Lifestyle

5 Reasons My Cats Are Excited by the Approach of Fall

By Heather Marcoux

, September 28, 2015

The first day of fall is officially listed as September 23, but in our household it feels like fall starts earlier, coinciding with the Ghost Cat’s “birthday” celebration. That’s when we fondly remember the Labor Day weekend trip we made to a shelter to pick out our pretty kitty.

As we toast to Ghost Cat’s adoption with a serving of some extra special (and extra smelly) seafood wet food, Ghost Cat and her younger companion Specter usher in the season of change that sees our kitties relocate a lot of their playtime from their summertime spot in our (now slightly cold) sunroom to the parts of the house that have better heating vents. The temperature is dropping and my cats are starting to spend more time in the main house, but I don’t think they mind. They seem pretty excited to see fall arrive, and here are five reasons why:

1. The leaf hunt is on

My beautiful cat in a yard full of dead leaves.

Ghost Cat and Specter are indoor girls (and with reports of coyotes attacking cats in our part of the world, they’re definitely going to stay that way), so they only go outside when they’re accompanying my husband our myself on a little leash adventure. When the leaves start to change they look out the window and meow and we know it’s time to put on their harnesses and let them commune with nature for a bit. Both my cats seem to think fall is the perfect time to request extra outdoor adventures, although Ghost Cat is definitely more outdoorsy than Speck. It’s no longer too hot but not yet super cold, and the ground is covered with their favorite outdoor toy — crispy, crunchy leaves. Give her a little slack on her leash and Ghost Cat will spend as much time as possible hunting, pouncing, and shredding the decaying leaves on our lawn. What would be yard work to us is playtime for her.

2. Fall means more TV time

Specter likes to do her TV watching from my belly, but Ghosty will always prefer her dad's. — Specter likes to do her TV watching from my belly, but Ghosty will always prefer her dad’s.

Ghost Cat is a total TV cat — she loves to cuddle down with her humans for some quality screen time. Ghost Cat especially likes The Walking Dead and Dr. Who, which are both back this fall. Young Specter never used to care about television at all, she hardly looked at it, but ever since my pregnant belly has reached the watermelon stage, she’s taken a liking to perching herself on my midsection while staring up at the TV the same way Ghosty does. I think maybe Ghost Cat just convinced her that this year’s fall lineup is worth paying attention to (or maybe she just likes the heat from my baby bump).

3. They’ll get their pumpkin spice on

Every time I mix this mess up for he dog my kitties come running. — Every time I mix this mess up for the dog my kitties come running.

All summer long my kitties have been obsessed with the pumpkin supplement I mix in with my dog Marshmallow’s food. I honestly can’t blame them, it smells like everything fall should taste like — if I didn’t know better I would mix this dog food into a pie crust — but seeing as how this stuff is meant for canine guts, I probably shouldn’t bake with it or give it to my kitties. Instead, I’m holding out for a real pumpkin. When the time comes I’m going to make some squash-based desserts for us humans and a leave some little leftovers for Ghosty and Speck. They’re looking forward to their seasonal treat (which they haven’t had since last Thanksgiving) and I’m looking forward to seeing if the extra pumpkin fiber should become a part of their daily diet.

4. They prepare to trick or treat

They'll get into the Halloween spirit, but I won't be letting my fire-loving kitties near this kind of pumpkin. — They’ll get into the Halloween spirit, but I won’t be letting my fire-loving kitties near this kind of pumpkin.

I would never, ever let my cat go outdoors on Halloween, and we actually keep them down in the basement on the big night itself (for their own safety). But that doesn’t mean they can’t take part in the spirit of this treat-filled holiday — after all, treats are their favorite thing. Specter, with her black and orange fur, wears her Halloween costume year round, and Ghost Cat knows she’s already a good little ghost even without a sheet draped over her.

They don’t need to wear anything special to celebrate the spookiest night of the year, but as Halloween approaches I make sure to stock up on some extracrunchy kitty bits when I’m out picking up candy. That way, my girls can be tricked into doing some tricks (this mostly involves them jumping across the void between our kitchen counters) for their treats before they have to settle into the safety of the basement on the big night.

5. They look forward to leftover turkey

"Someone said there was turkey in this kitchen. I'm here for that." — “Someone said there was turkey in this kitchen. I’m here for that.”

After Halloween comes the holiday that my little Specter loves the most — Thanksgiving. We haven’t had turkey in our house since last year, and I just now my little Butterball fiend is waiting for her favorite food to make it’s return. She’ll have to try to beat my husband to the Tupperware this year though — he’s still bummed out about last year. After Specter and the dog had their fill he only had enough to make one sad little sandwich.

Are your cats ready for fall? Tell us in the comments!

Read more by Heather Marcoux:

About the author: Heather Marcoux is a freelance writer in Alberta, Canada. Her beloved Ghost Cat was once her only animal, but Specter the kitten, GhostBuster the Lab and her newest dog, Marshmallow, make her fur family complete. Heather is also a wife, a bad cook and a former TV journalist. Some of her friends have hidden her feed because of an excess of cat pictures. If you don’t mind cat pictures, you can follow her on Twitter; she also posts pet GIFs on Google +