Animal antics Archives

Midnight Mischief and Feline Antics

Last night, I wasn’t feeling 100%, so I cut our usual bedtime play session short. A bit after I went to bed, I heard muttering and tiny mews between the two cats, followed by thumps and bumps. I figured they were just wrestling.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I found all our bedtime toys scattered across the floor.

Banner’s look of Innocence photo credit Deb Neumann

They’d managed to open my top dresser drawer—where I keep their special toys—and pull everything out. Looks like they had a grand old time without me.

Balboa’s guilty look photo credit Deb Neumann

Banner Bites

Banner is my little purr machine. His purr is loud, constant, and oddly comforting. He’s confident, happy, and most content when stretched across my desk while I work. Sometimes he rests his head on my hand, quietly soaking up the moment. Other times—without warning—he bites me.

Banner’s favorite spot to snooze- photo credit Deb Neumann

Not a gentle nibble. A full wrist-in-mouth ambush. If I were petting him, I’d chalk it up to overstimulation. But often, he goes from serene to shark in seconds.

Banner also moonlights as my shower sentinel. He perches on the sink, watching like a hawk. The danger zone? When I bend to dry my legs. That’s his cue to launch a shoulder attack. I’ve started warning him not to bite—not that he listens.

Balboa’s Boldness

Balboa may be shy with strangers, but with me, he’s a force of nature. His demands begin with insistent meows. Even if he’s just spent an hour napping on my lap, any interruption earns a dramatic protest.

Balboa – Photo credit Deb Neumann

If I’m working, he stretches up my leg and hooks his claws into me to get attention. Recently, he’s taken to leaping onto my shoulder. At first, it was cute. Now? He adds a surprise chomp to the top of my head. Ouch.

Playtime Tactics

Each cat has a distinct play style. Banner is the stealthy ground force. He hides in paper bags with holes in the bottom, lying perfectly still with just his tail exposed. Then—bam!—a paw shoots out to swat a toy. That’s Balboa’s cue to pounce on the bag. Chaos ensues.

Paper Bag ambush – photo credit Deb Neumann

If Banner is infantry, Balboa is air force. He chases wand toys mid-flight with acrobatic leaps and bounds. It’s always entertaining—and occasionally hazardous to nearby furniture.

Balboa of the flying cat-endas Photo credit Deb Neumann

Conclusion: The Joy of Feline Mayhem

Living with Banner and Balboa is like hosting a nightly improv show starring two furry chaos agents. They’re quirky, demanding, and occasionally bitey—but they’re also endlessly entertaining. Whether they’re raiding drawers, launching surprise attacks, or staging elaborate play battles, they remind me daily that life with cats is never dull.

WWE for Cats Photo credit Deb Neumann

And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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You think children are bad at Christmas? They are in the stores and they want, want want. They get excited and over tired and pout. I don’t care what the song says about not pouting or crying it happens. They are just overstimulated.

Well my 3 cats would put any child to shame. Hard to believe it when they look so innocent.

You heard about Rocky’s attack on the Christmas tree

and Buddy’s destruction of my winter wonderland but wait till I tell you the rest of the story.

I have been thinking about getting one of those toys they advertise on the late night infomercials called Cat’s Meow.

Its supposed to entertain all cats. I was hesitating because they already have a similar toy and they have no interest in it. But I was wandering through the “As Seen on TV” section at CVS and low and behold…there was the Cat’s Meow and they were 2 for $19.00. Same price as TV but no shipping this way. So in a moment of weakness I bought them.

Cat’s can’t read so I brought them in the house and set them on the table. I figured I’d open them up on Christmas. What I want to know is how do those 3 cats know that it was something for them in the boxes? They zeroed in on them immediately. It didn’t take long before the plop, plop of the boxes landing on the floor came to my ears. Sure enough, the boxes weren’t just on the floor, one was being pushed around while the other one had a cat perched on top of it. (I didn’t give in. They still have to wait.)

Rocky has had a heat lamp for about a year now. He is the only one of the 3 cats that ever paid much attention to it. He lounges the day away basking like a sun lover at the beach. There’s a story behind the heat lamp but I won’t bore you with it now. Suffice it to say that I got the result I was looking for so it was a good investment.

The problem now is that Smokey has started trying it out. The first time, about a month ago , was only for a couple of minutes and then he moved on. But about a week later he was under it again and Rocky wasn’t happy about it. Now as soon as Rocky gets down, whether to get a drink of water, or something to eat or use the litter box, Smokey is right there to take over and he isn’t giving it up when Rocky comes back. This is causing Rocky to become very distressed but he shares his annoyance with me instead of Smokey. Rocky follows me around meowing and getting underfoot until Smokey gets down and relinquishes the sunlamp lit perch. Tonight the only way Smokey got down was for a handful of kitty treats.

Does this mean I need to get another sunlamp now for Smokey? And what a coincidence that he’s doing this right before Christmas. (I want, I want, I want)

Who says cats aren’t smart?!