Okay, so, if you’re like me, you’re obsessed with your cats, and their happiness is a top priority. So, if they are hungry or lose something, your heart breaks for them. Cats have very special, individual personalities, and they have their favorites. My cats know their favorite flavor treats, and they have their favorite toys. My son cat, Pepper’s, favorite toy is his gray and pink snail. He’s always knocking said toy under couches, closet doors, fridges, and anything he can find. He then promptly meows in sadness until I tear the house apart searching for it. I went through quite the ordeal the other week when I could not find the toy anywhere. Those of you who follow me on Facebook have seen my cat toy updates. Many people have told me that these updates "make their life," so I decided to make a post about the stages of your cat losing its toy.
Stage 1: The Usual ‘Again?’
The first time your cat comes to you upset because it “lost” its favorite toy again, it isn’t that big of a deal. There’s the typical rolling of the eyes as you go to check all the usual places, your cat trailing behind you. Under the couch? No. In the closet? No. The other closet? No…
Stage 2: Frustration/Confusion
Where’s the damn toy? What did you do with it? Why do you always lose things? You recheck all the places you just checked as well as check under other appliances like ovens, fridges, and opening all the doors in the house. Still no toy, your cat’s sad face staring at you in impatient silence. Where is it? It couldn’t have just disappeared.
Stage 3: Panic
"I’m the worst mother ever. I have to find this toy for my cat. He won’t be happy again until I find it. He expects me to find it like I always do, and I can’t." Heart shattering starts here. Then, you tear apart the house. Couch cushions come up, dressers get pulled off the wall, things get knocked over. You’re looking inside vases and on top of cabinets twice as tall as you. All logic is gone. The world is dark.
Stage 4: Surrender/New Plan
"That’s it. It’s gone. I don’t know where it went, but it isn’t here. Maybe he ate it for all I know." Then you go off to the internet searching the whole web for the same toy, and you overnight it to the house. The problem will be solved in just a couple days. Until then you have to deal with your cat wandering around the house in sadness looking for the toy. I recommend a blindfold. Or tissues.
Stage 5: Success
The new toy comes. You open it and call your cat over. He’s ecstatic. Or at least, my cat was. He jumped up and grabbed it right out of my hand and lay with it on the floor for 20 minutes just looking at it. That’s true love right there, y’all. Everything is over, and the problem is solved. You have been successful...
Bonus Stage: Repeat the Cycle
...for about a week. Fair warning: it never ends. Your cat will lose the toy again, and again, and again. If your life is anything like mine, not only will your cat lose the toy, but when you find it, you’ll find the old one too (wherever the hell that came from…you swore you looked everywhere), and now your cat has two toys…two toys to lose.
My best advice? Just buy several backups to keep around. Because if you’re anything like me, your cat’s happiness is a top priority, and while having a box of five of the same toy shoved in the back of a closet may seem quite irrational to the everyday person, to a cat owner, it’s just another day in the life. Oh, and, take it from me, don’t forget to check under the fridge.
