Crazy Cat Story

[I’m back – with apologies for the hiatus. I promise to blog on more frequently.]

They (the anonymous exploiters of American consumers) make sparkly balls – about the size of ping-pong balls -- that are, without question, the plaything most favored by Guinness (one of my two cats).

Last Saturday, while at the pet store getting both food and litter, I bought a package of four sparkly balls – one red, one silver, one blue, and one purple.

My intent was to ration them, delight him with the purple and hide the rest.

Both cats were at the door to welcome me home but I thought I managed to sneak the toys in, unobserved. When everything was put away, and when I was sure the both cats were off in another part of the house, I opened the cellophane package, extracted the purple specimen and quickly slipped the package into a kitchen drawer.

When Guinness wandered into the kitchen (dinnertime was approaching), I showed him the purple sparkly ball, threw it into the living room and laughed as he scooted after it, sliding slightly on the wood floor. He brought it back, I threw it again, he chased it again and we played this quasi-fetch game for a good five minutes before he remembered it was dinnertime.

The next morning, I noticed a silver sparkly ball on the upstairs landing. And a red sparkly ball by the front door. The blue sparkly ball was on the living room rug and the purple sparkly ball was in the dining room.

What was going on?

I opened my (not so) clever hiding place. There in the corner was the cellophane bag – empty. And there at my feet was Guinness. I swear he was grinning.