# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/21 "2011-12-27T15:37:32Z")
Pix or it didn’t happen ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/22 "2011-12-27T15:41:27Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Get some ping pong balls. Put kitten in the deep end of a (dry) bathtub and a ping pong ball in the opposite end. When we had cat’s we would leave a few ping pong balls around the house. The cats would play until they got bored or distracted, but eventually find them again. Since they couldn’t get a grip on them, they would just bounce around. The cats learned to go find one and try again to get hold of it when they got bored. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/23 "2011-12-27T19:43:05Z")
My (now late) black lab used to love to pop balloons. In our back yard patio of yore, the winds would swirl around in a vortex, and I’d just let a balloon loose for him to go and merrily chase. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/24 "2012-04-06T13:54:48Z")
I’m resurrecting this because I just got Hermes his _Fourth_ mylar helium balloon. His third one has lost lift to the point that it just skims the ground. Last night Hermes dragged it under the computer desk while i was working, apparently to indicate the situation. So I ot him brand new round mylar helium-filled balloon (It says “Happy Birthday”) and attached his pull-toy to it, this giving his old balloon a little less drag. He’s still pulling the old one around, but he’s played with the new one, too. I’m amazed at his restraint. He has never sunk his claws into any of the ballons we’ve given him. But he has found ways to grab high up on the string (climbing onto the table and jumping, catching the string in his mouth and this getting a lower grip on it), and he loves to drag it around and wedge the balloon under things. Then come back later and pull it out. The other cats have no interest in this bizarre thing. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/25 "2012-04-06T14:06:13Z")
You don’t happen to have a video camera do you? 😃 ---
**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:** [April 6, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/26 "2012-04-06T14:59:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > When we had cat’s we would leave a few ping pong balls around the house. The cats would play until they got bored or distracted, but eventually find them again. Since they couldn’t get a grip on them, they would just bounce around. The cats learned to go find one and try again to get hold of it when they got bored. I buy practice golf balls, which have slots in them so the kitties can grab them. They are cheap and come in packs of six or nine, usually. I bought what I refer to as a [ring around](http://www.amazon.com/Bergan-Turbo-Scratcher-Colors-Vary/dp/B000IYSAIW/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_11) a couple of weeks ago. It’s a plastic donut with a caged ball. We have a smaller one, too, but the smaller one has an upright spray of metallized plastic streamers in the center. The newer, bigger one is clearly superior because it has rolled up cardboard in the middle, which is ever so scratchable. The thing came with a small packet of dried catnip, too, and the cats LOVE it when I sprinkle catnip on that cardboard area. And, best of all, the ball has LIGHTS in it that flash randomly when the ball moves. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/27 "2012-04-06T15:03:17Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I buy practice golf balls, which have slots in them so the kitties can grab them. They are cheap and come in packs of six or nine, usually. > > I bought what I refer to as a [ring around](http://www.amazon.com/Bergan-Turbo-Scratcher-Colors-Vary/dp/B000IYSAIW/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_11) a couple of weeks ago. It’s a plastic donut with a caged ball. We have a smaller one, too, but the smaller one has an upright spray of metallized plastic streamers in the center. The newer, bigger one is clearly superior because it has rolled up cardboard in the middle, which is ever so scratchable. The thing came with a small packet of dried catnip, too, and the cats LOVE it when I sprinkle catnip on that cardboard area. And, best of all, the ball has LIGHTS in it that flash randomly when the ball moves. I’ve been cleaning out our back room, and found our version of this, which I pulled out and introduced Hermes to, since he’d never seen it. He likes it, but not as much as his balloon. and lotta has taken to sitting in the middle of it, apparently to deny Hermes the use of it. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/28 "2012-04-06T15:37:17Z")
I guess Hermes just likes what he likes. And one of our female cats enjoys sitting in the middle of our ring around, too. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/29 "2012-04-06T17:16:10Z")
This isn’t our video, but it’s the way Hermes plays with the balloon – except that he doesn’t bat the balloon itself. And he likes to grab the string in his mouth and run off with the ballooon, and pulling it down and jamming it under things: [http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=cat%20playing%20with%20helium%20balloon&tnr=21&vid=4578693359927375&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D4578693359927375%26id%3Df9259edcc90d23a0277013cef5d3f8d6%26bid%3DvqCiPeM1PX2XVA%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.youtube.com%252fwatch%253fv%253dC7oKIQs5jus&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DC7oKIQs5jus&sigr=11aadn9ut&newfp=1&tit=99luftbalons](http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=cat%20playing%20with%20helium%20balloon&tnr=21&vid=4578693359927375&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D4578693359927375%26id%3Df9259edcc90d23a0277013cef5d3f8d6%26bid%3DvqCiPeM1PX2XVA%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.youtube.com%252fwatch%253fv%253dC7oKIQs5jus&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DC7oKIQs5jus&sigr=11aadn9ut&newfp=1&tit=99luftbalons) ---
**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:** [April 6, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/30 "2012-04-06T18:37:30Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > You don’t happen to have a video camera do you? 😃 I know! Every time I see this thead I think he finally posted a video - of his cat, not someone else’s _eyes Cal_ ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156/31 "2012-04-06T20:08:10Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Get some ping pong balls. Put kitten in the deep end of a (dry) bathtub and a ping pong ball in the opposite end. I second this one. It’s like racquetball for cats. It works even better if you have a shower door or curtain you can put in place, although your cat may feel like you’ve imprisoned him or her for some reason. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-haz-balloon/606156.md?page=1)