Passion To Play Is Gone :'(

One of my cats, Cedric, used to love to play. He would go wild chasing the cat teasers. Over his lifetime (he's two), I had started playing with him less and less. It went from maybe once or twice a month (with some spurts of playing every day) to twice a year. I feel so guilty for not playing with my cats enough. (Jackson Galaxy recommends playing with your cat every day.) Since I had some extra time, I pulled out the toys today. Cedric acted completely different! Normally, he would come running at the mere jingle of the bells on the toys; he did not do this today. As I proceeded to play with his brother, he kept his distance. When I tried to play with him, he was very uncomfortable--stressed, even, at times. It was as if he was scared of the toys. He swatted at them a couple of times, but didn't do anything serious. I don't know what happened! I'm very worried and fear that this is a sign of a bigger problem. Although, other than the playing, he's otherwise normal. I'm still worried, though. This is so unlike him! He lived to play, and now he doesn't. Any thoughts?

Hi!
If, over the next few days you're seeing any other changes in Cedric's attitude or food, water or litterbox habits, you will want to get him in to a vet.

Otherwise, try different toys, or even just crumpled balls of paper or tin foil directed to him, or maybe there is something here;

Have you tried taking him for walks? It's possible that he needs more mental stimulation, but it's also possible he may have turned into a cat that isn't super active.

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Seconding trying different toys.

Has he been acting differently for a while? What happened after you put away the toys? Does he still seem stressed?

While possible reasons could be health and maturity as Furball said, I wonder if he just doesn't know what is expected of him anymore. Maybe you can try a different play style? One thing I find that gets most cats interested when I just meet them is dragging a string really slowly along the floor. Let it catch on and jump and twitch from all the different textures.

If he's still not interested, put a towel/mat on the ground on top of the string. Let one end of the string hang out near where he is. Grab the other end of the string and slowly pull it under the towel. Pull the string around, keeping the end under the towel. Many seem to be entertained by the mysterious object moving around under the "ground".

recurringecho said:

One thing I find that gets most cats interested when I just meet them is dragging a string really slowly along the floor. Let it catch on and jump and twitch from all the different textures.

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This is usually effective and catches the interest of most cats, including my very lazy cat Barley. LOL. Try it.

Furballsmom said:

try different toys, or even just crumpled balls of paper or tin foil directed to him

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Yes, toys need not be expensive. I notice that my cats also are more interested in crumpled papers than those pricey actual cat toys.

In addition, since you have no time to play with your cat everyday, you can also buy them battery operated toys so you can turn them on and let your kitties play with them while you do the cooking, house chores, etc. And cats love those small balls which make sound as they chase it. I wonder why your Cedic is not interested on them anymore.

Anyhow, if none of these work, I also believe you have to bring him to the vet.

He is still very young at two. If you are rarely playing with him he could be afraid of the toys. Playtime with multiple cats takes just a tiny bit of extra thought.

Cats in groups tend to allow other cats to go all out crazy. Generally they take turns. If the cat you are posting about is older than the other cat or if the other cat is just naturally more high energy than him then it could just be cat nature. If the there is any issue with how the cats get along then it could be that your boy is intimidated by the activity of the other cat.

You might try bringing out the toy when the other cat is not around and going slower as in don’t whip it around in exaggerated motions until he has lost his fear.


After he has gained confidence then group play is ideal. It works wonders if there are hierarchical issues between cats too but sometimes a cat just needs that little bit of special attention.

I've found with mine if I have a wand toy if I jiggle it around some then have the toy end "disappear" beside or behind the chair or something they get all excited and go for it to find it- when before they would just watch me make it fly around. Maybe will get some more interest. He may need to learn how to play again with practice.

I second the advice about trying when the other cat is not around. My Chilli LOVES to play and we played like crazy every day when she was an only cat, but now that I have two, she doesn’t really play at all until Clove (hyper kitten) is thoroughly tired out or in another room. Then she will start to bat at the toy again. My two also play together constantly, wrestling and playing chase, so Chilli’s energy is being depleted through that.

I'm not an expert, but my kitty was afraid of one of her toys at first. It took about 5 exposures before she played with it. Do you have things for him to hide in\behind? My kitty loves it when there's a bag of box to hide in then rush and pounce as I just quiver the toy on the floor while slowly moving it away from her. I believe I read somewhere that cats are more stimulated by objects moving away from them.