The mighty hunter, and not

When I toss a foam ball for Licky to chase, he gets really serious
about it. He crouches down, head protruding forward, and watches the
ball intently before running after it - still low to the ground. When
he catches it, he picks it up in his mouth and looks around (no doubt
to make sure nobody's going to try to take his "prey"), then drops
it and starts batting it around.

Roxy also loves to chase the ball, but she doesn't seem clear on the
concept of *why* she's chasing it. She'll race after it, but then will
suddenly veer off to claw her scratching post excitedly (if she's near
that), or will suddenly turn around and get the zoomies in a totally
different direction, the ball forgotten. She has a great time, but it's
not about hunting.

If Licky were an indoor/outdoor cat, he would be a fearsome hunter,
I'm sure. Clearly he received an education from his mom or some other
cat, about what to do after pursuing the moving object. Roxy has a
well-functioning chase instinct, but if she were to go outside, any
mice, birds, or insects in the area could happily go about their
business without worry.

Joyce

On 2006-04-25, penned:

Roxy also loves to chase the ball, but she doesn't seem clear on the
concept of *why* she's chasing it. She'll race after it, but then
will suddenly veer off to claw her scratching post excitedly (if
she's near that), or will suddenly turn around and get the zoomies
in a totally different direction, the ball forgotten. She has a
great time, but it's not about hunting.

Oscar's a bit like this. The second the ball or stuffed animal lands
on the ground, she loses interest.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 25 Apr 2006 21:13:40 GMT, wrote:

When I toss a foam ball for Licky to chase, he gets really serious
about it. He crouches down, head protruding forward, and watches the
ball intently before running after it - still low to the ground. When
he catches it, he picks it up in his mouth and looks around (no doubt
to make sure nobody's going to try to take his "prey"), then drops
it and starts batting it around.

Tessie is a Mighty Huntress too... her favourite balls are both small
and light enough for her to pick them up in her mouth and carry them
around and it's sooooo funny to watch her stalking her prey, then
pouncing on it and walking around with it in her mouth, growling
ferociously and saying 'don't anyone DARE try to take this away from
me'. When she's managed to steal some item of food she does the same
thing... 'this is MY prey! GO AWAY!'