A number of my cats - past & present - have a thing for broccoli. One of them used to get very excited at meal times when broccoli was on the menu. More excited than over fish or other meat-based treats.

Our rough-and-tumble boofy-cat, Leo, loves green beans, raw. If we are preparing beans for dinner then he has to have his share. He also likes the stringy bits inside pumpkins, the parts that the seed are found in. (Now that's weird!)

Quite a number of our cats, past and present, like(d) avocado. One of my previous cats started out owning a different human slave and then I was her foster-slave, and she started life with a backyard which had an avocado tree. The avocados would fall and ripen on the ground, and then split open and she would eat it.

My cats have two favourite toys which are very simple and inexpensive, and it proves the old saying about buying expensive toys. Most kids would rather play with the cardboard box that the new frig came in than many expensive toys, after the novelty wears off.

Aluminium foil balls are a hit. Just take a small piece of foil approx. 5 x 5 inches square, rattle it a bit to get the cat's attention, then lightly fold/squish it into a ball shape - loosely squished so that it makes an irresistable sound as it rolls across a hard floor. It will go fairly fast, and makes a great soccer ball for tack-tack-tacking across the floor in zigzags. An excellent tool for coaxing stubborn cats out of inaccessible places.

The other toy cost a few dollars at the supermarket. It is about the size of a tennis ball, with coarse string wrapped & glued around it as a covering. Attached is a tail a few inches long made of fluffy stuff and it has a few feathers on the end. Inside the ball is some catnip, and a bell so that it rattles as it rolls across the floor. The really clever bit, though, is that as it rolls the tail winds round and round in a fascinating and tantalising (for a cat) movement. This toy is also irresistable and very useful for luring them out of hidey holes, like under the house. Just rattling it brings them almost out to see what's happening.

One of my black cats has a habit of sitting on the bench behind and watching one of us preparing a meal at the other kitchen bench. When you are totally engrossed in the task she jumps without a sound onto your shoulder. She will stay there, moving forward and back as a balancing act as you walk around the kitchen too, until she gets unceremoniously dumped off. She hasn't done it for a while now, but I'm sure she'll resurrect the trick. She's 4 years old now, but still skinny. She's the only one who does that particular trick. She used to climb up my dressing gown when she was younger. It made no difference that I told her I am not a tree.

Helen