Dear Sparkle,
My human never pays any attention to me. In fact, all she ever seems to care about are these pieces of cloth that are stretched across wooden frames or some large pieces of paper. She spends hours scribbling on these things with colored sticks. Frankly, I think that is an odd way to occupy oneself, but I figured I’m game for anything, so I went along with it. I tried to catch the sticks while she was using them, but she pushed me away. Then I tried to touch the papers and the cloths and she got mad. One night she left the sticks out and I had lots of fun knocking them off the table and scattering them all over the room. Well, she did not like that very much either! In fact, she does not even like it when I rub up against the stand where she does her weird color play — she thinks I might push it over! Anyhow, to be honest, I really don’t care about this dumb coloring thing. I just want her to play with me sometimes. Any suggestions?
Signed,
Playful in Provincetown
Dear Playful,
You don’t say how long you and your human have lived together, nor do you say how you came to be with her, but I get the impression that she has the mistaken belief that we cats are low-maintenance creatures who need little attention or companionship. She probably expects you to spend your day sleeping, eating and looking out the window. Granted, those are all very nice activities and quite enjoyable, but if that was all our lives were about, we would be awfully bored! And that is exactly your problem. You have no stimulation. You haven’t mentioned any cat toys or nip, so I assume you have none. Otherwise, why would you need to play with those coloring sticks of your human’s?
I think one reason your overtures have fallen flat is because you are using the wrong venue in which to express yourself. Your human does not consider her papers, canvasses and colored sticks compatible with your kind of play, so you need to find other ways of dropping hints. Are there any small knickknacks around the house that you can bat around? How about in the bathroom — are there any hair clips or ties you can use as toys? Maybe if you walk up to your human with a hair clip in your mouth and drop it at her feet, she will get the idea that you would like to have a little more interaction with her. Racing around the house at odd hours and screaming may also hint that you are in need of some activity. If these tactics fall flat, then you can always try the one that never fails: capturing small prey. Next time a nice-sized cricket or beetle — or even better, a mouse — finds its way into your home, catch it and bring it to your human while it is still at least half alive. While this may not inspire your human to play with you — although it would, if she really understood us cats — it will get her attention. And if you drop it onto the table, next to her colored sticks, you will definitely see some action.
Excellent advice as always, Sparkle! I once brought a tweety bird into the house, just to show off my amazing hunting skills, and to show my consideration for the lives of others, I didn’t even deliver the killer bite! (The fact that it ended up having a heart attack after the fact is besides the point…!) Sadly, neither Heather nor her mom were overly impressed.
That is such good advice Sparkle. We especially like the part about racing around the house just screaming. We are going to try that one around here. We don’t get nearly enough attention. Take care and have a super week end.
Good advice as usual, Sparkle… I always like to ready you, but especially on advice day.
Have a good weekend.
pawhugs, Max
Great advice, Sparkle 🙂
Great advice as usual Sparkle – we will get our heads together tonight when mum is asleep and work out our new strategy for more attention.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
As always, purrfect advice Sparkle! Have a great weekend my wise friend!
Great advice, Miss S. You’re improving feline-hoomin relations, one family at a time.
Vomit and hair balls on the rug ALWAYS work. If this cat has no nip toys, she/he should look to fire their current staff and hire someone who respects a cat’s needs.
It is a constant battle training the humans that we need devotion every single moment of every single day. They are so lazy…
The publicist is never fond of hairballs but she does give the Farm cats extra attention when they hauck them up
Great advice, Sparkle! I find that humans haf little idea just how much attention we require.
Great advice Sparkle. You do know your way around the feline psyche.
That’s some sound advice, Sparkle. A beetle, especially a hairy one, ought to do it.
That was excellent advice, Sparkle.
Wise words Sparkle, humans offen forgot about the needs of cats at least in thinking we do not like playing since we do not play like dogs. This should help playful in provincetown with bonding play.
Hee, great advice, Sparkle! I loved the part about racing around at odd hours. Melly has tried that one.
Good job Sparkle! Theese crickets or beetles might just do the trick to get the Human’s attention for this poor kitty!