The purpose of the visit was to film an episode of a program about cats. They came to spcaLA (not affiliated with any other spca as there is no national/umbrella spca) to film in our luxurious cage free indoor outdoor catteries. Part of the program called for a segment involving cats playing the iPad game - "GameForCats". Essentially, a mouse, butterfly or laser dot moves around the screen and chirps if touched. The cat earns points for each successful touch.
I could do nothing but cringe as I thought about claws, scratches, spray, and hair balls, all attacking the iPad. There were, after all, about 20 cats lounging in that area. I couldn't watch.
Then it happened. Groups of cats surrounded the tablet. Some began to swat at the moving targets and some just leaned in their heads and nodded furiously as the others played. One enterprising cat sat on the iPad and racked up zillions of points each time the mouse, butterfly or red dot moved under him. Of course, we began yelling "unfair" and tried to explain to the cat that playing that way could be considered cheating! The cats however, ignored us and continued to pat the iPad when the targets came out from under the offending cat.
Notwithstanding one bossy cat who didn't want to share and caused some hurt feelings the event was quite successful. There was no damage to the iPad and the bruised feelings were quickly addressed and assuaged.
I learned, just in time for the holidays, that an iPad can be the perfect gift for the cat who has everything, and the perfect donation for the cat in a shelter who is homeless and has nothing.
Article first published as My Cat Needs an iPad on Technorati
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