This week I came down with Three-Day Killer Death Flu. I also had a high-pressure deadline at work, so my cats didn’t get as much attention as they’re used to. Fortunately, instead of complaining, they decided to help out around the house.
I woke up yesterday morning to find that the cats were cleaning their toys.
I took that picture on my phone and posted it to Facebook. As I was typing the caption, my cat Seffie came into the kitchen. By the time I’d finished typing (I’m a slow phone typist), she’d had taken the toy out of the bowl and was playing with it. Apparently it had been soaking long enough.
This morning, I woke up to this:
So I took out the toy and changed the water. I also give them fresh food every morning; when I turned around after throwing out the old food, this is what I saw:
The blue toy may not be obvious in that photo, but you can see it in this close-up.
I wonder what I’ll find in the kitchen tomorrow.
Update: I’ve started a Things I Found In My Cat’s Water Bowl tumblr.
Unlikely Explanations 
Love it!!! They really do have their own agendas don’t they!
I wish I knew what her agenda was! The first time, I just assumed the toy had fallen into the bowl by accident. But now it’s clear that she’s trying to accomplish something — I just have no idea what.
Is that a spring? Funny sort of toy for a cat. Does it bounce its paw on it?
It is a spring, but I think they like the way it rolls around on the floor more than the springiness.
That’s where I keep mine too.
Maybe that’s where she got the idea. I do see her reading your blog sometimes.
Huh. Now if they would only eat the food all over the floor we’d be in business. Ha ha that was a joke, they never do. Somehow floor food is contaminated.
I still haven’t figured out how they get all that food on the floor.
One of my cats scatters food because he shakes his head after taking a mouthful. It is the same reaction they use to snap the neck of the prey…not so effective on kibble.
But it works, right? The kibble never gets up and walks away after that.
Meanwhile, over on Seffie’s Facebook page, “. . . Poor Laura is down with the flu. I feel bad for her, really, I do, but being home from work has made her meddling even worse. I arrange my toys just the way I like and she comes along and moves them. I suppose she thinks she’s being helpful and she must be feeling proud of her accomplishment because she keeps taking pictures. Honestly, I hope she feels better soon and goes back to work so I can have a little space.”
P.S. I join Seffie in hoping you’re feeling better.
That can’t be my Seffie’s page — she never logs in to Facebook. That’s why she’s never responded to any of my friend requests.
I’m pretty much completely recovered, thanks.
Maybe they’re trying to tell you they want spring water.
Ha! I never thought of that.
My cat (who is fed twice a day and is a little on the podgy side) eats every scrap of food he finds in a demented frenzy – it’s always surprising to me to see that other cats actually leave food behind. The toy washing behaviour is fascinating.
You should see my other cat, Thunder. Figuring out what he’ll eat at any given time can be challenging.
What a beautiful cat. And clean, too.
Yes. Yes she is.
How nice of her to help you when you’re feeling so sick. Try and pile up some of your dirty dishes next to the bowl tomorrow.
One of my cats used to drink water but only if one of her paws was in the water at the same time. Then she’d scoop the water up with her paw and drink it that way. I think she was a zombie cat.
Do zombies drink water? I’ve watched every episode of The Walking Dead, and I’ve never seen a zombie drink a glass of water.
Maybe the zombies know that the human body is mostly water, so eating brains is the equivalent to drinking water.
Fortunately springs can hold their breath for a very impressive length of time.
:)
That’s good, because I’d hate to have to give them mouth-to- … um, whatever.
I’m impressed that they also recreate the constellations in Kitty Kibble on your kitchen floor?
I confess — I don’t always sweep my kitchen floor every day (especially when I have Killer Death Flu!). If you look really carefully, you can see there’s more kibble on the floor in the second picture.
Who would have thought that cats also do spring cleaning…
I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself. I need to go to remedial pun school.
I can’t honestly blame you for missing any puns: you are recovering from the Killer Death Flu, after all. I hope you make a full recover by your next post, and your commenters will be left with absolutely nothing clever to say.
Maybe leave some hand sanitizer out. I bet they use it…those germophobes.
They tend to turn up their noses at human-created chemical smells. They can be kind of snobbish about that.
At least they’re plastic toys. My cats dunk their toy mice. I wonder if that’s the feline equivalent of dunking Oreos?
Maybe they think the mice are thirsty.
I want some of those springy toys for Oliver.
Cousin Spade washes all his toys. He has killed all his electric toys and drowned the squeaky in his squeaky tows. His favorite toy, Teddy, takes a bath at least once a week. And Cousin Gracie? She does not approve. She refuses to drink out of the bowl if there’s a toy in it.
Thunder and I watched Seffie play with one of these toys all by herself for five minutes straight this afternoon. She’d pick it up, carry it to a different spot in the living room, then put it down, at which point either a) it would roll away and she’d chase it, or b) it would stay in place, so she’d walk a few steps away and stalk it, and then she’d bat it around, and then she’d pick it up …
I’d been trying to get Thunder to play with a different toy when this all started, but we were both too distracted to continue.
I am very much enjoying your cats and your blog. I can completely relate to the “Total Recall” post–I have a Saturn.
What I find fascinating about this post in particular is that the cats’ water bowl mfg thinks that a) cats read: “water”, and b) cats that can’t read can recognize the universal, human symbol for water (faucet). I believe I have found my masters thesis.
My last car was a Saturn!
Every time I take a water bowl picture, I kick myself for buying this bowl. The pictures would have turned out better if I’d had a bowl with a plain interior.