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Cat Forum / General Topics / October 2005how to entertain cats?
we have two very smart, inquisitive male cats. They seem rather bored in my condo apt. They can't go outside and they ignore all the Petco toys I bought them. Do cats need entertainment? If so, any suggestions? Betty "betty demers" <markdemers15@hotmail.com> wrote in message > we have two very smart, inquisitive male cats. They seem rather bored > in my condo apt. > They can't go outside and they > ignore all the Petco toys I bought them. Do cats need entertainment? > If so, any suggestions? Are they fat? If so, then they need exercise. I bought a laser penlight toy for entertaining my cat. She's seven months old and goes nuts over it. When she's particularly active and tearing around the apartment getting into everything, I get out the penlight and let her chase it a dozen times back and forth across the apartment, just until she reaches the point where she starts to pant. By then, she's too tired to go tearing around the apartment. I also built a cat tree / scratching post with a tennis ball hanging from one part of it. Occasionally she goes berserk playing with that and when she's tired out, she sits on the highest ledge. She's still in kitten mode so I'm not sure how much playing she will be doing when she's older, but I guess I'll find out. > Are they fat? If so, then they need exercise. I bought a laser penlight > toy [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > so I'm not sure how much playing she will be doing when she's older, but I > guess I'll find out. be careful with the laser, it can be harmful to eyes (cats and humans)... There are some lasers who are certified not to be harmful, but if it's still a laser and not a colored flashlight, it is always a light intensification, which shouldn't be used as a toy. there are several ways to entertain a cat... Simple toys built by yourself are often better (and cheaper!) than those manufactured and bought in the shops. I have currently a cat in my house wich is 4 1/2 and another stray fellow in my garden who's probably 2-3. The only toy which I bought in a shop and worked very well with my household cat was a very, very small white mouse made of synthetic fur. It was really realistic. I used to throw it and then my cat ran to fetch it. Then he started to play with it without me. Sometimes a small soft ball (perhaps made of solid sponge) works too, but not with my cats. The simplest toy a cat might enjoy is a long, thick, soft string... the string from a snicker shoe is almost perfect. The cat will run trying to catch the end of the string. This is based on the same principle, but more "sofisticated". Pick a small stick who wont break if bended lightly. Attach a nylon string on it (1-1,50 meters long). On the other end of the nylon attach something which resembles a smal animal... a mouse, a bird... If it is furry and soft is better, so the cat can eventually bite it. I once went on my garden and picked up some birds lost feathers I found there. I washed them with alcohol and then in boiling water for a while. I've used them to manufacture some sort of bird attached to the previously mentioned stick with nylon. Both of my cats go crazy with it. If the cat likes to fight, try this: get some unused, old (but clean of course) thick winter socks. Wear 2-3 of them on your arm, then try to simulate an "animal" with your hand/arm. Most probably the cat will "attack" and play fighting with your hand/arm. Is is unlikely that your will be harmed, since you will be wearing all those socks who will proctect you against the claws. If you feel that's not good enough you can always add some more layers of socks. "Ronin" <(debris)@(email).(it)> wrote in message > be careful with the laser, it can be harmful to eyes (cats and humans)... > There are some lasers who are certified not to be harmful, but if it's still > a laser and not a colored flashlight, it is always a light intensification, > which shouldn't be used as a toy. Of course. It says not to shine the light in a cat's eyes anyway. It *is* funny though. My cat knows the sound of the laserpen by the rattling of the chain it's attached to. As soon as I pick it up, she comes running. "Upscale" wrote in message .. > Of course. It says not to shine the light in a cat's eyes anyway. It *is* > funny though. My cat knows the sound of the laserpen by the rattling of the > chain it's attached to. As soon as I pick it up, she comes running. Mine goes totally beserk with laser pointers too. Every single ounce of energy gets dedicated to "catching that dot". Running in circles, jumping against the wall... I'll run him with the laser until he starts panting. The panting (like a dog) looks cute, but I get worried that he'll run himself into a heart attack (it is "strange" seeing a cat pant), so I stop and let him a get a breather. He's perfectly healthy. The panting is because he has no common sense on when to stop "going after that dot". "Esaz" <nospam@none.xyz> wrote in message news:jaZ1f.1790 > I'll run him with the laser until he starts panting. The panting (like a > dog) looks cute, but I get worried that he'll run himself into a heart > attack (it is "strange" seeing a cat pant), so I stop and let him a get a > breather. He's perfectly healthy. The panting is because he has no common > sense on when to stop "going after that dot". I've had my cat for a month (she's seven months old) and now she will only chase it under certain circumstances. She won't do continuous circles chasing it anymore and will only go for it when I run the dot along the baseboard of a wall. Even then, I sometimes have to make it go around a corner and disappear from sight before she will try to sneak up on it. Then I can get her to run 30' in a full out chase, but after a few times of that she tries to stalk it instead and outflank it rather than going nuts like she use