Christmas Kitty Antics

Usually we go away for Christmas and the kitties are on their own (with a cat-sitter of course). But we stayed home this year, so the kitties got to experience a full-sized Christmas tree for the first time. Ever since we have had the cats, I haven't put up a tree due to a combination of not being home for Christmas and being terrified of what the cats would do to the tree. I can just imagine Pepper trying to climb the tree, and the whole thing toppling over. So I planned to put the tree up and see how they reacted to it, and then add decorations a little at a time. When I put it up, they were so disinterested in it, I decided to tempt fate and put tinsel on it too (making the tree look like a giant mylar teaser stick). After a few days with nothing dramatic happening (but the tinsel definitely moved around on the tree a little), I added ornaments and lights. A couple of ornaments did get knocked off of the tree (by Oreo, the little pretend angel!), so by the time Christmas rolled around, the bottom of the tree was barren of ornaments, as I moved them up closer to the top everytime one got knocked off :) We also noticed a cat-sized anomaly near the bottom of the tree. There were clearly some kitty antics involved in that. I think Pepper may have jumped on one of the branches and it got bent down.

Here are some pictures of the Christmas Day kitty antics.

Both of the cats were pretty interested in the stockings, but Oreo was the first to conclude that there were cat toys poking out of the little stockings:



Oreo was unusually excited by the little red mice with green tails that she got in her stocking. She was tossing one of them around and then carrying it around in her mouth (which Oreo never does with toys!). It was quite Pepper-like:

Pepper was pleased with her stocking toys too, but eventually a kitty needs to rest after laying the smackdown on so many toys:

But pretty soon, Pepper was ready to get to the main event -- the presents:


Oreo, on the other hand, just wanted a little cuddle time with Rob:


Pepper got a new tunnel for Christmas. She used to have a tunnel, which she loved (and was very possessive of). But eventually someone peed in the tunnel (I suspect it was Rob... he gets jealous when the cats have too much fun without him), and that was the end of that. I can't remember where I got the original tunnel, and I haven't managed to find a tunnel quite as good ever since. So finally for Christmas I decided that some tunnel is probably better than no tunnel. So I got her a super crinkly tunnel. It is a bit smaller in diameter than the old one, but it has a hole on the top, which is cool. The old tunnel was lined with fleece (or something soft) which may have been part of the allure. The new tunnel is not. So I wasn't sure if she'd be into the new one. She eventually figured it out, and decided to engage with it:


She seems to like the tunnel. She periodically happens upon and it has a few minutes of fun sprinting through the tunnel and popping out the top.

Oreo, on the other hand, just wanted to cuddle.


Oreo got a cat bed for Christmas. Oreo doesn't typically sleep in bed with us. She often sleeps on the floor in the bedroom, or on top of a duffel bag when she can find one (which is pretty frequent, since we never get around to putting away luggage after a trip or a weekend in Monterey :P). I was hoping I could put the bed in the same spot where she usually sleeps (and where the duffel bags often sit) and she would use it instead. So I found this bed that is a sack of sorts, since she loves to climb into bags. Basically it lies flat like a bed but she can dig around inside of it if she wants. And it is really soft and cuddly. She hasn't figured out what it is yet. We put some treats in it to encourage her to try it out. She ate the treats, and then promptly curled up in the duffel bag next to it. Sigh. I hope that one day she randomly notices that it is soft and tries sleeping on it.

In the meantime, she really just wants to cuddle: