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It's any one's guess how much understanding a cat has of the abstract. Since they'll play with most anything, individual choice being what it is, the concept of "this is replacing a live mouse" probably doesn't come into it. It's more based on instinctive behavior that conscious knowledge and understanding I think.
Back in the day when I used to bring my cats out into a fenced yard, the youngest once caught a mouse by accident. First, she was shocked that it was warm and wiggly and dropped it, but then grabbed on again. She grabbed on so hard though that she killed it and when she dropped it she expected me to pick it up and throw it for her, which of course I did not.
By contrast another cat, in the same yard, had survived on her own for quite a long time before being rescued by me and knew what a mouse was for. When SHE caught a mouse in the yard, she simple settled down to eat it and was greatly annoyed when I took it away from her.
Neither cat chose the fur toy mice as their toys of choice. I've only ever had one cat who liked them and then only one brand.
I agree with Catsmom. My cat was feral most of her life. She's eaten plenty of mice. When still feral and living the wild life, I once saw her eating a rat and teaching her kittens what it was. It was very much like a cougar bringing a kill in for her kittens to eat. Yes, it was disgusting but she knew how to survive.
Now that she's an indoor cat only with plenty of food, she has toys of various shapes and textures including one that looks very much like a mouse and is furry. She'll play with different toys at different times and pretends she is killing them. She'll give it a few swats, pounce on it then hold it close to her body while trying to tear it apart with her back paws and nails. The one that looks just like a mouse is not played more than the others.
More than shape, I think what triggers them to act on something is movement and size.
My cats love toy mice. The youngest, a 10 month old male cat, even likes to play "fetch" with them. He brings one to me in his mouth, drops it, and waits for me to throw it. He will do this again and again. He will also play with these toy mice on his own -- swat them around, run around the house with them.
As has been implied, I agree that cat toys in the shape of mice are more for we humans than they are for cats. Oh, cats do play with them, but it's been my experience that most cats like any toys that are roughly mouse-sized, which means just what it says. One of my cats, for example, never cared for toy mice, but loved foam balls--just foam rubber, like a Nerf ball but about the size of a golf ball. She would happily chase one up and down the stairs. Another cat I once had loved a ping-pong ball in the bathtub, where it would bounce like crazy.
There are exceptions--I once had an easygoing, inoffensive cat that ignored mouse-shaped toys but got very angry when any other cat tried to take his "cigar" away. No, it wasn't a real cigar; that's just what we called it. Actually, it was a brown canvas tube, sewn shut at both ends, that was stuffed with catnip. Larger than a mouse, but he could pounce on it, dig his front claws into it, bite it, and it was long enough that he could rake it with his back claws. And then, there was the one who enjoyed batting (ha!) a Major League baseball around the floor. Never tried to catch the baseball, just liked pushing it around.
They're not playing with toy mice, but they are being active, and getting some exercise. That's what's most important, no matter what their playthings are.
Of all the toys I've bought for my fur babies, the toy mouse has been the most successful. They have all turned up their noses at feather wands, balls (which all end up getting lost) and even the flippy fish you see on TV. In fact, I have one mouse tied to a broken fishing rod, and Tippi will drag the whole rig over to me when she's ready to play! Her big "brother" Iggy likes to destroy them, unfortunately.
Nah. My cat enjoys his stuffed vet, a long fabric tube filled with batting and catnip, a baby sock filled with catnip and sewn shut at the end, finger traps, a "topsy tail" type hair tool he stole from me, etc. as much as he enjoys his stuffed rat or lizard. What he knows: he's allowed to have them (he also likes playing with strings, knocking things off the desk, etc. but I don't let him), they're fun to play with, and most of them contain catnip.
It's any one's guess how much understanding a cat has of the abstract. Since they'll play with most anything, individual choice being what it is, the concept of "this is replacing a live mouse" probably doesn't come into it. It's more based on instinctive behavior that conscious knowledge and understanding I think.
Back in the day when I used to bring my cats out into a fenced yard, the youngest once caught a mouse by accident. First, she was shocked that it was warm and wiggly and dropped it, but then grabbed on again. She grabbed on so hard though that she killed it and when she dropped it she expected me to pick it up and throw it for her, which of course I did not.
By contrast another cat, in the same yard, had survived on her own for quite a long time before being rescued by me and knew what a mouse was for. When SHE caught a mouse in the yard, she simple settled down to eat it and was greatly annoyed when I took it away from her.
Neither cat chose the fur toy mice as their toys of choice. I've only ever had one cat who liked them and then only one brand.
Not criticizing Catsmom, just curious..... why did you take it away from her?
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