My indoor cat, who is very active and curious has been a bit restless and seemingly bored lately. What can I do to keep him happy and active? He has lots of toys (stuffed toys, balls with bells in them, crumpled up paper, etc.), but they seem to lose their attraction pretty quickly. I play with him when I can, but since it’s a small apartment, running around with him is a little difficult. Anyone with indoor cats care to share their ideas?
Get him a kitten.
Get a laser pointer. Do not shine into cat’s eyes, but on the floor, the wall, the ceiling. Watch Cat go happily insane trying to catch the little dot.
But the very best toy for a cat is another cat. Two cats are not cheaper than one, but they’re easier to keep than one. Most cats enjoy having a feline friend to snuggle with, and wrestle with, and race. Two cats are LOTS of fun.
I was really skeptical about this when I bought it, but one of my cats looooooooves this DVD. Attacks the screen & everything. It’s fun for us & for him. Don’t watch it too carefully if you’re prone to motion sickness. The camera work is very jerky & the production quality decidedly budget, but that may be what makes it attractive to cats.
Our other cat just doesn’t seem to “get it” but then again, he will watch baseball & sitcoms, so there ya go.
We gave some friends this DVD for their single cat, and she loves it.
Yep. He needs a pal. Our two are bestest buds and fierce playmates.
We’ve long joked about getting our cats a mouse for their birthday & locking them in the bathroom with it. Confined space in which they can get a hold of mr. mouse, and easy cleanup for us. I doubt we’ll ever do it, though. We’re both too soft-hearted.
I don’t leave all of Samantha’s toys out at once. I rotate them every few days. That way she always has “new” toys to play with.
I also have found the best toy is one of those laser light things. Zip it across the floor, up the wall a little (drives 'em nuts 
)
I will also randomly scoop her up and dance her around while singing a medly of things like “how much is that kitty in the window?”. “catanooga choo choo”, “My Cat” – of course, I’m insane 
Get him a scratching post or one of those little kitty perches with the hole in it and rub catnip all over it.
I’ll add another vote for “get him another cat”. I have two indoor cats, who seem to keep each other entertained pretty well.
You might call Confuse A Cat Ltd..
This is funny - I was going to start a similar thread. I have a cat who bosses around my Rottweilers and another cat won’t fit in here, but I was wondering about enriching the Cat Environment and all that.
(I would suggest, get your cat a Rottweiler. But that’s too much work for most people, so I ditto the second cat suggestions.)
Two things I do that amuse The Cat.
Elvis goes apeshit about catnip. I have a big tub of Cosmic Catnip and keep his toys in it. I recycle the catnip-infused toys for him.
I sprinkle catnip into a brown paper grocery sack; he dives in and rolls around in there going “oh man that’s groovy.”
He has a barrel of goldfish. They please Him. He hangs over the edge and stares & bats for hours.
Another vote for “get him a buddy” Females tend to welcome new cats a bit less than males do, but males are pals.
And the laser pointer. Even 12 year old Marty gets that crazy hunter look in his eyes when we play.
Best thing I ever got my cat was another cat. My big guy would actually wail at the door when I left, and the sound was honestly heartbreaking – and audible from the ground floor, when my apartment’s on the third. :eek:
Then a neighbor cat gave birth to kittens at my parents’ house and I picked one of the litter out when he was weaned to bring him home. Best choice I ever could have made. The big guy was kind of fascinated and startled, but the kitten was utterly fearless and followed him around like… well, like a puppy. Whenever the kitten would fall asleep in random places and I’d have to go looking for him to make sure he wasn’t wedged behind the couch or something, my adult cat would perk up and start looking for him as well. It was rather touching.
For a while he watched out after the kitten like a father might – cats aren’t known for being particularly paternal, so I found it rather surprising. The little one would alternately cuddle up lovingly and viciously attack his new papa.
Six months later, they’re curled up on my spare office chair next to me whenever I’m on the computer.
bonobo_jones - love that picture!
Our cat loves to play with twist-ties, crumpled up balls of foil, and his favourite toys of all are cardboard boxes - he will chew the crap out of them - he’s weird.
Does your cat fetch? Ours does, better than our dog! So that is one way we have fun with him, and he gets some exercise.
We have a cat perch for him, and he loves to sit on that and watch the traffic and assorted wildlife (birds, flies, cats, dogs, people, spiders) outside.
But honestly his very favourite toy is our border collie. They take turns chasing each other around the house, and all morning long they fight over who gets to sleep in the sunbeams that come through our front windows.
I agree with whoever said to rotate the toys - we hide most of his (or he does) and then when we bring them out, he gets quite excited.
my kitty is an onlycat. She loves the feather duster type toy with the extra long handle. I wave it around and she goes nuts!
Get a bunch of old Dell computer boxes. 8 will do. Two as the base and then pile them up until they are 4 high. Cut strategic holes in them so the cat(s) have to move from box to box to climb higher, then tape the whole works together (no, not the cat, silly). Cut a few holes at different levels so they can see out. Not too large as they will expand them themselves. If you have two cats then they will chase each other through the maze like lunatics. The whole structure will rock with their antics. Makes a great scratching post. Just run the vacuum by it to clean up the cardboard. Watch out when you walk by it, though. You may find a little furry arm shooting out one of the holes to snag you as you walk by (Ouch! Damnit!)
I got my older cat some furry mice that are made from real animal fur (rabbit, I think?) and she LOVES them. I had to take them away when I got the little guy, though, because he’s more in tune with his catly instincts, and tries to eat the furry mice, thus littering the floor with hideous mangled furry mouse carcasses and sawdust.
I sorta feel bad because that was the only toy my big kitty likes to play with on her own. She likes her other toys, but mostly she carries them around and treats them like her kittens.
If you can, get him a playmate. I also have to give a thumbs up for the cat videos. We got our cats this one and they love it. Now whenever we put in ANY DVD they think it’s showtime and sit in front of the TV waiting. Then they look disappointed that The Sopranos doesn’t feature hamsters running around and birds chirping.
Their favorite toy is just a clump of feathers at the end of a string on a stick (they think it’s a bird), but the male will leap about three feet into the air to try and catch it. We don’t leave it out for them, but instead keep it in a closet, and get it out when they least expect it. We also built them a 4 ft tall scratching post out of PCV pipe wrapped with natural-fiber rope. They can just strach at floor level, or climb all the way up.
The laser pointer is good too. When we’re done playing with it, we always make the cats chase it to the same vent, and then turn it off. Now they think it “lives” in the vent, and we’ll catch them sniffing around it sometimes.
A ball toy in the bathtub can be fun too!
I agree with the “get another cat” suggestion, and the laser pointer. My husband also has a remote-control mouse he plays with them with. They love that. We also have a window seat for them that gets fought over constantly, and I got them one of those cat grass planters for Christmas. No, they’re not spoiled at all. Why do you ask?
I got my first a cat another cat which worked out good .When it grew up my wife wanted another (kitten ) and so on . I know have 4 cats and I’m hoping the herd will thin out eventually . Only 1 of the cats likes the fur mice but it covets them . It will take them and hide them from the other cats , bringing 1 out about every week and licks the fur off of it until it is bald. All of the cats seem to enjoy irritating each other. That may sound strange , but they go to great lenths to sneaking up on each other or kamikazi attacks . One thing they all enjoy is cat nip . It is to cats what skunk weed is to humans . They only have every week or two as the effect seems to be minimalized when they have it too much.