Kitty Cars and Toilet Flushers

By Linda Spurlin

The other day some friends were laughing uproariously at a video clip they claimed to have seen on the internet of a cat repeatedly flushing the toilet and watching in utter fascination as the water swirled down the drain. I came home and told my daughter about this and we gave each other that knowing smirk with raised eyebrows that means, 'Yah, right'.

The next morning our cats began to wrestle and chase each other around the house and over furniture, through doorways, full tilt to almost airborne and then made repeated trips into a corner where my son's toy cars lay silently beckoning. The battery operated cars have push buttons that, when pressed, rev their engines, blare their horns, yell for more fire trucks to come assist, and play very loud music. The cats find this phenomenon amusing too. Especially in the middle of the night, or when they are competing for Wild Cat of the Year awards.

The chase stopped when the little fire truck's horn blasted and it's battery-powered commander began bellowing for backup assistance. The cats froze and their eyes widened. Then I swear they smiled as they leaped on the trucks and purposefully stepped repeatedly on the buttons that instigated the noise!

Daughter turned and looked at me and said, "So why is it we have trouble believing cats would flush the toilet to amuse themselves"?

The real question is what did I do to amuse myself before I had animals? While its true there has never been a time in my life when I didn't have animals, I really don't know what I'd do without them. Television is boring, disturbing, or repeats. Winter is, well you know, winter. Snow, ice, and sub freezing cold does nothing for me. Housework is hardly exciting, except when the cats realize I have unearthed their stash of Christmas ribbon or I take the hint when I see them staring under the cookstove and I rescue their little plastic balls with the noisy bells in them. To me, there just is no better entertainment then my animals!

What about you? Is your life missing something? Is your TV only background noise echoing in empty halls and not true entertainment? Are your evenings incomplete and you're tired of looking for love in a carton of ice cream? Stop the press, I have the solution!

Contact Becky's Best Buddies at (509) 935-6635, The Colville Pet Refuge at (509) 732-4126, or Stevens County Cat Care at (509) 935-MEOW. True love, nonstop entertainment, and that fuzzy feeling from having made a difference in someone's life will warm your soul on cold winter nights. And if you're lucky, your pet won't learn to flush the toilet and might even wear the batteries down in your kid's toys quickly enough for you to get a good night's sleep before they find something new to amuse themselves with.