One of my co-workers is currently living in a friend's apartment while that friend is working in another city for a year. The friend has, and left, a cat (Goblin) in the apartment. Plans changed, and the friend is not going to come back and live in this city, but will go somewhere else entirely next fall and is planning on taking Goblin to the new city. The co-worker recently asked me if I wanted another cat, on a temporary basis. I don't: my apartment isn't particularly large, I'm only allowed to have two cats, and I have two cats who get along well with each other.
I've heard stories (from the original owner) that Goblin is amazing with children and allows them to hang all over him and play with him and such. I haven't heard that Goblin is misbehaving at all (not scratching, not urinating outside of the box), just that Goblin meows too much. And that Goblin meows more now than right after the co-worker moved in. It's just that my co-worker is not a cat person, and does not want to DO anything to make Goblin happy.
I asked if Goblin had any toys and was told "I don't know" which I interpret as a clear "no". After suggesting toys and getting the reply "I don't have the money to buy toys for my children, much less for a cat" I suggested newspaper on the floor and a laser pointer. The co-worker seemed impressed and surprised that very good toys could be made essentially for free, but the co-worker said "I don't want to play with the cat".
I'm thinking of 1) buying self-play toys (like a turbo scratcher) and giving them to the co-worker and 2) inviting myself over to play with Goblin, and maybe teach the 5 (?) year old child how to play with Goblin. I do have a few other people in mind who might want to take care of the cat for a few months, so hopefully this will all be moot.
But, in the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions of free self-play toys that don't come with risks (tying a ball of newspaper to a door knob with yarn is cheap and a lot of fun, but the yarn can be broken and sections swallowed), self-play toys I could buy, or with things non-cat people can do with cats? It does sound like Goblin is simply lonely, even living in an apartment with two adults and two children (and there are twins on the way).
I've heard stories (from the original owner) that Goblin is amazing with children and allows them to hang all over him and play with him and such. I haven't heard that Goblin is misbehaving at all (not scratching, not urinating outside of the box), just that Goblin meows too much. And that Goblin meows more now than right after the co-worker moved in. It's just that my co-worker is not a cat person, and does not want to DO anything to make Goblin happy.
I asked if Goblin had any toys and was told "I don't know" which I interpret as a clear "no". After suggesting toys and getting the reply "I don't have the money to buy toys for my children, much less for a cat" I suggested newspaper on the floor and a laser pointer. The co-worker seemed impressed and surprised that very good toys could be made essentially for free, but the co-worker said "I don't want to play with the cat".
I'm thinking of 1) buying self-play toys (like a turbo scratcher) and giving them to the co-worker and 2) inviting myself over to play with Goblin, and maybe teach the 5 (?) year old child how to play with Goblin. I do have a few other people in mind who might want to take care of the cat for a few months, so hopefully this will all be moot.
But, in the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions of free self-play toys that don't come with risks (tying a ball of newspaper to a door knob with yarn is cheap and a lot of fun, but the yarn can be broken and sections swallowed), self-play toys I could buy, or with things non-cat people can do with cats? It does sound like Goblin is simply lonely, even living in an apartment with two adults and two children (and there are twins on the way).