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My cat Kuma has a very big obsession with a certain "toy" of his. I say "toy" like this because it is really a strip of plastic that came off of a 28lb. plastic bucket of Scoop Away (Its the strip they perferate so that you can peel it off and open the lid, like on a milk bottle but about 3.5 feet long and very strong plastic).

Anyway, he used to love to throw it around the kitchen and whatnot so we let him keep it (who doesn't let their cat play with trash at some point!), but the past 2 weeks or so all he wants to do is play with it. The problem is that now he cannot play with it by himself because he wants someone to sweep it back and forth across the floor for him to chase.

He will either cry at the top of his lungs until we come in the kitchen or find us in whatever room we're in and cry until we follow him to the kitchen. Once there, he cutely puts his paw on it and looks from you to the toy. No matter how long you wave the darn thing around he's never satisfied. It has gotten to the point where he's asking to be played with every 10 min. or so. He won't really do anything else. If someone's in the kitchen, he's going to make you wave it around!

I don't know if I should let him keep it and just deal with all the crying and whatnot or take it away from him at least for a while. He gets very upset when he tells you he wants to play and you don't, but on the other hand, I think he'd be really upset if we took it away! Does anyone know if this is bad for him mentally? Is he going nuts or something? I was just curious because it seems so odd for a cat to be obsessed!

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-Martha
Kuma
Bubba, formerly known as "Ducky"
and
Macaroni

My guess is that he's associated his "toy" with attention from you which he craves. I would put the "toy" away and take it out daily for a selected play time. As long as you are playing a few times a day with him and not ignoring him he should be all right. When he cries for attention and you are busy, just ignore him, hard as it is.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

What a beautiful kitty! Have you given him other toys and he's rejected them? He sounds like a sweetheart

Destany

Thank you, I think he's the most beautiful cat in the world! And to top it off today is his birthday! We have a basket in the living room FILLEd with toys of all sorts (balls, catnip mice, catnip fish and lizards and everything imaginable). He used to love to play the game where I throw balls against the wall, but he's lost interest in it since this new thing came along. We also got a Panic Mouse 360 for Macaroni and Kuma's 3rd birthdays a few weeks ago and he loves that. I feel so bad now when I don't play with his toy when he asks because he tries so hard to communicate what he wants and I feel I'm just disregarding it! But no matter what happens, he's my "snoogie" and I love him more than life itself. It's so nice to have a kitty cat soulmate!
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-Martha
Kuma
Bubba, formerly known as "Ducky"
and
Macaroni

I keep Gabby's toy that she is obsessed with in the closet. I take it out when I can to play with her. It's called Da'Bird. It's one of those strings with feathers on it. She loves it. If she hears me open the closet she comes running. Usually when the other cats hear us playing htey come also. Except Tucker. He doesn't play any more. I guess he thinks he is to old for that or something.
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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker