The most interesting thing about me these days is my cat, Mouse. She's taught me a game in the last few days.
I've taken to lying on the floor a lot lately - I think it's lately or maybe I'm just noticing it recently - anyway, as you all probably know, no matter how much money you spend on cat toys, their one *true* love is the ring-thing found on bottles. The blue rings from milk bottles, or Mouse's favourite, a smaller white ring from a water bottle. She chases this thing around the flat and it pings this way and that, keeps her amused for hours.
So yesterday I was lying on my stomach the floor - half in my office, half in the hall (no, I don't know why) and she trotted down the hall with this white ring in her mouth and lay down in front of my face, the ring on the floor between her paws. I looked at her for a bit then reached a tentative finger to draw the ring closer to me - and she let me! my finger was tentative because it's learned that her claws are very sharp and very fast and love the taste scared fingers in the evening. But she let me move her precious white play-ring-thing and I looked at it for a bit and she looked at me and didn't move so I decided to flick the ring across the floor. It scuttled across the floor bouncing unpredictably and she was after it like a shot. Pounced on it, mauled it a bit, then pranced back to me with it proudly in her mouth to resume her possy in front of my face, the ring once more between her paws for me to take.
I thought that was weird and probably a fluke.. so I hooked the ring-thing with my finger, drawing it closer again then I flicked the ring, this time harder and it boinged into the lounge. She bolted after it, disappearing around the corner and I heard the scrambling of her claws on the carpet as she caught her ring-prey and the uncatlike thuds (she's half rhino) as she trotted back to me, again with the ring-thing in her mouth for me to do it again. We played like this for about 30 minutes. Sometimes she overshot me and ran into the bathroom and would look at me, then realising I wasn't gonna get up and come get her or the ring, she'd come back closer so I could reach and reflick for her.
We've been playing it again this morning. It's a good game as it exhausts her and she gets a lot of her whinging "play with me play with me" out of her system. Did you know cats could play fetch? I sure in heck didn't.