String!

    I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that this kitty might like playing with string. Despite my protestations to the contrary, I'm really not a total idiot, but somehow it slipped past me. It might be because Alice's older cat Madeline never seemed all that interested, though she liked it when we swung a yoyo at her so that she could bat at it. I certainly always knew that cats are supposed to like string.
    Amelia loves batting at my shoelaces. So eventually I remembered that I have a ball of string that I bought when I was giving my futon away. So after six years, I finally started playing with string with Amelia. I have created a monster! My fluency in kitty-speak isn't a lot better, but I know now what "More string!" sounds like. I also have re-kittenized an eight-year-old cat. This is a wonder and a joy, and only slightly a pain in the butt.
    I don't know what anybody else's experience is like, but I find that she plays best and most joyously when I keep the string just out of her reach so that she can chase it. I like to use my left arm since it's less coordinated so even I don't know where the string is going to go. This plays best on my bed. Uh-oh. Gotta go. "More string!" (Double uh-oh; she actually pooped on the bed. Gotta go; gotta put her in a sack and take her down to the river.)