My punishment for leaving him home alone for 30 minutes...

[tarasgirl06]

All pets are family. I have said this in other threads, but Willy is my first cat ever, and he's been with me through a lot over the last 8 years. COVID isolation was tough for me and he was incredible to have.

Also grew up with dogs, and went through multiple life cycles of them being one of my best friends ever and then having to let them go, eventually. I understand what to expect now as my cat is aging.

Elvis is 15. He joined us at 9. Before he joined us, Sammi was adopted at 14 and left us at 21. Most cats in my life -- and there have been many! -- have been 17-19 when they've left us. Good quality food (especially wet food -- we love Blue Buffalo, Soulistic, and Weruva), safety, comfort, lots of love, living indoors only, and plenty of "enrichment" -- toys, scratching pads and posts, climbing furniture such as cat trees and activity centers, interactive wand-and-lure toys such as Cat Dancer and da Bird, and windows to watch the world outside -- help our beloved cats to live long and PAWS-PURR.

 

[cmshap]

Elvis is 15. He joined us at 9. Before he joined us, Sammi was adopted at 14 and left us at 21. Most cats in my life -- and there have been many! -- have been 17-19 when they've left us. Good quality food (especially wet food -- we love Blue Buffalo, Soulistic, and Weruva), safety, comfort, lots of love, living indoors only, and plenty of "enrichment" -- toys, scratching pads and posts, climbing furniture such as cat trees and activity centers, interactive wand-and-lure toys such as Cat Dancer and da Bird, and windows to watch the world outside -- help our beloved cats to live long and PAWS-PURR.

That's all good advice. And I do all of it already (I did my research).

He is totally indoor. I've started lots of threads recently on enriching his life at home during the day as he is getting older (search for "Willy").

I've provided tons of stuff and also switched him to wet food after beginning his life exclusively on dry (I took him in while living with my mom at the time, and neither of us had any idea how to take care of a cat). We just wanted to save his life.

 

[tarasgirl06]

That's all good advice. And I do all of it already (I did my research).

He is totally indoor. I've started lots of threads recently on enriching his life at home during the day as he is getting older (search for "Willy").

I've provided tons of stuff and also switched him to wet food after beginning his life exclusively on dry (I took him in while living with my mom at the time, and neither of us had any idea how to take care of a cat). We just wanted to save his life.

Willy is quite a guy!!! Just looking at the titles of the threads, I can tell he's personality-plus, like my Elvis.

 

[cmshap]

Willy is quite a guy!!! Just looking at the titles of the threads, I can tell he's personality-plus, like my Elvis.

Lol, "personality-plus" is like my new favorite descriptor word for my cat and I am totally going to use it in the future

 

[cmshap]

interactive wand-and-lure toys such as Cat Dancer

Just wanted to add that Cat Dancers are one of my auto-ship items on Amazon. He loves them.

He never likes to play with them when they are in the air though. I have to drag the bottom cardboard piece along the floor, as if it were a bug crawling around.

I wonder if that has to do with his experience being lost outside as a young cat. I have read that cats do eat a lot of bugs in the wild as part of their diet.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Just wanted to add that Cat Dancers are one of my auto-ship items on Amazon. He loves them.

He never likes to play with them when they are in the air though. I have to drag the bottom cardboard piece along the floor, as if it were a bug crawling around.

I wonder if that has to do with his experience being lost outside as a young cat. I have read that cats do eat a lot of bugs in the wild as part of their diet.

It's entirely possible on both counts. Yes, a cat will eat anything, almost, that (s)he can get when no cat-specific foods are available, just as we would. It's entirely possible that Willy is hunting bugs when he plays with the Cat Dancer. *Good on ya for the auto-shipping.* There are so many wand-and-lure toys, and battery-operated toys that mimic insects; but the Cat Dancer is a universal favorite. Simple and entirely pleasing.

 

[cmshap]

but the Cat Dancer is a universal favorit Simple and entirely pleasing.

And extremely cheap! I feel like it should be more heavily advertised to new cat-owners who maybe don't have the budget for more elaborate toys.

They have provided so much enrichment for Willy for like almost no money.

 

[tarasgirl06]

And extremely cheap! I feel like it should be more heavily advertised to new cat-owners who maybe don't have the budget for more elaborate toys.

They have provided so much enrichment for Willy for like almost no money.

Yeah! And since so many of us shop online rather than at the bricks & mortar locations, a lot of them might miss this. They really are just about the best toys there are!

 

[cmshap]

Yeah! And since so many of us shop online rather than at the bricks & mortar locations, a lot of them might miss this. They really are just about the best toys there are!

I am relatively new here, but has a "budget toy" thread/article ever been a thing on TCS?

I've seen some threads about expenses and financial responsibility regarding taking in a cat, but just wondering if anything like this has already been done.

"Budget toy" doesn't have to mean any less enrichment. Willy loves Cats Dancers more than anything else.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I am relatively new here, but has a "budget toy" thread/article ever been a thing on TCS?

I've seen some threads about expenses and financial responsibility regarding taking in a cat, but just wondering if anything like this has already been done.

"Budget toy" doesn't have to mean any less enrichment. Willy loves Cats Dancers more than anything else.

I don't know about this, but you could always start one and if there already is one, a moderator might let you know and merge the two into one. It's a GREAT idea and we definitely need one! I'm all about frugality AND quality so I give the idea a big TU!