Every cat has a favorite toy. Some cats prefer feather wands. Others love crinkly balls or toy mice. Ellie, however, has refined tastes. Her favorite toy in the entire house is… a sack.
Yes, a simple sack. Paper sacks, cloth sacks, shopping sacks—if it resembles a sack in any way, Ellie immediately assumes it was placed on the floor specifically for her entertainment.
The first and most important function of a sack is hiding. As soon as Ellie discovers a sack on the floor, she carefully climbs inside and settles down like she has discovered the coziest cave in the world. From this hidden fortress she can safely observe the mysterious behavior of the hoomans.
Occasionally, only her bright eyes and the tip of her nose peek out from the opening. She believes she is completely invisible. The hoomans, of course, can see the entire sack slowly wiggling across the floor, but we try not to ruin the illusion.
Sacks are also excellent places to hunt for toys. Ellie will dive inside and begin digging around as if buried treasure might be hiding at the bottom. Sometimes she finds a toy mouse. Sometimes she finds a crinkly ball. Sometimes she finds absolutely nothing at all—but the digging itself is clearly half the fun.
Then again, the sack doesn’t really need extra toys inside it. After a few minutes of investigation, Ellie usually realizes something important: the sack itself is the toy.
Soon the entire sack begins sliding, crinkling, pouncing, and rolling across the floor as Ellie wrestles with it from the inside. It looks less like a cat playing and more like a suspiciously animated grocery bag attempting to escape.
Eventually the great Sack Adventure comes to an end. Ellie pokes her head out, gives the room a satisfied look, and strolls away as if nothing unusual just happened.
The sack remains behind, slightly crumpled but honored. After all, it has just fulfilled its noble purpose: providing Ellie with the perfect hiding spot, a cozy nap cave, a toy storage unit, and a toy all by itself. One can find more on the importance of play for cats here.
Not bad for a simple sack.
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