Fetch

For a brief shining moment I got my kitten back today. My soon-to-be 16 year old cat, Sasha, suddenly decided he wanted to play fetch with me this morning. I was stunned! He hasn't played this game since he was probably 5 years old. I used to wow my friends and family with this odd dog-like behavior back in the day. He would play fetch with any object he could easily pick up and place in his mouth. His favorite item was this blue Bic stick pen I swiped from my job. Sasha would gleefully chase down the pen, bat it around the floor a bit (the hardwood and linoleum of my old apartment made for a nice ice hockey-like surface), pick it up gently with his two front paws and place it in his mouth for the return trip to my lap or my feet. I would throw and he would fetch...over and over and over. It was no fluke!

This morning he hopped up on my desk and deposited a green curl of plastic by my hand. It's one of those pull tabs you rip off the lid of a gallon of milk or water to pop the top off. He tapped my hand with his paw and made his "play with me" sound. In a state of shock, I complied. I threw the green plastic curly out into the family room...and he brought it back. I threw it into the kitchen and was reward with a skidding romp as he slid the length of the floor and stopped with a thud against the pantry door. He again brought it back. Fantastic! We played for about 20 minutes and I managed to snap a couple photos of him returning his toy to me for more tosses. He's sitting here on my desk as I type this, purring contentedly with one paw resting on my shoulder and looking at his own image on my screen. I think he is pleased I am talking about him.