by Jenn Balella

Created on: March 11, 2009

If there is one animal I know about, it is definitely cats. As an owner of three, though I used to have four (R.I.P Sadie), I have experienced the unique personalities and traits of each of my cats. My oldest, the "Mama" cat, Stray, has a heart of gold and would not harm a fly (at least I don't think she would). Her only surviving baby, Miracle, is the complete opposite of her mama and loves to get in all sorts of trouble and mischief. Our only male, Cedric, has an almost eerie sort of personality. He can act completely sweet and innocent one moment, then in the blink of an eye he will go through a complete shift in personality and attempt to attack someone's ankle or bite at the unlucky victim (and yes, it's happened to me more than anyone else).

Anyhow, the point I am trying to get at is that even though one cat can have a completely different personality than another, usually they get entertained by the same sorts of things. Some I have done for my cats are of course the hanging above midair or gliding along the floor piece of string/yawn/and so on, the moving hand under the blanket (if it's your own, make sure the covers are thick enough so you won't feel the bite and that they don't realize your hand is actually attached to your arm- that will hurt, trust me), and any object that reflects light that you could move around all over the carpet and walls, including flashlights, jewelry, and some cell phones (this one is especially funny, since no matter how quick they move or swing at the light they will never be able to grab it!). Sure, it might take more motivation to get one moving than another cat, as is the case with the Mama and baby. The Mama, who is the smallest yet fattest one, could get very stubborn if we try to move her around, as she would much rather sleep and eat, though there are times where she will take on a whole other personality and start running around the house or chase after something for no intelligent reason. The baby, however, loves to run around and play. Throw her favorite ball and eight times out of ten she will chase after it (depending on if she is trying to nap or not). And she NEVER gets tired of the old moving hand under the covers trick. It's funny because she will attempt to attack my hand, then I will take my hand out of the covers to pet her and let her sniff it, and after that I put it back under again and allow her to play some more. Either she knows it is my hand and only likes to try to attack it when it is moving back and forth or she thinks my hand has disappeared and that there is a mouse or some sort of small animal under the blanket!

Entertainment will keep cats from getting bored and could provide them with exercise, so that they are not lazing around all day and eating. This can happen to my Stray especially, as she seems to have a food addiction issue, and she doesn't really get too much exercise, so I will have to work on getting her moving around more.

Plus, it is just as entertaining for the owner (if not more) as it is for the cat.

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