2016-11-11 04:33 Box Lovers
Y (Kuma's owner)
I have three cats, two male and one female cat. They all love boxes. Whatever sizes they are, my cats love them. Sometimes, the box is too small to fit in but they don't hesitate to sit in it. This is a picture of one of my cats, Midon. He loves sleeping in a box.
One day, I searched using the keyword "cats" and "boxes" and found very interesting pictures. Someone wondered if a big cat like a lion or tiger loves boxes. The result is they love boxes, there is no difference between lions, tigers, leopards and ordinary cats. It was so funny watching a big lion trying to sit in a box. They are too big and some of them flattened the box but still sit on it.
I thought that ordinary cats love boxes because they are cautious. It seemed the inside of a box means safety. How about lions? I have seen a pride of lions sleeping in a wide grass field. They looked very relaxed. They don't have to be cautious. I wonder why lions love boxes? If I put a big box in a savanna, would they sit inside it?
I remember when I was small I loved to sit inside a box because the view from a box looked different and I could feel extraordinary. I think cats love boxes for different reasons but I have feelings of closeness toward them.
2016-09-18 08:42 Pulling Paper Tissues
Y (Kuma's owner)
Human beings have hobbies. Everybody does. But please don't be convinced that human beings are the only creatures that have hobbies.
I have three cats and one of them is young. His name is Midon. He was named after my husband's favorite novel's main character. He is full of energy and has plenty of time to play. He loves toys and plays a lot. Therefore, he will get tired of toys soon. I think he has been looking for something exciting, and he found one. That was a tissue box.
One day, he pulled a paper tissue from the box. I couldn't understand why but he thought it was lots of fun. Once he found something fun, he would repeat it again and again. Then I noticed that he was playing with paper tissues so excitedly and there were some wrinkled paper tissues on my desk.
Since then, pulling paper tissues is his hobby.
Looking at him playing excitedly is pleasant but I didn't want to waste paper. I had to take measures for it and I turned a tissue box upside down. I hope that he won't find out how to replace a box which is upside down.
I have seen some YouTube videos in which cats are playing with toilet paper. Midon might find toilet paper someday. Maybe it's just a matter of time.
I want him to have fun and a happy life without pulling papers.
2016-07-28 04:03 Buying cat toys is a gamble
Y (Kuma's owner)
If you hear the word "gambling," you would imagine slot machines, card games, horse racing or lottery tickets. Gambling is exciting and, if you are lucky enough, you may win a fortune. I have tried gambling three times. I bought lottery tickets in Australia and Japan. Well, I'm not a millionaire now, which means the tickets I bought were all just pieces of paper.
I read a book written by a mathematician. The author said he calculated the probability of winning by gambling, and he came to the conclusion that gambling has high a probability to lose money. Whatever the advertisements of lottery tickets say, I would not buy one anymore. I trust the mathematician.
However, against my will, I sometimes need to gamble. As you already know by the title of this journal, it's about buying cat toys. I have three cats. They are same as us, you know. Different strokes for different cats. One cat likes to play with a small stuffed animal on the end of a string, and others like the string. I've been living with them for a long time and I know what kind of toys they like, but I still choose toys they don't like by mistake. If I could I go shopping with my cats, I would ask them which toys they want.
One day, I bought toys for my cats. I examined the toys in a pet shop carefully and decided to buy balls. On the way home, I was imagining they would be excited with the new toys. What happened when I gave the toys to them was that the youngest cat played with the toy and two other cats ignored it. The oldest cat looked at me reluctantly and his face seemed to be saying, "This toy is for kittens!" Can you guess who was the most excited about the new toys? It was me.
Several days later, I heard the youngest cat running and chasing something. He seemed very excited. I thought it must be the toy I gave him! I rushed to the next room and I saw that the youngest cat was chasing a small piece of cat litter. My cats use the cat litter made of a kind of clay. He preferred to play with a piece of clay than the cat toys I bought at the pet shop. I was very disappointed.
However, I think I can say that they gave me a hint. I don't have to spend money on cat toys, I can make them. I made a ball of old newspaper and threw it. My cats seemed to like it a little bit. I haven't made a toy that has become a big hit with them yet. It depends on the design and how the toy moves.
The biggest hit in my house were the ornament balls from the Christmas tree. You know, those metallic shiny colourful balls. My cats loved to hit them. Therefore, as soon as I decorated the Christmas tree with beautiful balls, they hit and dropped them. Things didn't go as I had expected.
One of my friends who loves cats said it's good to have something that you cannot control as you want. She said that is what cats are like. Yes, there is some truth in what she says. That's why I love cats.