Attempting the Impossible

I am under strict instructions from my vet to get Finney’s weight down. I’ve got him on 300 calories a day (we’re going to go lower as we go along) AND daily exercise. He’s bored with the laser pointer, so I’ve been trying to get him to chase cat toys.

cattoys

He actually likes balled up pieces of paper best, and that cardboard tube thing inside paper towel rolls which I cut up into smaller-sized tube pieces.

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

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6 thoughts on “Attempting the Impossible

  1. What a great photo!!! Especially all the Toy! Toy! Toy! signs haha!….it looks like my living room which is always filled with pieces of stuffed animals that have been destroyed instead of paper and cardboard rolls!

  2. Looks like my den when I get out the cat toys! And isn’t it strange how the cats nearly always prefer something other than a bought toy?

    The laser beam toy…funniest experience ever with that. I bought one for the cats, who chased it a bit then decided it wasn’t worth the effort. The dogs…oh my! They went nuts, barking, jumping, running, having fits. Even after I turned it off, they were still searching the corners for it. Have NO idea why they go ballistic about the laser!

  3. Great shot of Finney looking totally played out. When my cats have lost interest in toys, I’ve rubbed them with loose catnip for more play.

    Sometimes, they like something that moves – and I have tied a little stuffed mouse to a fishing line and cast it around for some indoor cat-fishing. The mice that squeak with just a bit of movement really work well. I use a small broken fishing rod for indoor casting. Squint loves this game.

  4. Do they have a tall climbing tower / scratch post? When my guys were able to go outside, the first thing they did was climb a tree or a fence. No exercise in the world (as you know) like lugging your own weight upwards a few steps or stories.
    I’ve been looking for a tower that’s over 5 feethigh.

  5. Coiled pipe cleaners. Not the regular kind that are used to actually clean pipes but the decorative sort sold in craft & hobby stores. Fold over & crimp the ends of one then wrap it around a couple of your fingers to make a springy, bouncy, furry-feeling toy. A lifetime supply costs $5. I’ve fostered cats for many years & found that many, who would not respond to any other cat toy, would play with these.

  6. Ohmygod, those sound great, but I can’t really picture what you’re describing as far as shape to make them into. I just know that pipe cleaners sound like something they’d chase.

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