Bookends.

On the way to a Penguins game one day earlier this year, we realized we didn’t have any dollar bills — which we’d need to ride the T up to the arena. I ended up in a Petsmart looking for something cheap to break a larger bill. I walked out with a handful of dollar bills and a rattling furry mouse toy.

The toy has since lost its tail but — miraculously — the eyes, nose and ears remain. (I’ve lived with cats my entire life; I know those little plastic and felt additions usually last all of a week.) What surprised me further, though, was that Mitsy is thoroughly attached to this toy. She will carry it around the house and sing and coo at it — or toss it about and yell. And if you shake it, she’ll come running. (She never actually does anything once she’s there. She just sits prettily and stares up at you, as if supervising.) I suppose it’s as close as anything will ever come to a teddy bear for a cat.

We call him Ratticus.

Of course, what surprised me the other day, when I came home with a new litter box (big enough for our very big Buddy cat) and an impulse-purchase cat toy — a catnip bee that squeaks when it senses motion or impact — is that Buddy latched onto it almost instantly. Understand, Buddy doesn’t play with cat toys. He plays with pen caps and pieces of plastic and his eternal favorite, twist ties, but he doesn’t play with cat toys.

But he plays with Tweety Bee. Maybe this will be his Ratticus.