The weaklings' battle begins! Giji the cat's daily life, taking on a "sticky note" and carrying a "bathmat"

"Why are you fighting so seriously with something like this...?" Living with a cat, owners sometimes witness these "feeble fights." At my house, my clumsy cat, Jiji, treats various things as "toys" and tumbles around by himself every day.

Post-it Notes shown during work become a toy

Cats are amazing at enjoying games that humans wouldn't even think of. They're said to have the intelligence of a 3-year-old, but personally, I think they're smarter than that... every day. To put it modestly, they're genius.

Among the things that made me laugh with my beloved cat, saying, "You're too absorbed (lol)," was "Jiji VS the Post-it Note Insurrection." Jiji usually isn't very interested in typical cat toys. When I wave a cat wand, perhaps mixing the desire to play with confusion, he runs straight across the room like a horse.

I wondered if there was anything this cat could play with without getting into a minor panic. Just then, while I was working, Jiji showed interest in a Post-it Note.

Jiji would cutely bat at the Post-it Note stuck to a book with his paws. Seeing that, I thought, "Oh! This is it!! Alright! I'll let him play to his heart's content!" So, I tried sticking a Post-it Note to the corner of my desk.

Then, Jiji became engrossed, delivering a flurry of adorable cat punches. (Often missing.) Sometimes, the Post-it Note would stick to his mouth, leaving him confused. The cuteness of that sight made me lose my vocabulary, even as a writer.

付箋VSねこ
（愛しくて撫で過ぎたら被毛へこんじゃった） pic.twitter.com/6OD53xuHDE

— ゆあ＠ライター (@yunc24291) February 8, 2023

This "feeble fight" begins every time I take out a Post-it Note! It seems that in Jiji's mind, the equation "Post-it Note = a toy I can catch" has been established.

Even when he's relaxing on the cat tree, if I stick a Post-it Note in front of him, he immediately delivers a cat punch. Despite showing such a bold attitude, if I move the Post-it Note and stick it somewhere else, he'll sometimes look astonished, as if saying, "Huh?! This thing just moved?!"

Every time I see Jiji's somewhat clueless demeanor, I tell him, "You can't survive in the wild, so don't leave the house."

Days spent desperately searching for balls after seeing him engrossed in cat litter

At my house, we use wood pellets as cat litter, but for Jiji, even cat litter seems to be a fun toy. He rolls the pellets around the litter box and the room as if playing soccer, then leaves them in front of me, as if saying, "Here, I brought this for you."

Jiji must like rolling things around. Alright! I'll buy him a ball toy. Thinking this, I once wandered around desperately, searching for all kinds of balls as if looking for the Dragon Balls. 

But no matter what ball I gave him, he'd give me a look as if to say, "Huh? This isn't it. You don't understand, do you?" and wouldn't play with it. Then, he'd skillfully roll the cat litter scattered around the room and bring it to me.

It was like being given educational guidance, as if to say, "Look, find something similar to this." I truly realize how difficult it is to choose toys that satisfy our feline overlords. 

His favorite is "bath mat carrying"

At my house, after bathing, you might hear a cry from the washroom, "Ah! A trap has been set!"

The culprit is the innocent troublemaker, Jiji-pon. For some unknown reason, Jiji has always loved to carry the bath mat a few meters in his mouth. When he carries it, he makes a high-pitched "kyuwan, kyuwan" sound that is quite unlike a cat.

🦝ジジファンの方へ。
ようやく、ジジがバスマットを持って来るとき（ほぼ毎日）の鳴き声を収めることができましたので、暗いですが、音量を大にしてお楽しみください。

運んだあとの「なにもしてませんけど？」的な顔が、個人的にいつも笑います。 pic.twitter.com/dP47sqlHD E

— ゆあ＠ライター (@yunc24291) February 19, 2024

Every time I heard that sound, I would laugh and say, "What's that sound (lol)? What is he saying?" But one day, when I had a "meow-deciphering session" with my partner, I realized how small-minded I was.

Me: "What do you think he's saying? I always find it funny and laugh."

Partner: "He's probably saying, 'Heave-ho, heave-ho.' He's trying his best to carry it."

Me: "..."

 Jiji, you were working so hard to carry it, huh? Indeed, for a cat, a bath mat must be heavy... And he always tries to bring it to me. (Though he stops carrying it if he gets caught mid-way...) Oh, maybe I didn't understand Jiji at all.

For some reason, my heart was filled with such remorse, and I told Jiji, with my arm around him, "I'm sorry, from now on, I'll fully support you!!"

From that day on, every time Jiji carried the bath mat, my house would be filled with my voice praising Jiji: "Yes! Keep it up!!" "Nice~!" "Amazing! There's no other cat who can do that!"

🦝きゃっきゃ
👩(またバスマットで遊んでるな)
🦝鳴いてたのだーれだ？
👩ジジぽんでしょ？
🦝えーあたしじゃないお！きゃは！
👩かわいいかよお！！！！！ pic.twitter.com/7YYiEFgGe9

— ゆあ＠ライター (@yunc24291) January 25, 2021

It goes without saying that my partner gently warned me, "Hey, if you praise him so loudly, he might get startled and not be able to carry it."

Cats, who transform items that humans categorize as "daily necessities" into fun toys, are true play geniuses. Perhaps they're secretly sharing fun toys through the NNN (Neko Neko Network). I hope they continue to teach me many more ways of using things from a cat's perspective.