The Cat Cottage: Can I Get My Money Back?

by Courtney Mroch | More from this Blogger

08 May 2007 06:00 PM

Back in January I was shopping the sales for cool Christmas clearances for cats and saw these fun looking cardboard cat playhouses. I knew I had to get one!

Well, originally I was going to get the City Place Cat Playhouse. At $25 it was going to be the most expensive pet toy--dog or cat--I'd ever bought. But I was sure Mr. Meow, who loves playing in boxes, would love it.

Well, when I realized how much Tabby also liked to play in boxes, I decided, "Oh no, this cat cottage is just too cute. They have to have that."

I justified the $35 price tag as something both cats would play with, so really it was a bargain for the hours of entertainment I was sure it'd bring them. But what I was really doing was indulging myself and my love of cottages. I was the one who just had to have that cat cottage.

Wow. What a waste of money. Other than when I physically placed them in it, like I did in the picture below (I put Mr. Meow on top and you can see Tabby's shadow on the bottom checking things out), they haven't done more than sniff the darn thing!

Tabby's gone through the bottom floor a few times on her own, and snuck to the second floor to peak out the windows once or twice, but they have no desire to climb around on it like I thought they would. Not even when I've laced it with cat nip to entice them to explore. In fact, they spent more time playing in the box it came in than in the cottage itself!

I'm crushed. Wayne just shakes his head. (Thankfully. I thought he was going to be livid when he saw what I bought.) So now we have this enormous (it really does stand four feet tall) unused cat cottage in our living room. That's full of cat nip that falls out all over the carpet when I try to move it anywhere.

Great. I created more vacuuming for myself. Just what I was hoping to do. Which I wouldn't mind so much if they were having a ball playing in it.

Lesson learned: the $3 red hut I bought at Kmart a couple years back remains the all-time favorite, not to mention least expensive, interactive toy I've gotten them. Whereas the cat cottage will definitely go down as the most expensive useless one, because I will never spend that much money again on a toy. No matter how cute I think it is!

Learn more about Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a wife, a proud pet parent, and a writer. She's been with her husband, high school sweetheart Wayne Pryor, over 20 years, married 11 of those. She's "mom" to Mr. Meow, a.k.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger