Purr-Fect Gift : ‘Video Catnip’ May Turn Your Cat Into Real Couch Fur Ball

At last, the purr-fect Christmas stocking stuffer for indoor cats who have everything. It’s their very own videotape, featuring a mouthwatering parade of live birds, squirrels and chipmunks cavorting on the TV screen.

The 25-minute, full-color video, taped in a wooded backyard of this Washington suburb, is sure to delight all those latchkey kitties who are bored with napping, scratching the furniture and swatting ornaments off the Christmas tree.

Just slip a $19.95 copy of “Video Catnip” into the VCR and watch them turn into regular couch fur balls. But heed the warning at the start of the tape:

“While watching this video, your cat may become excited and attempt to get inside your television set to get at the birds. . . . We strongly suggest that you remove all breakables from on top or around your TV set. No kitting.”

Creator Steve Malarkey promises “some cat-a-clysmic fun with no paws in the action.” His satisfied customers, speaking for their pampered pussycats, say his video really delivers the goods.

The live action is divided into segments titled “Cheep Thrills,” “Mews and Feather Report” and “A Stalk in the Park.” Voyeuristic feline viewers will enjoy lots of juicy close-ups of their favorite outdoor creatures, feasting noisily on birdseed and popcorn.

Malarkey was a disgruntled computer technician searching for a career change when he decided to “get into the cat business.” He tried making heated “cat houses” and tree-shaped scratching posts, but both were flops.

Then one night, he said, “I was sitting in front of the TV with my wife, watching a National Geographic special on birds of the Cayman Islands or somewhere,” he said. “Our cat Stick, who never even glanced at TV before, came out of his box like a shot and sat right in front of the screen, growling and meowing.”

Malarkey borrowed a friend’s video camera and tripod, seeded his backyard with treats and let the tape run for an hour.

“When I brought the tape back to the house and showed it to Stick, he went ballistic,” Malarkey said. “He was in front of the TV, behind the TV, on top of the TV, knocking things over and swiping at the screen.

Bingo!

Malarkey hired a professional camera crew and doused his backyard with 200 pounds of birdseed and popcorn.

But can cats really “see” a TV video?

Veterinarians agree with Malarkey that although cats don’t discern shapes and colors as distinctly as humans, they are acutely aware of moving figures and sounds that excite them.