Help!! I'm Being Stalked By My Cat!! #sponsored

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Rachael Ray Nutrish.   As always, thank you for reading and supporting our sponsors.

Help!! I'm Being Stalked!!

Imagine if you will, you have just finished enjoying a delicious dinner with your husband. Your cat and dog have been fed their favorite food, they have had their after-dinner "treat" and now you are ready to relax.  Try as you might, you can't. There is a nagging, gnawing feeling that you are being watched.

You shrug it off, labeling it as unnecessary paranoia. You make your way into the bathroom to leave a deposit in your human litter box before resuming your evening activities. You sense that you aren't alone. You imagine that you hear the nearly silent sound of cat paws making their way across the cold, stark, bathroom floor tiles.

You CANNOT shake the feeling that you are being watched.

You are..............

Help!! I'm Being Stalked By My Cat!!

Allow me to explain. It all started innocently enough. After Cody had become ill after his vaccines a few months back, he seems to have taken a drink from the Fountain of Youth!  My I-won't-budge-unless-there-is-food-involved cat  has evolved into a mean,  NOT-SO-LEAN,  gray-striped playing machine! He strikes after dinner each and every night and he CANNOT get enough. His toy of choice is his Neko Fly, his playmate of choice? ME!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Cody with all of my heart and cherish my time with him. I am WELL aware of the fact that being a responsible pet parent involves more than just feeding healthy and tasty food, regular veterinary check ups and providing a safe and loving environment. I KNOW that being the best pet parent that I can be involves active, one-on-one play time with my cat. I know all of this and it is all true. Playtime is a MUST. 

I take my responsibilities as a pet parent seriously, and helping to ensure that my cat is a HAPPY CAT who KNOWS that he is loved, is serious business to me. But...even I deserve a break!

We all know that cats have an innate sense of time that makes them furry, four-legged alarm clocks that know the PRECISE time that events that are important to them, (such as eating!) are supposed to take place. Cody is no different. He  is keenly aware of my routine, and if I do NOT make an appearance in the bedroom (his preferred area of play), when he  KNOWS I am supposed to required to appear, he will stoically maintain his vigil. He will sit, in the dark, ALONE...lurking...waiting...watching. His opaque-green eyes wide with anticipation. If I am in the bathroom that is attached to the bedroom, he will stalk me there. I am not permitted out of his range of vision UNTIL I PLAY.

Cody has a definite ritual involved in his play. He knows where "toy" (his name for his Neko  Fly toy), is kept. He will stand on his hind legs by the dresser drawer and meow for his furry pal to make an appearance. He will "warm-up" and get limber by doing a cobra stretch,  rolling and languishing on the carpet. Then, the fun begins! I sing a couple of songs while he plays, (which I spared your having to hear on the video below)

 Be sure to watch his moves ALL the way through, especially the last few frames!

There you have it! An inside peek into what has become an early evening ritual for me (whether I want it to be or not!), and a new found obsession/passion for Cody.

If that is all that it takes to help keep Cody happy and healthy, then I am one lucky pet parent. The sense of fulfillment and peace that he brings to me and the hours of love and laughs are worth sacrificing fifteen or twenty minutes an evening, don't you agree?

Help!! I'm Being Stalked By My Cat!!

and I wouldn't have it any other way!


What are the daily rituals that you share with YOUR cat(s)? Are they rituals that are your choice or based on your cat insisting that things be a certain way?