Curiosity Killed the…

I can’t wait for Christmas because I can’t wait to give my 4 cats their gifts. I scoured the internet and my local independent pet stores to find perfect presents for each of them.
Since I never taught them to read, it’s safe to show off their gifts here.

Penny, our 3 1/2 year old yellow tabby with an enlarged heart, crafty brain, and protective nature is getting the Tower Tunnel.

I found this gem at The Cat Connection, a wonderful online cat store.

Raccoons come up to our patio and even though Penny is intrigued by them, she also hates them. Tiny little Penny will pound her paws on the glass trying to get them to back off. But the raccoons are brave and have much faith in double paned glass, so they ignore the feisty cat.

The Tower Tunnel is going right up against the sliding glass door in our dining room so she can sit either in the hole or on top and scratch and be mad all she wants.

Penny gets what Penny wants is the house rule.

Finnegan is our problem solving, cerebellar hypoplasia, brown tabby kitten. He’s the youngest in the house at 14 months old. He is very smart, very loving, and very, very playful. For Christmas, his first Christmas as a Judge kitty, he’s getting the Fling-ama-String Motorized Cat Toy; another find from The Cat Connection.

I tend to think that motorized cat toys are lame but the video for the Fling-ama-String sold me.
It’ll be set up on the doorknob of the coat closet downstairs so Finnegan, Annie, and Penny can all enjoy it. I just hope they let each other have a go at it.

Annie is another tabby (gray) and also 3 (but a month older than Penny) and has been with us since we lived in California. She picked Mike and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

Annie likes to climb, scratch, show off, and have fun. For her I selected Bootsie’s Combination Scratcher made by SmartCat. I love SmartCat, they really do make both clever and sturdy products.

Even though The Cat Connection carries it, I bought it at Mud Bay, my favorite local, independent pet store. (Might as well save on shipping where I can.)

I’ve had my eye on this scratcher for a few years now and have always wanted to buy it. It can be mounted on a wall (which I what I will do with it) and I can really see Annie hanging off it as she gets Mike’s attention.

The final kitty on my Christmas List is Oliver. Oliver was our first kitten together. Oliver came to us when he was 18 days old and he and I have a very special bond. He’s a gray/brown tabby, very large, and another 3 year old: younger than both Annie and Penny.

He’s actually quite hard to buy for because I wanted to get him something he could enjoy without adult supervision. He has a tenancy to eat things he shouldn’t so anything with parts small enough to fit in his large mouth just wouldn’t do.

Oliver is getting the Turbo Scratcher made by Bergen.

We already have a blue one and now Oliver is getting the green one (he lives apart from the other cats). I really like this toy because it gives cats a lot of movement.
They can stand on the scratcher and push the ball around the track or they can stay close to the ground and play the part of the hunter. It’s a great design and always piques the interest of my cats.

The reason I’m making a special point to give each feline a gift is because last year I didn’t get them anything. Mike and I had just bought our townhouse and we were given a great 6′tall tree by a client of mine who was moving to Japan. I felt that the new tree and excitement of a new home was gift enough.

Also, last Christmas was Stella’s one and only Christmas with us and that’s the one year I didn’t buy presents for my kiddos.
I’ll never make that mistake again.

I know better than to wrap all of these presents: the cats will just play in the wrapping paper and ignore the fancy new toys.