Hello, I’m Christopher! Learn my introduction to be taught extra about me and my foolish Russian Blue cat, Olga.
Indoor cats don’t dwell very thrilling lives when their house owners aren’t round to entertain them. They will play with toys and interactive video games, tear up the furnishings, and nibble on houseplants, however they like interacting with their house owners to the alternate options. Though I earn a living from home, Olga’s playtime schedule doesn’t at all times align with mine.
Once I’m completed with work and dinner, she’s normally conked out on the sofa and doesn’t wish to chase a paper ball or run round the home. I don’t purchase new treats or toys as a result of I haven’t had a lot luck up to now, and Olga is an extremely opinionated feline.
Catnip’s Results
She likes catnip toys, however she will get bored with them rapidly. She undoubtedly enjoys the euphoria of catnip, and I’m not sure why, however she prefers to roll round on the kitchen ground relatively than the carpet when she’s hallucinating. Maybe the vinyl comforts her when she sees colourful patterns and fantasizes about flightless birds.
I haven’t given her catnip shortly, however I did one thing out of character final week and acquired her a bag of silver vine (Actinidia polygama) sticks. I used to be skeptical that they might have an effect on her since she’s a freak of nature, and like most cat house owners, I consider my cat is stranger than everybody else’s.
Prepping the Silver Vine
The directions on the silver vine bag mentioned to take away the bark earlier than giving it to your cat, which I assumed was odd since each image on the corporate’s web site had cats chewing on sticks with bark. Eradicating the bark is meant to make the silver vine extra fragrant and interesting to cats, and I believe they solely saved the bark on as a result of it appeared higher within the photographs.
Silver vine has a darkish brown bark, however the inside is lighter and fewer photogenic. I peeled the bark off with a potato peeler, and after I dumped it within the trash can, Olga ran over and began sniffing the ground round it. I known as her over to the lounge and held out the stick. She sniffed it for just a few seconds and tried to knock it out of my hand.
Olga’s Mystical Journey
Once I threw it out within the hallway, she ran to it, and for the subsequent 20 or half-hour, she rolled round on the ground, chewed on the stick, and acted like a contented drunk. Not like catnip, the silver vine saved her glued to the ground. After she stretched out, she didn’t wish to rise up.
Once I tossed the stick throughout the room, she scooted towards it through the use of her entrance legs as carpet paddles. I’ve by no means seen a lazy cat transfer so quick whereas mendacity down. Silver vine doesn’t have an effect on all cats, and I used to be involved Olga wouldn’t prefer it, but it surely turned her right into a comical idiot and allowed me to make an amusing movie.