You all know by now that I’m an adventure cat, using my super blindie senses to explore the great outdoors. What you might not know is what an adventure cat does when there’s not much opportunity to go and explore, where does all that energy go? Well let me tell you what I do, I make my own adventures, the dining room becomes an adventure track for what mummy calls ‘circuit training’ or ‘kitty speedway’.
One day I suddenly realised that I have got all this space to play and run around in, I can get my exercise and get the walkies that I’m not getting outside, inside instead. So I thought that I’d start off giving the dining room a try, surely there’s something I can use in here, what about the dining table, I used to use it as a maze in our old house, chasing my toys in and around the chair legs and under the table. I fancied something different though so off I went round the dining room table, first one lap, then another and another, hey this is actually quite fun, so on I went just quietly by myself, round and round and round I went. I started off slow but one I got going I quickened up to make it that little bit more difficult and challenging. You know me I’m not the kind of kitty that does anything the easy way. Before I knew it I was getting a little bit tired so I stopped for a brief rest, then off again. I heard mummy walking past and she laughed and said “what you doing Jenny, are you circuit training?” Well yes I am I meowed back to her and off I went again.
I find it such a fun thing to do that now every morning as mummy’s getting ready to go to work I start off the day with a session of circuit training. Stopping every now and again to meow to mummy to make sure she’s put her boots on, I stop to help her with this and chase her boot laces, then round again as she puts her coat on and then as she gets her bag. Finally she’s ready to go so I give her a little meow to say bye bye and off round the table again. Mummy took a video of me but coz I went round so many times she had to speed it up or the video would have been too long, she said it would be like watching a kitty version of a formula 1 race which daddy calls roundy roundy too.
Then, you’ll remember that mummy’s brother brought us a huge kitty wheel to play in when he came to stay with us at Catmas. Well, I’ve been working hard with mummy and daddy to get used to it, first sitting on it and getting used to how it feels, it sways slightly as I get on which is a kind of nice feeling. Then a little step one way and it moves, it makes an unusual noise, a slight low rumbling, swishing noise which takes a bit of getting used to. I was a bit nervous at first so mummy encouraged me with a toy to chase, this was ok but then as she lent down her hair was moving around on the wheel and off I went after it, I like trying to catch mummy hair when she washes it, she lets it flop down and tickle my face. I took a few steps running on the wheel to chase it, it was quite fun so we went again, just short little bursts as it’s and odd sensation for a blind cat to understand, so many elements to take in and adjust to. This was going to be a fun challenge to conquer.
Each day I’d get on the wheel, sometimes just sitting there, gently swaying getting used to the motion and feel. Sometime sitting there waiting for someone to play with me so I could make it a little more fun. Gradually bit by bit getting more used to it and building my confidence up. Every time I used it mummy and daddy would give me lots and lots of encouragement and say go on Jenny you can do it and then tell me how clever I am and that I’m a good girl. Then one day I thought I don’t need them to help me, I can do this by myself and so one evening when they were sitting in the living room watching tv I hopped on and just started walking. I could hear mummy and daddy whispering to each other “look, she’s doing it” and in typical cat style as I heard the sound of the phone being picked up I stopped. I’m not ready to be filmed just yet, and this is how it went for a while, I’d have a walk on the wheel, just long enough for the phone to come out and then a couple of seconds into filming that was enough. It was a fun game to play with mummy and daddy.
Now, I just get on and off doing a little walk here and there, one time going to the left and others going to the right. I’ve even learned how to do twirlies at the bottom of the wheel when changing direction. It’s just a gentle walk at the moment, unless mummy or daddy play with me then it’s a little run to catch the toy but that still feels a bit scary so it’s just a quick burst then back to walking.
Then one day mummy was dusting, I love helping mummy dust, I follow her round meowing to tell her the bits she’s missed but also to catch the fluffy thing she uses, it makes a really subtle noise that I just can’t resist. Everywhere the duster goes I want to go too, chasing it and trying to catch it. As mummy dusted the window sills next to the wheel and instead of jumping on the window sill like I normally do I hopped onto the wheel to try to get close to it, meowing happily as I tried to get that pesky fluffy duster. Then mummy said “come on Jen your wheel needs a dust too” and that was it, off we went, mummy on the outside, dusting and me on the inside getting it moving and meowing excitedly in the process, this was such fun. Mummy said we were the perfect team and let me tell you that wheel got a serious dusting and mummy and I got a fun playtime too.
So as you can see, there’s no reason not to exercise just because the outdoors is a bit miserable, all it takes is a bit of imagination. Millie and Angelin don’t seem to want to play my roundy, roundy game or have a little walk on the wheel but they play much more with our regular toys than I do so they burn off a lot of energy that way. They don’t like the outdoors and going walkies like I do so they don’t miss that type of exercise when it’s not nice enough to go out for long enough to have a good walk. Isn’t it good that we’re all different.
Jenny’s Story 