My cats like to sleep. A lot. I understand that this is true of most cats, but mine have raised it to an art form.
Especially Jenny, who doesn't seem to do much else now-a-days. Her sleeping is only interrupted when it's time to eat or poop. Other than that I am allowed to pet her in the mornings still, but her playing and exploring seems to have gone by the wayside. At first I thought she might be sick or something, but I honestly don't think that's the case. She just loves to sleep.
A couple weeks ago I was wiping down the coffee table and stacked to the two kitty beds I keep there on top of each other. When I came back from rinsing out my dustrag, Jenny was sitting on top of both beds (each with a warming pad) and loving it.
Ever since, that's her favorite place to sleep...
Just look at her! Could she be any more relaxed? Laying in that pillow pit with her legs kicked out. Adorable.
And make no mistake, she is out. She used to jump awake every time there was even a slight noise. Now it has to be me slamming a door or, as in the case of this photo, waking her up with a sneeze...
And here's the thing. She was so grumpy from having been waked up that she just stared at me for a long, long time. Eventually she flipped over so she could glare at me from an all new angle...
And even that wasn't good enough. She had to flip again to continue staring at me. She wanted to make very sure that I know what I did and it was wrong of my to sneeze...
OKAY! OKAY! I GET IT, I GET IT!
And it's not just her double kitty bed. Even when she's laying next to me in my own bed while I'm working, I get a dirty look when I have to get up and get ready to go into the office...
As for Jake? For him it's all Mufasa all the time now. He loves that little stuffed lion and carts him around everywhere, even though Jenny seems to have lost interest in stealing it. Lately Jake dropped Mufasa on my bed then ran away. I guess I'm supposed to guard him or something...
Uh oh...
Guess Jenny isn't done stealing her brother's favorite toy after all.
Eventually Jake must have seen her with it, because he dragged it back upstairs and fell asleep with it in short order...
I think Jake even recognizes "Mufasa" by name now. Earlier this week he followed me up to bed with Mufasa in his mouth. Hung around for five minutes, then went downstairs... but left his lion with me. Five minutes later and I heard him wailing because he can't find him... so I had to yell down "JAKE! YOU LEFT MUFASA UP HERE! COME AND GET HIM!" And... so he did! Sweet! Didn't have to take Mufasa down to him!
As concerned as I've always been that Jake will tear apart Mufasa and lose his favorite thing in the world, I'm even more concerned lately. He usually just walks around with it, rolls around with it, and carries it places. But lately he's started really ripping into his lion for some reason...
A few days ago he brought Mufasa up and proceeded to bite all over it pretty rough. Especially tearing at the fur on his mane and tail. I only caught the end of his rampage on film when he was done, but it's still pretty scary because Mufasa ain't going to last much longer with this kind of treatment...
I've tried to get Jake hooked on other toys, but to no avail. He was sitting in the middle of the room looking bored, so I fired up his WhirlyBall (a ball with a stem and a feather on it that rotates) and set it down next to him. He just sat there and let the feather repeatedly smack him in the face.
I know how you feel, buddy. I know exactly how you feel.
After letting WhirlyBall dig on his face for a couple minutes, he ran and hid in the cat tree so he could observe it safely...
Of course I felt awful that I had scared him into being a bunker cat. Guess I won't be trying that again. And so I guess it's back to buying every new toy I find until I get something he likes as well as Mufasa.
Which is probably futile, but I have to try.
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Is the appeal simply that the toy has a mane the same color as Jenny/s fur? If that’s the appeal it seem that it would be easy to find a replacement.
I found a lion that was very close in color… just a tiny bit bigger. Jake wanted nothing to do with it. So I honestly don’t know. I concluded it was the smell… but after rolling it in catnip, he was still all over Mufasa, so that’s probably wrong too. Maybe since he had it when he was a kitten it’s just imprinted on him somehow?
Am I to take it that a different Mufasa toy would not meet Jake’s strict standards?
Nope. I’ve bought more small stuffed lions than I can remember. He doesn’t want any of them… even when I managed to find one pretty close.