 pm
I used to put a sock on my cat’s head. He would fight and fight to get his head out, it was the funniest thing ever.
When he finally got out, he’d pick up the sock and bring it back to me. He loved it.
posted by money on 7-27-2007 at 2:40 pm
Brown paper grocery bags offer endless hours of feline enjoyment. It’s also funny when the cat comes out; you can pretend you just “let the cat out of the bag”. [Insert groan here].
posted by Julie on 7-27-2007 at 2:41 pm
while less than 20% of cats respond to catnip, more than 80% respond to honeysuckle. it’s AWESOME. I got a honeysuckle pillow at a pet expo and highly recommend anything with honeysuckle.
posted by sarah on 7-27-2007 at 2:50 pm
Borrow a dog.
posted by Chris on 7-27-2007 at 3:53 pm
ok. grab an old sock, and roll down the elastic bit most of the way. fill your paw with catnip (you can buy it in a tub, or from the bulk spice/tea department of any Whole Foods, or similar store), and shove it all the way into the sock. you may repeat the stuffing process, if you wish, to make certain you’ve got a good-sized bunch in there. tie off the sock just above the lump, and toss it out to your little visitor. this should afford you many opportunities for pictures!
btw: your friend should know that the kitten would have been weaned, even without being forced. the mamma cat would have made the decision and forced the issue. this process is unnecessary–and a little mean.
good luck!
(Internalize Oneness!)
posted by rachelle on 7-27-2007 at 8:40 pm
cats love the plastic ring off the milk jug!!
posted by randi on 7-28-2007 at 3:06 pm
I am concerned about the weaning process. Emma would have weaned her kit when she was ready. People have a tendency to want to wean too early. If the kit is less than 9 weeks old, put Emma back with her right away. The kitten will also fair better in life the longer she is allowed to nurse. There is nothing in life as good for a creature as it’s mother’s milk.
Catnip is good for a laugh.
posted by MeanJean on 8-5-2007 at 8:31 am
I know this sounds silly, but the auther says ” I adopted a mother and a daughter cat, the latter a younger cat………duh, the daughter is usually younger than the mother……
posted by John Brown on 8-5-2007 at 11:57 am
Not to put too fine a point on it, but I said “youngish kitten,” not “younger cat.” The point was to explain that the kitten is young enough to be in the weaning stage.
posted by Higgins on 8-5-2007 at 1:22 pm
Re the weaning process – I get the impression the kitten was getting far beyond the normal weaning point, which was the reason for the separation. I don’t have the exact age of the kitten, but I think it’s three-four months. But she is back with Mom now anyway. :)
posted by Higgins on 8-5-2007 at 11:06 pm