Eddie waits for Annie to check out the pumpkin.
October is flying by and it will soon be Halloween. This year we have been so busy with work we have not taken the time to slow down and enjoy the change of seasons. I had the good fortune to attend the Purina Better With Pets Summit in New York this past week. This amazing event brings leading scientists and pet experts together to showcase how innovations are enhancing relationships between people and pets. This year’s Better With Pets featured fifteen expert presentations on scientific, nutritional and behavioral innovations to help better understand why our lives are better with pets.
When I returned from my trip, it seemed like the trees around our home had all turned to varying shades of yellow, orange, red and brown. The Ginkgo tree is the last to turn with her fan shape leaves still clinging to their green color. This reminded me how quickly time passes by and if we aren’t careful we miss out on all the wonder that is happening right around us.
We talk a lot about environmental enrichment and why it is so important for our cats. We know that we need to keep our cats mentally stimulated to be happy and healthy. Our indoor cats’ desires are much the same as their wildcat cousins so it is up to us to provide them with items that entertain and pique their curiosity. These items don’t need to be fancy or expensive. They can be as simple as a few pumpkins and a golden Maple leaf.
Eddie sniffs the pumpkin after he sees Annie is alright.
Because I realized it was late October already, I decided to decorate our table with a few beautiful orange pumpkins. We have many other wonderful Halloween decorations. My favorite is a set of three Nelson McCoy black cats and an Owl lantern that our great Aunt Louise gave us when we were children. But with young curious cats in the house, we limited our decorations and the simplicity of the three orange pumpkins is quite beautiful really.
Annie is always the first to check out anything new that enters the house. It didn’t take her long to leap up onto the table to sniff the pumpkins. Eddie is always more reserved and waits to see if Annie signals him that it is safe to proceed. Mercy makes a great supervisor and as you can see is so handsome we don’t need to place the ceramic black cats on the mantle.
Mercy supervises the activity.
The next morning when I went out to get the newspaper, I found a big beautiful Maple leaf. I remembered how afraid Gracey would get when these big leaves would rustle across the porch outside our office. I would bring a few leaves in for her to see that they really aren’t so scary after all.
Annie and Eddie inspect the Maple leaf
I picked up the leaf and brought it back inside with me. The sun had just started to shine in through the kitchen window when I presented the leaf to Annie and Eddie. Once again, Annie sniffs the leaf first while Eddie waits to make sure it is safe. And then we all had a lot of fun dancing with the Maple leaf.
Dancing with the Maple leaf
We hope you take the time to enjoy the Fall and remember to find joy in the simplest of things.
Lovely! As soon as i saw this I immediately thought of how Gracey was so scared of the scratchy/ noisy maple leaves. Thanks for the good memory!
Thanks for this encouraging article. I love to bring inside pine cones, leaves and acorns from my walks with the dog so the kitties can sniff and smell the big world outside. So sweet to see Annie, Eddie and Mercy enjoying the scents of fall!
Sometimes we have the most fun with the simplest of things. Thank you for reading about Annie, Eddie and Mercy’s Fall fun.