How do YOU get your lazy cat to exercise?

ruaryx

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Hi, I was wondering how other cat owners get their kitties to exercise.  My slightly overweight cat needs a little push.  She loves the Da Bird toy and lasers but loses interest quickly.  Anybody have any other unique methods?

I've heard of throwing treats up and down the stairs for them to retrieve, but ironically my cat isn't food motivated (she doesn't overeat either).  
 

red top rescue

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Da Bird and laser is what I was going to suggest.  It sounds like you need to do them several time a day until she gets disinterested.  Since she won't do a long session, perhaps several short ones will be sufficient exercise.
 

emandjee

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Have you tried different attachments on da bird instead of the regular feathers? I have a variety of wand toys and find switching the attachments gets my cats interested in playing chase again. Hope you find something that works!
 

tiger claws

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My cat, Tiger, a 3yr. old "non-domestic" cat, plays fetch! It took a while to train him.  I crunch up small balls of paper and throw them all over the house :) He runs like crazy, retrieves them, and drops them at my feet to throw again :) It is the only way I can get him to exercise!
 
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ruaryx

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Have you tried different attachments on da bird instead of the regular feathers? I have a variety of wand toys and find switching the attachments gets my cats interested in playing chase again. Hope you find something that works!
That sounds like a good idea!  Do you have any favorite attachments?
 
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ruaryx

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Da Bird and laser is what I was going to suggest.  It sounds like you need to do them several time a day until she gets disinterested.  Since she won't do a long session, perhaps several short ones will be sufficient exercise.
The problem is that she gets interested, but will most often go hide in order to "stalk" the toy.  And she hides for a long time too.  She will be interested, just not exactly moving!
 
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ruaryx

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My cat, Tiger, a 3yr. old "non-domestic" cat, plays fetch! It took a while to train him.  I crunch up small balls of paper and throw them all over the house :) He runs like crazy, retrieves them, and drops them at my feet to throw again :) It is the only way I can get him to exercise!
How did you train him?  My cat will probably just look at the balls!  
 

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My cats have never had interet in Da Bird or the Cat Dancer
, two toys that are supposedly irresistable to cats. My Aby does like Neko Flies.

Maybe a remote controlled or robotic cat toy would be interesting to your cat? There's the Hexbug mouse and Scamper Bug.
 

chloejune

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a cat tree. my 73" cat tree is a playground and bed for my cats. 
 

emandjee

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That sounds like a good idea!  Do you have any favorite attachments?
The mouse attachment seems to be popular with my two. If your kitty isn't a chewer, it lasts longer than the feathers. I've bought the sparkly refill attachment, and it was popular for about a week. I've even gone without any attachments a few times, though I don't recommend it. My two crazies were nuts about chasing the safety pin at the end, but I don't feel it's safe.
 
The problem is that she gets interested, but will most often go hide in order to "stalk" the toy.  And she hides for a long time too.  She will be interested, just not exactly moving!
The thing is, you've got to be the prey, and then act like one. Make it scurry around the corner of the sofa where your kitty can't see, but put a brown paper/plastic bag back there, and make your lure crawl on it to create some noise. If your cat is curious like my two, they won't be able to resist and go pounce on it, thus getting your kitty moving. I also scurry the mouse across the kitchen floor so it makes that noise (safety pin hitting the tiles), and make it leap onto my windowsill which creates another clang, then drag it along to their cat tree nearby, dangle it up high on their perch, or show the mouse tail end only, and make it wiggle a bit. So you get the idea, it's sort of a teasing game, in a way, lol.
 Anyway, the fun part is the chase, and it's up to you how to make it more interesting for your cat. Perhaps it's the age of the kitty (my two are still less than a year and half old), but sometimes the novelty of the "new intruder" gets them excited and curious to furiously go after their prey. I've thought about marinating their favorite lure in a ziplock full of their catnip for a few days, too. Any trick you can think of that would help, I'd say go for it!


After a heart-pumping workout (me & my cats),
I also give them a treat to mimick killing their prey and eating it. For an overweight kitty, you can offer special freeze dried meats instead of the ubuquitous commercial treats you find in most grocery stores. I get mine from my local independent pet store in my neighborhood...there's tons to choose from in the dog section for cheaper prices than they do for felines, and usually consist the same ingredient, just a bigger pieces. Ask the store clerk which ones are ok for cats; workers there are often quite knowledgeable about their products. High protein diets are good for any cat, skinny or chubby.

Again, good wishes to you and your kitty! 
 Hope you see some kind of interest or action!
 

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My 2 have a bunch of toys. Catnip mice, little catnip birds that chirp when touched and ball toys that blink just to mention a few. They like them well enough. The one toy that they love is this one. It's not Da Bird but similar I guess.


