This is it! If she doesn’t play with it, this is the last time I buy our cat Samantha a toy! Time and time again, I am determined to find something that she will enjoy playing with and it’s a bust. My latest try was a catnip banana*. I’d been seeing all the cats with blogs playing with these toys, they call them “nip nanners”, and having so much fun! Sam might like this!
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Look – she played with it! The truth is, however, that she will often play with toys when she first gets them. Once. She’s been seen here on the blog playing with a West Paw caterpillar and some toys from K9Bytes. She did have some plastic balls with bells once that she’d bat around the room, but that was when she could still see. She’s had tunnels* and laser toys*, but everything ends up lying around collecting dust and cat fur, and ultimately, I gather them together and pass them on to Cousin Nina or the shelter.
Come to think of it…..maybe she’s just being a good blog cat too? Doing her duty playing with toys for the camera, and then she’s done with it! We did, after all, have to fire her once from doing food reviews (“It’s Come to This – Outsourcing“), so toys aren’t the only thing she’s fussy about. She sometimes will only eat a food once too, then she’s ready to move on to something else.
Sam is 15, and that could be a factor in why she doesn’t play with toys much; but I don’t think she’s ever really been big on them except for maybe when she was a kitten. I simply can’t remember any toy that she ever really loved…her sister Katie was far more into toys than she ever was. That also reminds me of our beagle, Kobi, who never played with a toy once he was much older than 4 or 5. Luke, at only 4 years old now, often will only play with a toy once too. Yet I keep buying him more toys as well.
So why am I so persistent about getting her to play with something? I suppose a big part of it is that she’s been an only cat for a while now and I want her to have something to keep her entertained. Now, being mostly blind, I feel like her world is even smaller; especially this time of year when I can’t really get her outside. Sam has always been a loner though. I think she mostly prefers just lying in the sun or in front of the heater. I think she’s content as long as she gets some petting and chin scritches, and of course treats every afternoon, along with her two meals/day.
While we’re speaking of Sam, she had a visit to the vet last week. We saw blood in her urine, so we got a sample and got her over there as soon as we could. Long story short, she has a UTI, she got an antibiotic shot, and hopefully that’s the end of that. You can imagine where my mind went when I first noticed it; therefore it was a relief for it to be something hopefully easily treatable.
On a funny note, the vet gave me the choice between the injection and us giving Sam liquid antibiotics through a dropper daily. I had flashbacks to several years ago when she was sick and we tried that. All I remember is pink liquid flying everywhere, and Sam being so stressed by it all that she wouldn’t eat afterwards. Pass! So even though the injection cost more money, it will be well worth it. Just keep paws crossed that it works, and we don’t have to resort to any liquid!
The best thing that came out of this vet visit though was hearing the vet tell me how well she thinks Sam is doing. She has gained a pound since her last visit, and the vet thinks she’s at a perfect weight, and that her muscle mass is great. Her heart is strong. One thing that had made me less worried when we noticed the blood in Sam’s urine was the fact that she has seemed great lately, eating and drinking well, and her coat is soft and shiny. In spite of her blindness, she gets around great, and if we don’t show up with her meals on time, she lets us know it’s time!
So, her “nip nanner” sits in her favorite scratcher/bed by the window and I’m watching it to see if it ever moves. If it doesn’t, what do you think, will it really be “the last cat toy”?
I’m glad to hear that Sam is doing so well! We always choose the injectable antibiotics, too–so much easier than the twice-daily wrestling match of doing it at home and worth every penny. Soth has that banana, too, but he prefers the rainbow from the same company 🙂
I can’t even imagine trying to wrangle meds into a cat without a second person to help! Not that hubby and I had much success with two of us either though, LOL.
sorry to hear about the UTI but glad she is doing really well.
I are da same way I wuv my stuffy for like a week then I am over it and back to my webkin Lamby Baby. He is my only constant toy I will play wif on da daily and I do love a kitty teaser every now and then.
