Keeping them Busy

Keeping them Busy

Our cats don't just lay around sleeping all day.  Some of our friends joke that we're gonna need serious therapy from living with six cats.  Maybe adopting six felines is a sign that we already do need therapy, but living with them isn't as crazy as you might think -- except during those times when Gretel is threatening to bite everyone and we have to distract her with canned salmon.  

Rocky has been a huge fan of my iPad since he was a tiny kitten.  They have these apps that are designed to entertain kitties by making them chase things and attack the digital images.  FYI, don't let them try this without a screen cover because they can play rough.  Rocky doesn't really attack the cartoons though.  He just stairs at them for hours.  This has also translated to occasional TV watching which is cute unless you actually want to see what is on the screen.  That cat ain't transparent.  
The twins (Hansel and Gretel) like looking out the window. It probably won't surprise anyone that they are looking for birds.  Sometimes I think Gretel's gonna have a stroke.  She gets this really intense look on her face, her eyes get big and round, and she makes a loud, menacing chirping sound. The only thing keeping those flying beasts alive is the glass in our window. 

Sometimes they do get out on the patio and Ethan and I are reminded that we live with 6 stone cold killers.  Occasionally we'll find little corpses on the balcony. Apparently they like to do the killing but leave the dirty work to their cleaning staff (i.e. me and Ethan). It makes it hard to sit outside with the possibility of finding a decapitated bird on the floor -- or its head that they ripped off but didn't eat either.  
I hung a bird feeder outside because I do happen to like birds.  It just makes me feel like an accessory to bird murder.  

Another major activity for them is climbing. Most of the time they don't climb on the wrong stuff, but there are several artificial plants that I've had to move off of end tables and lock up in our walk in closet because the cats kept trying to eat them. You'd think they would be able to tell the difference between plastic and real grass.  
Rocky likes to climb on my bicycle, which I have to keep indoors.  All of the cats like to pretend that the rubber wheels are scratching posts which means that if I wanna do bike riding in the future I'm gonna need to buy new tires.  Sometimes I think Rocky is part monkey. He was scaling the giant bike when he was only nine weeks old.  Ethan and I purchased a cat climbing tree for them to play on and Rocky was climbing to the top shelf almost immediately.  
When we brought the thing home the cats started climbing on it immediately.  Nermie likes to sit on the top shelf and slap us with his paw if we don't pet him as we pass by. That sounds really cute until he rips a hole in your sleeve because he feels ignored.  Rocky enjoys dangling from the top with one paw and attacking Nermie from behind. Hansel and Gretel like to sit there and sleep.  
Phoebe and Nikita look too little to climb, but they can already get up to the very top too.  Ethan and I are saving up to purchase a second cat tree because they've already started fighting over it.  
What do your cats or other pets like to do around the house?  What are the cute things that you like to see them do?  Is there anything that you wish you could make them stop doing?