"But it's MY toy!"

I have a cloth fish on a pole.  Months ago, when Chaosium was still a kitten, he'd play with that cat toy.

I learned pretty quickly to hold on tightly.  After the first time KayKay ran off with the toy, that is!  I wasn't worried about him devouring the fish (eventually) so much as getting sick by trying to eat the string.

Shadowcat didn't get to play with it much, because KayKay wasn't big on sharing.




A couple days ago, I was what Allen call "fishing for kittens" -- Sweetpea/Sweetie and Vee will play together with their fishie.  Sweetie won't stop, and Vee will take a few breaks after a while.  Then she'll come back.

They were busy, happily mauling the fish, when Chaosium crept up to the back steps.  KayKay had the most woebegone expression ever, combined with a look of "But that, that fish, it's MY TOY."

I told him I knew it used to be, but it's the kittens' toy now.  He didn't look convinced.

That's when KayKay decided he needed to remind me that I was His Kitty-Person first.  Before these toy-stealers!  He rolled over for me.  :: Remember how I used to do this?  See me doing it now?  I love and trust you, My Human! ::

I had to stop Sweetie from thinking that was an invitation to play, aka  :: Come jump on me!  ::


Thing is, the kittens live here.  KayKay doesn't.

He isn't welcome to live here either, since he's been hostile to the kittens regularly.  Long ago, he scratched Oreo.  Her eye was missed, luckily, but I was deeply freaked out to see a one-eyed kitten (for an hour or so?).

Despite KayKay's meows, this is not his home.  Either he's a good hunter, or he's good at persuading other humans to feed him.  Or both, they're not exclusive.

He's a big strong tomcat, far better fed than his sister Shadowcat... and this is where the kittens live and eat.  They may get other humans to feed them, or they may not.  He's got options they don't.

As of this weekend, it seems that Shadowcat and KayKay have decided to start visiting once daily/nightly.

Maybe I can get them trapped and fixed sometime soon.  Fingers crossed!


Playful kittens:  Vee did two interesting things recently.  Yesterday she put a paw on my hand.  A sheathed paw, unusually, so she's learning.  8)

I could tell she wanted to play, although she wasn't nipping me.  She has gently nipped all of us; I was sure it was her way to invite playing.  I'm hoping that since I redirected her -- addressing her need instead of getting upset -- that she'll decide that "soft paw" invites playing better.

Unlike Sweetpea, Vee seems to think our hands are toys and/or fellow kittens, but she's not entirely sure yet.  She's seen our hands petting Sweetie, and she's not clear on why Sweetie likes this.

(Sweetie will purr up a storm while being petted, typically approaches with happy tail, and sometimes will keep purring even when not being petted... so it's very likely happy purring.)

Now Vee's learned that I get out a toy when she nips, and she likes the cat toys.  She figured that I did not accept the nipping either.  Smart girl!


The other thing is the splash ball.  Those soft pool toys, the kind you can get wet -- the kittens like those.  They're light and easy to attack, creating kitty in Velcro mode.

I gave them another ball today.  Vee pawed it, gnawed on it, then picked it up in her month mouth and ran off!

She paused, then ran off with the splash ball again.  Sweetie ran after her.  Awwww!

I don't know if that's what happened to the other splash ball.  Maybe Vee stowed it somewhere.  Or went to play privately with the ball.  We'll see if the ball reappears, eh?

[ Yep, the splash ball still exists in the yard.  Perhaps it's only exciting when it's brand new.  8)  We'll see if it sticks around, or Sweetie grabs it next, or... ]