The perfect toy for two cats...

Hi there

I have found the perfect toy for two cats. A large cardboard box with a plastic shopping bag inside and a straw poked through so some of it shows on the inside and some on the outside.

For hours Nelson sat in the box playing with the plastic bag, then Zoe came along and started to play with the straw on the outside of the box, which caused the straw on the inside to move and attract Nelson's attention. Hours later there was still one cat on one end of the straw and one on the other.

I snapped a pic of Nelson in the box to share with you all, I will try to get a photo with them both on each end of the straw...

I can just imagine that! It's funny how cats always look like we're invading them when we take pictures of them in boxes, isn't it?

Yea, this sounds like something Rocky and Fluffy would love!

Plastic shopping bags can sometimes cause problems for cats. Some of them are attracted to the plastic, because the manufacturers use either fish oil or animal renderings to process their bags. Some of the kitties will try and eat the plastic causing problems, even licking them to the point of getting sick.

I remember one time someone emailed me that she let her cat play with a plastic bag and the cat became caught in the handles and freaked out, went running through the house with this bag flapping behind him-and ran right into the sliding glass door knocking himself out. The outcome of that cat was not pretty at all.

A better toy would be the straw, and a few ping pong balls inside the box- cats really love that, the balls don't go anywhere and the cats can play for hours safely.

Another thing you can do is take pipecleaners and make small pairs of holes around the box. Insert the pipecleaners in the holes and twist the ends inside anchoring them- kitty's like to reach up and bat at things like that.

Hissy-

I love that idea about the balls in a cardboard box. It makes a kitty playpen!

Originally posted by hissy
Plastic shopping bags can sometimes cause problems for cats. Some of them are attracted to the plastic, because the manufacturers use either fish oil or animal renderings to process their bags. Some of the kitties will try and eat the plastic causing problems, even licking them to the point of getting sick.

I remember one time someone emailed me that she let her cat play with a plastic bag and the cat became caught in the handles and freaked out, went running through the house with this bag flapping behind him-and ran right into the sliding glass door knocking himself out. The outcome of that cat was not pretty at all.

A better toy would be the straw, and a few ping pong balls inside the box- cats really love that, the balls don't go anywhere and the cats can play for hours safely.

Another thing you can do is take pipecleaners and make small pairs of holes around the box. Insert the pipecleaners in the holes and twist the ends inside anchoring them- kitty's like to reach up and bat at things like that.

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you bet me too it! One time neo got caught in a bag and was running around the house going crazy it was so hard for use to catch him! He is still scared of bags when i bring stuff home from the store.

Thanks for the good advice hissy about the plastic bags.

Nelson is an old pro at plastic bag games – they are one of his favourites, he deliberately puts his head through the handle and runs around freaking himself out – I say deliberately because he stops and takes the bag off when he has had enough. He also likes being picked up and swung or hung by the bag handles from something – I think he likes sitting inside with the slippery texture of the bags. When he has had enough of being in the bag, his claws come out and out he jumps. I hope that I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t sound wicked by telling you all this. I never encouraged him to play with plastic bags, but he just canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get enough. As soon as we bring the groceries home and he hears the rustle he there in a flash!

He has never tried to eat or lick the bags so I figure I should let him keep playing with them (while supervised).

I forgot to take my camera home last night so I will try to get some shots tonight or tomorrow of the two cats being funny.

When I was reading about baby-proofing a home they said that you should tie your plastic bags into a knot so the baby can't get into them. This would probably be a good idea with cats too.

I've never had a problem with the bags and my cats, but I can see where it could possibly cause a problem if you're not supervising them.

I had a bag issue once. Jarama was playing with a bag I keep records and such in, and it's a brown heavy paper one, with twine handles.

I was in the living room, and got a sickening feeling for some reason, called him and didn't get a reply... walked into the room and saw him hung up on the bag handle around his neck, pretty tight...

I immeadiately cut him loose and proceeded to check him over... He snuggled with me for about 10 minutes nice and quiet and relaxed, and then went about his daily life... I then cut all the bag handles in the house that were on bags we need to keep.

That scared the sh!t out of me, and him too. He doesn't play with bags anymore.

I cut the handles off of all mine after I unload them. But my cats only get to play with paper bags- I tear the handles off those as well. I won't let them have plastic at all. I did have one cat Shredder who loved to crawl into the bags, but he only did that when he was supervised.