Our cat Frida is 5 years old and we've had her since early January of 2016. My boyfriend and I adopted her from a shelter and don't know much about her past family, but we did "foster" her for a couple weeks before we could finalize her adoption because she needed to be spayed. (This is our first post so I put some pictures at the bottom!)
She is the most loving cat we could ask for. She nudges us for pets, rolls over to get belly rubs, and cuddles with us at night. She is a little skittish though, and unfamiliar people frighten her, particularly men. We have been trying for a while to figure out the best toys to use to play with her, because we found out quickly that most toys will not interest her or will actually scare and stress her out.
The first few toys we tried all were no good. We bought a little ball that rolls around with a couple feathers on it and a bell inside: this was the first one and it just didn't do it for her. The next was a wand with a plush mouse on a string with a squeaker inside: this still scares the crap out of her (the noise particularly). We thought for sure a laser pointer would grab her attention but even that red dot scares her. She'll run away from it or cower in a corner until it's gone.
When those failed we went back to the drawing board and just started watching her behavior. She loves attacking paper laying on the ground or plastic rings, so we figured she's definitely more of a ground hunter and tried to find some toys that cater to those needs. We found plush mice that have catnip pouches and she loves batting those around and pouncing on them. Jackson galaxy has little foam cube-ish things that bounce in different directions she likes as well. We got a flat mouse with crinkle paper inside and feathers on the corners that she's not interested in (but not scared of!). She also is crazy about attacking things moving under the covers, like feet, if she's feeling energetic. (I might have accidentally encouraged this because it was one of the few times I could be engaged in her play sessions, but now it can be frustrating at night if she has too much energy, especially because I move my feet a lot)!
What I want the most is to use interactive toys with her so that we can help stimulate her and give her more exercise than she's getting now. We bought another wand toy without a squeaker attached that had a purple wormy thing attached, but she cowers when we hold it. We even attached one of her favorite mice to it but she still is scared of it. An interesting observation I made was that if I'm in bed playing with her, I can hold a plush mouse by the tail and cover my arm with the comforter and gently move the mouse to pique her interest. She almost always pounces when I do this because she thinks it's actually the mouse moving since I'm hiding my arm. If I have nothing hiding that it's me moving the mouse, she becomes disinterested. I tried the same comforter technique with the wand toy, but I feel like she was suspicious and didn't want to play because of the wiry line attached to the mouse, but I don't know for sure.
I want her to be able to hunt something "alive" but I don't know what interactive toys she won't be scared of. I feel like an electronic toy may make noise or be too intense for her. She just isn't as stimulated as she should be and we both feel frustrated that we're trying different types of play with her with more failures than successes.
TLDR: Do you have suggestions for interactive toys that don't make noise that might not scare an easily frightened ground hunter?
She is the most loving cat we could ask for. She nudges us for pets, rolls over to get belly rubs, and cuddles with us at night. She is a little skittish though, and unfamiliar people frighten her, particularly men. We have been trying for a while to figure out the best toys to use to play with her, because we found out quickly that most toys will not interest her or will actually scare and stress her out.
The first few toys we tried all were no good. We bought a little ball that rolls around with a couple feathers on it and a bell inside: this was the first one and it just didn't do it for her. The next was a wand with a plush mouse on a string with a squeaker inside: this still scares the crap out of her (the noise particularly). We thought for sure a laser pointer would grab her attention but even that red dot scares her. She'll run away from it or cower in a corner until it's gone.
When those failed we went back to the drawing board and just started watching her behavior. She loves attacking paper laying on the ground or plastic rings, so we figured she's definitely more of a ground hunter and tried to find some toys that cater to those needs. We found plush mice that have catnip pouches and she loves batting those around and pouncing on them. Jackson galaxy has little foam cube-ish things that bounce in different directions she likes as well. We got a flat mouse with crinkle paper inside and feathers on the corners that she's not interested in (but not scared of!). She also is crazy about attacking things moving under the covers, like feet, if she's feeling energetic. (I might have accidentally encouraged this because it was one of the few times I could be engaged in her play sessions, but now it can be frustrating at night if she has too much energy, especially because I move my feet a lot)!
What I want the most is to use interactive toys with her so that we can help stimulate her and give her more exercise than she's getting now. We bought another wand toy without a squeaker attached that had a purple wormy thing attached, but she cowers when we hold it. We even attached one of her favorite mice to it but she still is scared of it. An interesting observation I made was that if I'm in bed playing with her, I can hold a plush mouse by the tail and cover my arm with the comforter and gently move the mouse to pique her interest. She almost always pounces when I do this because she thinks it's actually the mouse moving since I'm hiding my arm. If I have nothing hiding that it's me moving the mouse, she becomes disinterested. I tried the same comforter technique with the wand toy, but I feel like she was suspicious and didn't want to play because of the wiry line attached to the mouse, but I don't know for sure.
I want her to be able to hunt something "alive" but I don't know what interactive toys she won't be scared of. I feel like an electronic toy may make noise or be too intense for her. She just isn't as stimulated as she should be and we both feel frustrated that we're trying different types of play with her with more failures than successes.
TLDR: Do you have suggestions for interactive toys that don't make noise that might not scare an easily frightened ground hunter?
