Sometimes, when we’re busy, Mulder has to make his own fun.
He chews through the clasp(s) on his collar(s).
He dresses up for the holidays.
He steals my feather duster.
He steals our french fries.
He pre-opens our gifts.
He makes sure my bathroom sink has an adequate coating of cat fur.
He always finds something to do!
I wouldn’t say that we live in the middle of nowhere but I also wouldn’t say we live in an area known for having a wide variety of fun things to do. Especially on a week-night.
So, we have to find ways to amuse ourselves. Sometimes that means covering a comforter in USPS Priority Mail tape, sometimes it means watching really bad movies on the Sci-Fi Channel. (I’m talking about you “The Beast of Bray Road”.)
Sometimes, when extreme boredom looms awfully close, that means tormenting, I mean playing with, the cats.
I know I talk about our cat, Mulder, more than is probably considered normal or healthy but he’s just so much fun to play with. It is impossible to predict how he’ll react to being the focus of our attentions but he never reacts with annoyance.
Once, using static cling, I attached a receipt to his back. I assumed he’d, at least, try to remove it. Nope. He walked away and took a nap with the receipt still stuck to his back. While not quite what I was hoping for, I still found it mildly amusing.
Tonight, GrumpyD decided he wasn’t looking quite as fabulous as he should and a purple “feather” boa was JUST what he needed.
He made no attempt to get rid of the boa.
A cat who has destroyed every single collar we’ve ever attempted to put on him, proudly wore a purple feather boa until we decided he’d been wearing it long enough.
Maybe the collars we’ve tried just weren’t stylish enough for him.
Maybe he’s an odd little cat.
In either case, he amuses the heck out of us.
Chunk is the only known specimen of the Cuban Lizardus Mulderus (Mulder’s Cuban Lizard).
This is Mulder.
Mulder has a lot of energy and is quite playful. He also plays fetch. He’ll bring me a toy and then yell at me unti l throw it, so he can run and fetch it, bring it back and start yelling at me again. He can also turn just about anything into a toy, but his all-time favorite toy started off as green rubbery and stretchy lizard toy.
The lizard was fun to fetch but it was also lots of fun to pull apart. Mulder would stretch the lizard appendages until they popped off. The head went first, then the tail, then one by one the legs disappeared. It eventually became known as ”The Torso”.
Mulder didn’t stop at the appendages though and “The Torso” got to the point it really couldn’t be considered a torso anymore.
When he managed to get it down to about a 1 inch cube, GrumpyD called it “Mulder’s Cuban Lizard”.
I didn’t get the whole Cuban thing until she held it up and pointed out that it was now similar in shape to a cube. Cube-an lizard. (I love GrumpyD, she’s too darn clever and funny.)
Anyway, “cuban lizard” is a mouthful when trying to direct Mulder to get a certain toy (he’s very smart!). So, it became known as “Chunk”.
Chunk disappeared one day and Mulder searched high and low for it. He looked under the entertainment center, behind the couch, under the couch and even in the couch cushions, to no avail. No one had any idea where Chunk had disappeared to and eventually Mulder gave up on his search. He made do with furry mice toys.
Then, yesterday, he batted one of his furry mice under the stove. Since Mulder will sit next to the stove/fridge/whatever he’s batted a toy under and yell at me until I rescue it for him, I got out the broom and tried to sweep the mouse out from under the stove.
On my first sweep, out came Chunk!
I had never seen a cat react ecstatically to anything until Mulder laid eyes on Chunk. Oh. My. God. He purred and rubbed his head all over Chunk. He no longer cared about the lost furry mouse toy. He had Chunk!
Since then I’ve been playing what must be the longest running game of fetch, ever. During the times I’m unable to throw Chunk, Mulder puts it in places I’ll be sure to eventually notice it. Like in my shoes, or in my purse, or where I put my feet when I’m sitting at the computer. He loves Chunk.
Strangely enough, the mouse toy that prompted my sweeping under the stove never came out on any subsequent sweeps. Perhaps it volunteered to take Chunk’s place in Lost Toy Heaven, so Mulder could be reunited with his long-lost love.
