Hide & Seek

[Christy]

Have you ever seen a kitten play hide and seek. My 5 month old Persian will. You can leave the room with any toy not just his and tell him to find it and he will run till he finds it and brings it to you. It started when my little girl was hiding her toys from him and he could always ended up with them and now it is just a big game. And he also loves having tea parties with her. He will sit there until she puts his bib on and gives them there tea glasses and then he won"t move till she is through. It is the funniest thing in the world to see.

[calcat]

My persian, Eliza, who is probably three years old will pay hide and seek with me. She will stick her tail up in the air and run into a different room. I am supposed to chase her and she will hide in the room. When I turn around to leave, she will come zooming out and go hide in a different room. She will play this way with me until I get tired. If I catch her, she will purr very loud and run away again.
I found her at the pound when she was approximately six months to one year old. She is my baby who will sit by my head when I am sleeping, and purr and cuddle until I get up and do what she wants (whether to replace the food in her bowl or to clean the litter box). She is very entertaining.

[HelenW]

Hi Calcat, my Sadie does exactly the same as Eliza. In Sadie's version of the game she always chirrups loudly as we enter the room she's in, and excitedly dashes off, then comes looking for us if we don't chase her straightaway. She does it outside as well, hiding in bushes, and then leaping out - and by the look on her face she is obviously quite convinced that we are really scared by her fierceness. Aren't they lovely timewasters?

[4 feline house]

I have a cat that was homeless and pregnant when I took her in off the streets. Although she was clearly not feral (she invited herself in) she apparently had been neglected (or, God forbid, abused) enough not to completely trust that I really could love her at first sight, so her full personality didn't come out at first. In fact, she seemed decidedly unfriendly (not mean, just aloof). So one day, when she kept peeking around the door of the closet at me, and then running into it when I looked at her, I just assumed she had taken a fright by something I had done unintentionally. It wasn't until I noticed her "squinting" at me around the door that I realized she was enjoying herself. That's when I realized she was playing peekaboo with me! She gave birth overnight, so it was several weeks later before she got to play again, but I realized she was eager to start when I saw her cute little face peaking out from behind the stove at me one day. Of course, as soon as I looked at her, she dashed back behind it, only to poke out again seconds later. I really got into it, and that made her enjoy it even more. I estimate that she herself was only about 7-8 months old when she gave birth, so she was still a kitten even in motherhood. Alas, she grew up, and is now an old mom of about 2 - 21/2 who successfully raised a batch of three, and she no longer plays peekaboo with me anymore. Now her favorite game is keeping her 17 lb son (she's just under 10 lbs) from usurping her top-cat status.