to. Mostly now when she goes berserk, it's on the cat tree with the hanging tennis ball that I built. "Upscale"> wrote in message ... > "Esaz" wrote in message > > > > I'll run him with the laser until he starts panting. The panting (like a [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > she use to. Mostly now when she goes berserk, it's on the cat tree with the > hanging tennis ball that I built. Maybe she is getting smarter? :^) Mine sure isn't. He's still determined to "get that dot one day"! I agree, Robin. I spent a bundle on toys for my two cats. Their favorite things to play with are a piece of twine tied to a stick and ping pong balls. I bought a dozen ping pong balls and would never see more than one or two of them and looked all over for the others to no avail. Well about a week ago I decided to clean under the refrigerator and "Poof" there they were. Really puzzled as to how they got under there. Stone Some pic's http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stoneman72/my_photos >> Are they fat? If so, then they need exercise. I bought a laser penlight >> toy [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] > proctect you against the claws. If you feel that's not good enough you can > always add some more layers of socks. Give mine an empty box...and put packaging peanuts in it,too, for added pleasure I remember one Christmas when we only had 4 cats...after my hubby and I opened our packages, they left their toys and found new ones in our boxes and wrapping paper! >I agree, Robin. I spent a bundle on toys for my two cats. Their favorite >things to play with are a piece of twine tied to a stick and ping pong [quoted text clipped - 66 lines] >> proctect you against the claws. If you feel that's not good enough you >> can always add some more layers of socks. Mine likes empty paper bags. I put a couple of noisey toys in one and my cat will play for days in that bag. 'nutherBob > Give mine an empty box...and put packaging peanuts in it,too, for added > pleasure [quoted text clipped - 73 lines] >>> proctect you against the claws. If you feel that's not good enough you >>> can always add some more layers of socks.  SignatureYes..mine,too...plastic bags while I am putting groceries away...then I pick them up and put them away...I had too many incidences where they got caught in the handles and raced around the house like mad cats..which they were...and usually it literally scared the pee out of them...........NO MORE!!! > Mine likes empty paper bags. I put a couple of noisey toys in one and my > cat will play for days in that bag. [quoted text clipped - 81 lines] >>>> proctect you against the claws. If you feel that's not good enough you >>>> can always add some more layers of socks. my cat got caught in a plastic shopping bag handle. he acted like a big lion had mounted him and was gonna eat him. He raced around the house wildly trying to shake the bag off. I don't know how he did it, but the bag was torn off in a few minutes. I found him hiding under the bed a few hours later, still shaken by the experience. Now, he hides whenever I bring home groceries. > my cat got caught in a plastic shopping bag handle. he acted like a > big lion had mounted him and was gonna eat him. He raced around the > house wildly trying to shake the bag off. I don't know how he did it, > but the bag was torn off in a few minutes. I found him hiding under > the bed a few hours later, still shaken by the experience. Now, he > hides whenever I bring home groceries. That's the opposite of my cat. When one of us comes back from a store, supermarket, grocery, etc. ...he starts to inspect everything like a customs officer! Ours do,too...for the cat food...what else!!! :-) >> my cat got caught in a plastic shopping bag handle. he acted like a >> big lion had mounted him and was gonna eat him. He raced around the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > supermarket, grocery, etc. ...he starts to inspect everything like a > customs officer! > Ours do,too...for the cat food...what else!!! :-) What puzzles me is the unerring way that they KNOW which bag contains their food even before the bags are put down. Sarrasine of course can go one better she can remind you to buy catfood when it's going low. I am not claimning she can count (She's a feline genius through!)but she seems to understand "less" and "more" and when the pouches are running low she will sit by the half empty box with her head on it and a look that plainly says "I am a small adorable kitten- would you like me to stay that way? If so remember more catfood" Lesley Slave of the Fabulous Furballs Thats cute! Nightshade especially will look for the bag with the dry food in it...If you by chance take it out and leave it on the floor, he will start to chew into the cat food bag...then he will have all the food he desires! >> Ours do,too...for the cat food...what else!!! :-) > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Slave of the Fabulous Furballs > Nightshade especially will look for the bag with the dry food in it...If you > by chance take it out and leave it on the floor, he will start to chew into > the cat food bag...then he will have all the food he desires! When Sarrasine was a kitten she worked out how to open the bag, that if she curled her paw when she dipped it in she would grab more biscuits and finally that if she wet the paw first then biscuits would stick to it and she could have even more biscuits with each dip! We wondered where she was and when we found her she was sitting there, licking her paw, dipping it in and then licking the bicuits off her paw before having another dip. She was in Heaven and had eaten several ounces of the stuff. We were so amazed at her thinking process (this being when we realised we had a genius feline criminal) that all we could do was laugh Lesley Slave of the Fabulous Furballs |
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