08 May 2010

Scooter Blogging: (1) Hey! A toy she likes!

 

This is my cat Scooter.  When she was younger, her favorite toy was a sort of fishing pole.  When I moved the pole at its handle end, it would pull a long piece of string.  Scooter then chased after the fake mouse at the other end of the string.  Alas, she's gotten bored with this toy more quickly over the years, so I searched for a new toy that she would like.

And then, I found something like this:

funny pictures of cats with captions
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

While replenishing her treat supply at a pet store, I ran across a $2 laser toy.  It couldn't hurt, I reasoned.  (Especially not with a power rating of 5 mW.)  The cat might actually like it.  Well, that proved to be an understatement!  Scooter chases the little red dot everywhere, even on the walls.  She has even learned to beg me -- not for food, but for that little red dot!  She even recognizes the laser pointer when I pick it up off a table.  It's high-tech catnip.

The laser, it seems, has now gone the way of the flying car, another device that hasn't materialized the way science fiction once said it would.  Lasers were for killing and destroying, not useful functions like complimenting rulers, cutting metal or protecting homes from thieves.  They certainly weren't envisioned as pet toys that even little kids can safely wield.

But there you have it.  Scooter sure doesn't mind!

2 comments:

Matthew Hubbard said...

So, if we are to believe your interpretation, cats have achieved the same level of self-awareness that human males can attain when presented with fake breasts. Even knowing the enticement isn't real, still they cannot help themselves.

I always gave cats a little more credit that that. Silly me.

Abu Scooter said...

Chasing Mr. Dot around is still a form of hunting practice for cats. But unlike a fake mouse or a string end, Mr. Dot is not a material object. It's just a point of light, but apparently, most cats never figure that out. It might actually be a gap in their intelligence.

Incidentally, ordinary flashlights have the same effect on cats. 20 years ago, I used a flashlight to lure my cat Kara home every night.
She caught on after a few months, but by then, she'd learned to come home when I called her name.