The Greatest Game You and Your Cat Can Play
Tag! You’re it!
Sure, you have a basketful of toys for your kuddly kitty. Laser lights, foam balls, the feather on the end of a stick, all sorts of fun stuff.
But . . . these are toys for your cat to play with. How about something you can both play?
Tag! You’re It!
Here’s how you play . . .
I’m sure you’ve seen your furry friend prepare to jump on his toy. His eyes get huge and he squats into Pounce Position. Notice that as he does that he wiggles his butt? Well, that’s how my game of tag with Merlin begins.
Except I’m the one wiggling my butt. I stick my head, and only my head, around the corner and wiggle my butt. This causes my head to wiggle, too. Just like a cat getting ready to pounce! So Merlin and I are like two cowboys on Main Street, staring each other down. Merlin quick-draws to assault his favorite toy — ME! He pounces. I run. Merlin catches me because he’s just a wee bit faster than I am. Then he paws my calf. Tag! You’re it!
Then he’ll crouch down at my feet, do his twerk-wiggle, and look up at me with those big eyes, as if to say, “That was fun! Let’s do it again!”
Merlin (the smartest and most athletic cat I’ve ever known) would let me run some distance before tagging me — clear to the other end of the house, or even all the way downstairs. He could have caught and tagged me instantly, since he’s a wee bit faster than me, but I guess he figured I needed some exercise.
But our favorite place to play tag was on our circular racetrack — counter clockwise from the living room to the hall to the kitchen and then back to the living room. Merlin usually tagged me in the kitchen, slowed only by the hall-to-kitchen hairpin turn on the slick hardwood floor, where he sometimes gleefully skidded out.
But as I mentioned, Merlin is the smartest cat I’ve ever known. So sometimes he changes the game. As my head bobbed and Merlin starts his chase, I jet around the first curve and into the kitchen. But Merlin is already there! He goes clockwise on our counterclockwise racetrack, cuts me off, and ambushes me!! Tag! You’re It!
“Gee,” Merlin says. “You humans aren’t as smart as I thought you were. And . . . can I have another Fancy Feast, please? All that running around made me hungry!”
And another story about me and animals. This one was got personal. Most of my childhood memories were great. But others I avoided for years. And when I finally confronted them I changed my life . . .