R -- Recreation

R is for recreation. When we don't have to run to chase our prey and flee from predators, we still have to get exercise, so we have to have fun somehow.

There are lots of cat toys. Some of my favorites that I have used are :

• balls, that either my human throws and I chase, or I just play with
• boxes, either as something to scratch or something to get balls out of
• rolls of paper towels, either as something to attack and kill, or something to get balls out of
• bottle caps, to chase across the room like a hockey puck
• mousie toys, to chase across the room. Some other cats I know would fetch these to bring them back to their human
• bigger stuffed animals or socks, to kill
• feathers, to chase when my human dangles them at the end of a string
• shoelace -- I preferred the shoelace end of the feather-on-a-shoelace so much, he just gave up on the feather part
• treats or kibble. Sometimes he can toss them so I can chase them. Binx really loves this
• The red dot of a laser. I got a little crazy with this. I could never tell if I caught it. I didn't like it as much as some of the other toys.
• playing with a pencil when my human tries to do a crossword puzzle

Getting the ball out of the box or the tube reminds me of hunting when I got the mouse out of its hole or the bird out of its nest.

There are also some less-active recreational activities, where I pass the time without running or killing things:

• Watching birds out the window
• watching other things out the window
• watching over the house from a high place
• sitting near my human while he is stationary
• watching videos on YouTube