# I Can Haz Balloon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156 "2011-12-14T13:13:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/1 "2011-12-14T13:13:22Z")
We got Hermes, our youngest cat, because Midnight had died, Lotta was getting old, and Hestia, our youngest punk-rocker cat, needed someone to play with. So we got a young, playful kitten. Hermes turned out to be TOO much of that – he’s an attention hog and too aggressive in his play. He and Hestia have played on occasion, but generally she seems to resent his constantly trying to get in on anything going on. But Hermes is a big hit with human visitors because he’s outgoing and obviously interested and curious. He’s not exactly smart, but he is extremely clever and experiments with things. So when our daughter brought home a helium balloon, he was fascinated by it. I shortened the string and attached something light at the end, just above his reach, so he had to jump for it. He’d do so, then chew on it. When he released it, it’d go back up, and he’d have to jump for it again. He played with it all night, and this kept him busy and not bothering the other cats. The next morning, the balloon was on the floor, as latex helium balloons frequently are – they lose enough helium directly through pores in the skin to lose their lift. So I went out and bought him a mylar balloon. Mylar doesn’t have big pores, and a mylar balloon can keep its helium for weeks or months. I strategically shortened the string and added a zip tie at the end he could grab and chew on. he _loves_ it, and can play with it intermittently for hours. For several weeks all he did was jump for it and release it. He has now figured out, however, that he can _drag_ it around. If he pulls it down far enough the balloon will be low enough that he can bring it through doorways and arches. Last night he brought it into our bedroom. Twice. He has taken it down the steps to the lower level once, but he lost his grip of it on the stairs, so that it sailed up and ended up beyond his reach – he might not do that again. He has also gotten it caught twice now. I suspect this has been purely by chance so far – he wrapped it around the base of the Christmas tree, so that the balloon itself was sticking up from the tree, far short of the ceiling. This bnothered Lotta enough to get her to complain to us – lotta doesn’t like to see her sense of order violated. The other time he took it up onto the kitchen counter and got it stuck in the drawer handle. As I say, I think these were chance – but he _learns_ from chance events, and will not doubt do this deliberately sometime soon. Hermes also has a habit of dragging his “toys” to his food bowl and dropping them in. I’ve had to fish his jingle balls and mice out of the water bowl, and when he drops those colored feathers in the water the non-fast dye colors their drinking water. He frequently drags his sticks and string toys to his dry food bowl. I think the idea is that toys are fun and eating is fun, so combining them ought to be a LOT of fun. So far the balloon hasn’t shown up driftiong over the food bowls, although he _has_ dragged it through the archway into the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/2 "2011-12-14T14:35:18Z")
That is such a great idea. I wonder if balloons would get my fat cat to exercise. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/3 "2011-12-14T18:18:21Z")
Hermes would probably enjoy it if his humans would get a laser pointer, or possibly a remote controlled mouse. Also, there are these toys called weaselballs, you turn them on and the ball rolls all over the place, with the attached weasel. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/4 "2011-12-14T18:42:24Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Hermes would probably enjoy it if his humans would get a laser pointer, or possibly a remote controlled mouse. Also, there are these toys called weaselballs, you turn them on and the ball rolls all over the place, with the attached weasel. Hermes loves the laser pointer, but Hestia loves it more. None of our cats are particularly impressed by the weaselball. After a few minutes of watching it roll around, they’re done. I’ve tried remote-control beasts o them, with not much more success. The balloon is more of a hit. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/5 "2011-12-14T19:36:55Z")
Huh. I would have been afraid that the cat would have chewed and swallowed some balloon. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/6 "2011-12-14T20:13:33Z")
Heh. Miss Widget, (the 18 week-old wunderkitten) and a mylar balloon… 😃 The mind boggles. ::dials cell:: “Hello, Party Plus? What kinda balloons you got on sale today?” ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/7 "2011-12-14T20:32:36Z")
Why has the balloon not exploded yet? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/8 "2011-12-14T20:37:11Z")
Get some ping pong balls. Put kitten in the deep end of a (dry) bathtub and a ping pong ball in the opposite end. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/9 "2011-12-14T20:53:35Z")
I buy those practice golf balls. Also, after Easter, I buy the fill’n’thrill plastic eggs, which are better than balls because they roll funny. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/10 "2011-12-14T21:27:04Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > Why has the balloon not exploded yet? > [@](#): > > Huh. I would have been afraid that the cat would have chewed and swallowed some balloon. Hermes never gets anywhere near the actual balloon – the ballon stays near the ceiling. He plays with the string suspended from it, and in particular the zip tie at the end that he grabs and chews o n (I’ve taped it locked in its current position so it won’t tighten and lock on him) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/11 "2011-12-14T21:48:41Z")