Sawry Sam has a UTI 🙁 I hopes her feels lots betters soon and Mama is wif ya now meds orally it never works out well for da pawrents 😉
xoxo,
Matilda (& Matt)
I just wish I could find one toy that Sam would love! We did get something she loves though…a new bed. We got one to review and so far it’s a hit!
She seems to be feeling better, we just need to have her urine checked one more time to make sure the infection is gone. Paws crossed!
xxoo
I’m glad Samantha got a good report from the vet.
Thank you, Edie!!
First off, SO glad to hear the results of Sam’s vet visit, yay, and hoping for sure that injection will cure it all! Re the toy, will be curious to hear if it moves, and if Sam’s interest lasts or wanes-but I am rather thinking she was just being a good Blog Kitty-after all, she doesn’t want to get fired again!! If that is the case, will it be the “last toy”? I am thinking probably not! Nina has a new “yellow fish” she could try, but it looks a lot like this banana, and is basically the same thing, even looks the same size.
So far so good on the health front! I’m still not sure about the toy…it may have moved….if she’s playing with it, she’s not doing when I can see her though!
I think there are some different toys in that same line, like you said, the same thing, only different shapes.
Kitty was a lot like Sam – after a year or so of kittenhood – she gave up toys. I always worried she was bored – but she loved looking out the window and she didn’t seem bored in the least. Turns out, she played more than we thought. We found a toy mousie here and there under furniture … and who can forget her mousing phase when she was 9 or 10 and picked off a couple mice without much effort 🙂 That said, that Nanner is a must around here – it’s well loved by BOTH cats!
Yours was one of the blogs I saw it on, and could see it was loved! (I didn’t want to name blogs for fear of leaving someone out).
Sam does seem happy and that is the important thing. Her appetite has been even better lately too, which I take as a good sign!
I guess Callie is almost as old as Sam… maybe? She isn’t huge on toys either and might play with them a little bit at first but that’s it. Have you tried a wand toy? Callie loves those and will usually have a good play with them if she’s in the mood.
Yup, we’ve tried the wand toy! I got her one for Christmas one year. I have some really bad quality photos of her looking annoyed with me as I fluttered it in her face. LOL
Great report from the vet. I don’t think it will be her last toy. MOL!
You might know me too well! 🙂
The catnip banana is a success.
What a nice update on sweet Sam ! Looks like the toy was a success by her standards !
And her standards are all that matters, right? 🙂
We’re glad Sam checked out good at the vet. Give her time…we’re sure she’ll love the nip nanner. It’s by far our favorite toy.
Paws crossed! She might be playing with it, but so far if she is, it’s in secret. That would be just like a cat, wouldn’t it? MOL
Aww, sweet kitty. Some pets just aren’t into toys and such. Sam could care less about the basket of stuffies but Elsa enjoys them. He has a lot of life experience on her as a dog, she was a mill pup and is learning how to be a dog. Her gig is tearing them up and if it brings joy to her, then I say good for her. Hopefully the nip hammer will get a bit of action and even if it doesn’t, you have a lovely cat that still seems to enjoy life in her senior years. Paws crossed the UTI becomes a thing of the past in quick time!
Thank you for those kind words! You are right. Every pet is different. I used to avoid getting stuffed toys for Sheba and Luke because they just destroyed them. Eventually I came to the thinking that if that is what they enjoy, then let them have at it! (as long as I get any squeakers out, since Luke will eat anything).
Maybe the freshness of the nip wears off. You can get catnip in a spray to refresh them occasionally.
I didn’t know that, thanks for letting me know!
we hope it is not the last one, but that magic nip nanner is the one furever… a lot of kitties love it for all eternity and sometimes to pieces ;O)
At least we can be sure Sam won’t love it to pieces, that’s one thing she’s never done!
So glad she is doing well on the health side. Fifteen is old, but not all that old for a kitty. We bought cat bro Bert a Nip Nanner. He ate half of it within minutes so we had to toss it out. Maybe Sam will enjoy cuddling with it now and then.
I’m not sure she’s played with it again, but it has moved a bit. It might just be in her way though! LOL
You have a different reason for maybe not buying your cat toys! I don’t think Sam has ever eaten a toy, but I remember her sister Katie used to.