My granddaughter Z and I have a cat. Well, we sort of have a cat. "Cat," which is what we call him, is sort of borrowed from a neighbor. Well, we really don’t borrow it, so much as it borrows us. We feed it, we pet it, we let it in when it is cold. It seems to prefer our house to its real home, and that is okay with us.

I grew up on a farm and had probably, over the years, at least 25 cats. That was in the day when farmers kept cats around more as tools than as pets. But I loved each cat, each kitten, and mourned the passing of each one. The cat mortality rate in the country is high - dogs, coyotes, bobcats, disease, cars, even hawks take their toll. So each cat was precious to me, while I had it.

So now, many years later, living in the suburbs, I have another cat, sort of. Cat likes Z, but not too much. The only thing Cat really likes is eating and mewing at our door. But somehow, we love Cat, mainly because Z delights in feeding Cat and trying to pet Cat, and chasing Cat, and closely, very closely, observing Cat. She delights when Cat grooms himself, and the way his teeth look up close as she observes him from the "safe" side of the glass door. Z listens for his mew each morning she is here (she and I spend two days a week together), then feeds him and watches him eat. Until I watched Z watch Cat I had forgotten the awe an animal can instill in a child learning about the natural world.

And so we watch over Cat. Unfortunately Cat isn’t much of a personality, as cats go. He is young enough to be active, but evidently too old to do much in the way of play. Cat has been, well, fixed, so catting around does not take up much of his time. He spends most of the day just lying on the porch, waiting for his next meal.

And so, it was with some bemusement as we watched Cat go absolutely nuts over the wool balls we sampled from Purrfect Play. He hit them, he swatted them, he rolled on them, he chewed them, he chased them and we stood slack jawed wondering what had gotten into him. Z had not known Cat could do such things, nor had I.



Then we brought out the catnip-filled “Happy Carrot” toys. Now we were in business.



We highly recommend the Purrfect Play Wool Balls and catnip toys, without reservation. They will delight both you and your cat.



Many pet items are made using the same harmful chemicals we now know to avoid exposing our children to - PVC, phthalates, pesticides, and harmful dyes in particular. That's where Purrfect Play has found a niche worth filling. The wool balls are hand formed from sustainably produced dye-free wool which has only been processed with gentle non-toxic soaps. Medium balls sell for $4.95, large balls sell for $6.95. This is an astonishing price for such an attractive, natural toy. A cluster of Happy Baby Catnip carrots is $12.95, and if there are grades of catnip, Purrfect Play is apparently using the primo stuff. (And yes, it is certified organic.) Z kept looking at me puzzled and delighted as Cat danced and soared, bounding into the sky as he hit the claw into the air.

For more information, and toys and other gear for dogs, and gifts for pet owners, check out Purrfect Play's website. The wool balls in particular would make a great gift for any cat lover, or for your own cat. They are pretty enough that I wanted to display them, but gave them to Cat instead.