This is the toy they can't get enough of. You might hate it because it can be a touch obnoxious but they adore it. I keep it on a bookshelf and they will try to get it back after play time is over. We see some serious acrobatics with this toy.
 

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Started with one crunched up piece of paper.  I tossed it, got down on my hands and knees, fetched it myself, brought it back to Tiger and placed it at his feet.  I did this over and over again...hundreds of times.  Finally, one night while I was asleep, he jumped on the bed and placed the crunched up ball on my face!  I tossed it and he jumped off the bed, returned with the ball in his mouth and dropped it on my pillow! We did this for 30 mins.  Ever since, we have played fetch on a regular basis.  Now, don't get me wrong, he wont do it on demand...he does it when HE wants to play...lol.
 
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ruaryx

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Thanks everyone for answering.  Sasha has a lot of toys laying around too and sometimes I will catch her playing with them.  She doesn't really play on her cat tree though.  I don't think she's much of a jumper.  Anyways, I will definitely try out all of the toys mentioned here!!

And @Anne  I've probably already reviewed every single cat-related thing I own. Haha!
 

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My cat, Tiger, a 3yr. old "non-domestic" cat, plays fetch! It took a while to train him.  I crunch up small balls of paper and throw them all over the house :) He runs like crazy, retrieves them, and drops them at my feet to throw again :) It is the only way I can get him to exercise!
 
How did you train him?  My cat will probably just look at the balls!  
My cats play fetch as well, we also "bat" the ball back and forth to each other.  Two of my cats will entertain themselves for quite a long time, batting small balls all over the place.  When the ball ends up underneath a coffee table, for example, one of my cats will chase around finding the best way to retrieve her prey, then stop and do the classic "wiggle her behind" then dive in and snatch her ball.  She then proudly walks around with her "prey" in her mouth until she is ready to bat it around some more.

in my experience, some of my cat prefer to play "fetch" because they enjoy playing more when I throw their small toys to them.  If I get distracted in the middle of playtime, my cats will bring their toy of choice and drop it at my feet and look at me like, come on, it's playtime!!
 

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I just put a sheet of newspaper on the floor for Casper.

He'll sit on it, claw it and shred it throughout the day.  When one page is shredded and messy, bin it and put out another.  Casper will be along shortly to say, "There aren't enough claw marks in this paper!"

This next part is pretty geeky...

I take an LED, a hearing aid battery and some clear packing tape and arrange thus...


Make SURE that the LED and battery are taped up WELL so that the small parts can't come loose.

Use two or three layers to be sure everything it sealed up.

Now I've got this little, blue light that Casper can bat around the floor.

Put it UNDER the sheet of newspaper and it will shine through and drive the cat absolutely nutso!

He will only be able to ignore it for so long until he is finally compelled to pounce on it, shred the newspaper and kill the little blue light.

Replace shredded newspaper daily.

LED will last two or three days with no problem.  Possibly even up to a week.  Replace battery when necessary.

Repeat ad infinitum.  ;)
 

misterwhiskers

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I just put a sheet of newspaper on the floor for Casper.
He'll sit on it, claw it and shred it throughout the day.  When one page is shredded and messy, bin it and put out another.  Casper will be along shortly to say, "There aren't enough claw marks in this paper!"

This next part is pretty geeky...
I take an LED, a hearing aid battery and some clear packing tape and arrange thus...




Make SURE that the LED and battery are taped up WELL so that the small parts can't come loose.
Use two or three layers to be sure everything it sealed up.

Now I've got this little, blue light that Casper can bat around the floor.

Put it UNDER the sheet of newspaper and it will shine through and drive the cat absolutely nutso!
He will only be able to ignore it for so long until he is finally compelled to pounce on it, shred the newspaper and kill the little blue light.

Replace shredded newspaper daily.
LED will last two or three days with no problem.  Possibly even up to a week.  Replace battery when necessary.
Repeat ad infinitum.  ;)
What a great idea!!!
 

Caspers Human

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Thanks! :D

But, if you want to make such a gizmo be sure to make it sturdy enough to withstand the abuse that Kitty will dish out.
I use three layers of tape and I make sure that it's all stuck down and sealed up so that it won't come apart while it's being played with.

I also know what kind of abuse Casper dishes out and I design to that level of abuse.
If I see him chewing it or clawing it up, I will take it away and either redesign it or kibosh the project all together.
 

hatchytt

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I have two kittens, 6mos and 7mos. They exercise each other. Hecate (7mos) was bored until Hades came along. We also have toys and a bookshelf next to the window plus two patio chairs for them to jump on.
 
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