Hello, I’m Christopher! Learn my introduction to be taught extra about me and my foolish Russian Blue cat, Olga.

Cats’ looking instincts affect how they play with toys, however their play periods contain greater than evolutionary developments. Home cats are predators, and we frequently assume their conduct is predetermined by genetics. It’s exhausting to dispute that they love looking and taking part in, however most cats are clever sufficient to differentiate between them.

Olga the Hunter

My cat has solely hunted and killed bugs in my residence; a couple of years in the past, she chased down an anole (Anolis carolinensis), pinned it to the ground, and prevented it from scurrying below my dryer. She didn’t bat it round or chunk it in half. Olga is sometimes aggressive however doesn’t have a powerful prey drive or want to torture and eat a small lizard.

I’m not claiming that she’s extra peaceable than most cats since I haven’t let her outdoors to chase birds or rodents. She may very well be a ruthless killer of small animals, however I’ll by no means know since I feel her play conduct isn’t a superb indicator of her looking abilities.

Olga hits her toys and assaults them, however she additionally snuggles as much as them and typically falls right into a deep trance. If I let her outdoors and she or he handled mice and birds the identical means, the animals would injure her and probably suffocate after she fell asleep on them.

The Toy-Induced Trance

When she’s purring and stretched out with a toy nestled in opposition to her head, I can rub her stomach with out getting my hand ripped up. She purrs louder when cuddling along with her toys, and I feel she enjoys it greater than petting. And not using a toy, she would latch on to my hand and sink her fangs into it. Apart from the Siamese cat I owned, most felines hate it when anybody touches their intestine.

I used to suppose that solely her plastic plant holder despatched her to a different world. Nevertheless, catnip mice, paper balls, and silvervine sticks additionally calm Olga down and make her much less protecting. She doesn’t all the time do it however appears to take pleasure in sleeping on her toys. Within the morning, I typically see a paper ball or plush mouse on the foot of my mattress.

Olga’s Consolation Blanket

When she was youthful, she used to tug her plant holder round the home and drop it at my ft to encourage me to play with it. She acted like Linus along with his ragged blue blanket; like him, her favourite inedible object comforted her. When she’s in a toy trance, I can examine her stomach for parasites and bumps, however she ultimately will get irritated and doesn’t permit me to brush her.

After Olga’s dental surgical procedure, I considered giving her a toy to distract her whereas I squirted the antibiotic into her mouth with a syringe, however I made a decision in opposition to it. She wasn’t very cooperative when she noticed the oral treatment in my hand, however I didn’t need her to affiliate considered one of her toys with a traumatic expertise.  She’s completely happy when she’s in a trance, and since she’s typically a grumpy cat, I like seeing her in a superb temper.