Bridge players can be divided into three categories:

(1) Those who love animals,
(2) Those who don’t love animals,
(3) Those who aren’t sure how they feel about animals,

Which of these would describe you and your bridge partner the most?

If you’re a dog-walker, pet-sitter, or animal-lover as well as a bridge player, then this post will apply to you.

I spend a lot of time typing while being surrounded by cats. When I play bridge, what do you think I see around the screen? Well, there are usually some cats…

Here are 5 things only pet-loving bridge players will know.

1. Conversations with your pets about the game.

Don’t judge: I make a habit of speaking to my cats while I’m playing online bridge. I can only assume that many other bridge-playing pet owners do the same.  

“Did you see what just happened there?”

Pets might respond, or just stare at their owners in response.

2. Pets staring at the screen while judging your playing abilities.

Pets usually develop a fascination with smartphones (or what’s happening on the screen). I’m surrounded by cats while playing the game: There seems to be something about online bridge that makes pets gather around.

Do your pets also seem to get together just to judge your bridge playing?

Whenever I slip on what could have been a great move, I can expect a flick of the tail and a blink in return.

“That’s not how we would have played that…”

3. Misclicks thanks to pets and their little paws.

I would guess that our pets must watch their owners clicking away at screens with no idea what we’re doing. Is this what inspires some pets to “click” at smartphone screens with their own paws?

If you have pets, expect misclicks thanks to their little paws.

Did you know cats have the ability to both type and send an email by themselves? Just leave your device unattended in their presence…

4. Being trained to feed your pets before the next bridge game starts.

If pet owners want to sit down and play bridge in peace, they are well-trained to feed their pets a snack first. Our pets seem to know when something else is taking up our attention.

Did you accidentally start a bridge game without feeding your pets their pre-bridge snack?

Good luck. Pets know how to get their owners’ attention by any means necessary.

Chewing shoes, opening closets… What’s your pet’s way of getting you to get up from playing bridge right now?

5. Hiding your cables or cards from impending disaster (though mostly from your pets).

The smart pet owner knows to hide cables and cards away from their pets in advance. Other pet owners must still be learning…

Okay, not everybody’s pets has a “thing” for playing cards. But if yours does, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

If you leave your cards out unattended, you’ll return to a room that looks like an illegal gambling game was just disbanded by the cops. Cards, cards, everywhere.

Do your pets play the dummy often?