Playing With The Cat... In Traffic

Ok, I really hate to be that girl who blogs about her cat, but here I am blogging about my cat, right?

The cat is completely nutzo. The cat--after four years--has decided that bedtime is the time to race around, play with things, and meow like crazy. It looks a lot like this. For 27 years, I have traditionally used bedtime to sleep. So, we have a problem.

Turns out this is not unusual at all. According to this blog article, "Who's Training Who?" the answer is to 1. accept the fact that she needs to climb and meow and scratch things and act crazy, and 2. re-train her to do these things in the evening and not at bedtime.

In other words, wear the bitch out.

Rather than letting your cat snooze all evening while you are watching Oprah or Jeopardy, turn off the tube, get down on the floor and play with your cat. Tie a feather or piece of crumpled paper to a length of string and run around the house dragging it behind. Train your cat to climb his scratching post; train him to fetch and run back and forth between you and a friend. Visit your local pet store and look for new and interesting toys for your cat. Make toys of your own. Most cats have a wonderful time rolling around inside a large, open paper bag or box sprinkled with catnip. The "Cat Dancer" toy is also extremely appealing to most cats. Try to tire out your cat early in the evening. This will greatly increase the likelihood that he will sleep at night.

Are you KIDDING ME??? I work all day, and then I come home and I am supposed to EXERCISE MY CAT?

This frequently happens with lonely, bored cats that have an excess of energy and no where for that energy to go. They cannot chase real mice and birds, or climb real trees, so they develop other habits to entertain themselves.

So, like, who's gonna come over and exercise me?