Hello! Nigel, here. Today I am going to talk to you about a really important subject….Advanced Predatory Training Skills time…or, as you humans like to call it…”playtime.” I LOVE playtime! There are many wonderful objects that humans can purchase at shops that can keep us cats in tip-top shape when it comes to our hunting skills. We need to know how to do a lot of really tricky moves such as:
- The hide and surprise
- The pounce, bounce and roll
- The “I’ve got your toes” maneuver
- The “You clearly need me to help you with your hairdo” technique (This is one of Dr. S’s favorites! She loves for me to help perfect her look every morning while she sits at her desk.
There really are so many choices for appropriate training tools. If you haven’t done so already, you should take a visit to one of these shops and pick out some interactive toys for your cat. We really love things like “mouse on a wire”, “feather on a wire”, “squiggly string thingies on a wire”, “honeybee on a wire”…..are you seeing a pattern here? I know that some people just buy those toys that they leave on the floor and expect their cats to chase around. But really….these are not that much fun. We much prefer the kind that involves a human to make it move like a real creature. We need to know how to hunt and kill prey, just in case we ever find ourselves back out on the African Savannah. How will we know how to be wild cats, if you haven’t trained us properly????
Another gadget that I just find fascinating is this little red dot laser. This red dot just suddenly appears…out of nowhere! One minute it’s not there, and the next it is bouncing all over the place. I chase it back and forth, back and forth…..it’s exhausting…but so much fun! One of these days…I just know I’m going to catch it. When Dr. S and Rosalie play the red dot game with me, they always give me something to hold and chew on at the end. They call this “completion.” They don’t want me to feel like all of my effort was for nothing, so I do really appreciate them ending the red dot game this way!
Dr. S has asked me to mention, that not only are these “games” good for our hunting skills…but they really help to keep us cats fit and trim. Having grown accustomed to living in apartments, houses and veterinary clinics…we tend to sometimes be a bit lazy. It’s true. Because our human staff is so good at providing us with the food we need, we really don’t feel much of a reason to move around and look for our meals. This can make us get a little chubby. By giving us the Advanced Predatory Skills Training time, you are also helping us stay at a healthy body weight. And hey…who doesn’t love to look good for the ladies???
So go out there and get your kitty some training equipment today! I’m sure you will both enjoy using it!
Nigel, signing off! Meow!