tie a laser pointer (unbalanced to point down) on the balloon string and let them bat that around. Hermes can then keep himself and Hestia busy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/12 "2011-12-14T21:57:11Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > tie a laser pointer (unbalanced to point down) on the balloon string and let them bat that around. Hermes can then keep himself and Hestia busy. Arm a cat with a laser? That way lies disaster\*. I’d as soon put a laser on a shark. \*Even if it only means a stray laser in the eye. ---
**Author:** ![Noodles\_Fellicini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Noodles\_Fellicini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noodles_Fellicini)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/13 "2011-12-14T22:14:39Z")
I attempted a similar plan that didn’t end well. The first cat walked in the room, glanced up at the intruder balloon and proceeded to slink away. Second cat walks in, sees the dangly string and jumps up to grab it. Second cat is completely caught off guard by the monstrosity that comes swooping down from the heavens and decides to exit stage left at a high rate of speed. The problem is that the string managed to wrap around the cat in such a way that the balloon followed the cat, making that whomp whomp noise that balloons make when they bounce off things. Which put the cat into overdrive around the living room, down the hall, a quick tour of a bedroom, back down the hall, down the stairs, hair on fire, going so fast we couldn’t catch her to extricate her from her predicament. Poor kitty! I won’t use balloons as cat toys again. If you do, I might also caution you about the downside of having a balloon float into a ceiling fan in the middle of the night. Definitely causes one to move from sound asleep to screaming mimi state of alert in milliseconds. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/14 "2011-12-14T22:27:34Z")
That’s funny that Hermes brings his toys to his water dish. Every female cat I’ve had has done that, but none of the males has. I had one cat in particular who liked to soak her toys in the water dish, then bring them up on the bed with me. Loved waking up next to a soggy wet puffball. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/15 "2011-12-14T22:34:12Z")
Per Noodles experiences, I think you got lucky that it has worked out for Hermes so far. Do you own a video camera because I would love to see this and I bet it would be a big hit on youtube? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/16 "2011-12-15T05:35:36Z")
> [@Noodles\_Fellicini](#): > > I attempted a similar plan that didn’t end well. The first cat walked in the room, glanced up at the intruder balloon and proceeded to slink away. Second cat walks in, sees the dangly string and jumps up to grab it. Second cat is completely caught off guard by the monstrosity that comes swooping down from the heavens and decides to exit stage left at a high rate of speed. > > The problem is that the string managed to wrap around the cat in such a way that the balloon followed the cat, making that whomp whomp noise that balloons make when they bounce off things. Which put the cat into overdrive around the living room, down the hall, a quick tour of a bedroom, back down the hall, down the stairs, hair on fire, going so fast we couldn’t catch her to extricate her from her predicament. Poor kitty! > > I won’t use balloons as cat toys again. If you do, I might also caution you about the downside of having a balloon float into a ceiling fan in the middle of the night. Definitely causes one to move from sound asleep to screaming mimi state of alert in milliseconds. Sorry, just the idea of this is hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/17 "2011-12-19T18:05:11Z")
Hermes brings the balloon into the bedroom at night, when we’re in bed reading. The foot of the bed is in the way, so we can’t see him – just the balloon bobbing in. This morning the balloon was missing. I saw the string on the floor, leading under the ottoman, and figured that the balloon had finally died, or that Hermes had gotten it within reach (it’s been riding lower and lower as it loses helium) and finally put a hole in it. So I pulled on the string, and the baloon popped out and floated up. Hermes had pulled it down under the ottoman and stored it there, without damaging it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/18 "2011-12-27T13:05:36Z")
We got back from Christmas at our relatives, and found Hermes still dragging his balloon around. It’s lost a lot of helium, and is only floating a few feet above the ground now, but he’s been careful not to break it. It’s his _toy_. I’m gonna have to get him a new balloon. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/19 "2011-12-27T13:12:02Z")
Meanwhile on some cat message board Hermes is posting about the “horror of blimps”. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/20 "2011-12-27T15:24:05Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Meanwhile on some cat message board Hermes is posting about the “horror of blimps”. Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156.md?page=2)