"Backyard Buffet" A TV Feast for Cats

Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
By Connie Bloom

December 11, 2004

SQUIRRELS, BIRDS, MICE STAR IN 'MEWVIE' THAT'S RAISING PAWS AT HOME

I could not believe my eyes when my rescue cat Shakespeare shot across the living room to watch a "mewvie" called Backyard Buffet.
Backyard Buffet is reality TV for cats.

"Mewvie" is what Fred Emmer calls his movies for cats. This one, available in DVD, contains footage of squirrels, birds, mice and insects performing their daily chores in their natural settings. The movies are scaled for cats and contain no distracting camera work, so hunters can focus on their prey just like they would if they were allowed to run outside again. Mewvies are available for online ordering at www.mewvie.com.

Shakespeare caught the very first second of the bird parade. His eyes snapped to it like metal to a magnet half a room away. He lowered his head and assumed the stalking position and hunted the TV. This for a piece of furniture he has always ignored, even when I rented the oddball movie, Birdie.

Emmer says his Mewvies provide endless commercial-free entertainment for families as well as cats, because it's such a curiosity to see a feline in an embrace with a hard, cold television that the family tends to gather round. This was true at my house.

Relieves boredom
Backyard Buffet encourages hunting behaviors, said animal behavior consultant Ken McCort of Doylestown. When cats hunt, there's an internal reward mechanism, an endorphin release, which encourages repetition. If your cat is an obsessive-compulsive hunter, the movie could push him over the edge, in theory, and then you'd have to haul out the kitty Prozac. "I bet there's a warning in there somewhere," said McCort, laughing. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

The movie may also minimize separation anxiety and relieve boredom, says Emmer. If you leave it running (the DVDs are looped) during the day, the cat might even burn a calorie.

As it turns out, I stuck a stool for Shakespeare to sit on right in front of the tube, not so much a leap of faith as a mindless move suggested by the mewvie press release, which showed four cats on a footstool pawing the screen.

Shakespeare pawed the TV but was clueless about the stool. Even when I put a nibble on it, he squeezed between the stool and the TV to get as close to the screen as he could. It's the first time I've ever seen him ignore food. He remained glued to the tube for 80 minutes, until I powered it off, then he stared blankly at it for half an hour more.

This is a very strange phenomenon and I had to share it with readers right away. This year you can buy your cat a Christmas present he really wants, er, he would want if he could ask.

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