Snow Kitty

March Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Movement”

This cat is on the move!

I let our two cats frolic with me in the backyard when the weather is warm and dry, but they are mostly stuck indoors when it snows. Like me, they become restless and irritable when they are cooped up and sedentary for too long. Movement enhances physical and mental health for cats as well as for people.

Just like children, our cats have been known to roughhouse and misbehave. Once when they were wrestling, they knocked over and broke a table lamp. On other occasions, they have eschewed their scratching posts and damaged the couch and carpet with their claws. Such naughty behavior is a surefire sign of their need for physical activity and exercise.

Last winter, with hope of preserving our furniture, my hubby and I invented a game that got one of our cats out running through the snow. My spouse carried her about 40 yards from the sliding glass door that overlooks the backyard while I stayed inside with kitty treats ready. When I slid open the door and called her by name, he set her down in the snow, and she was on the move. It took only seconds for her to dash the distance and receive her well-deserved reward. We gave her several rounds of play before I successfully captured her action in a photo.

Unfortunately for our furniture, our other cat didn’t warm up to the game. She’s the one who knows how to tell time, as I’ve shared in a previous six-word photo story, so we figured she might need a winter game that includes an intellectual element. We’ve invented one that’s more to her liking, but that’s a story for another day.

Many thanks to Mary Chang Story Writer, her co-editors Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles and Sandi Parsons, and the Six Word Photo Story Challenge publication for this March “Movement” writing prompt. I’m also enjoying the jumping jacks movement challenge, so thank you for that too!