How Do You Trick Your Cat/s Into Liking A Toy/bed They're Ignoring?

[Yanaka]

Hey all!

I have a tunnel, a box, a ball park thing and a cool cosy bed that my cats ignore. I've tried moving them around or keeping them in a closet for a while before taking them back out, but they're still ignoring the objects. They like the tunnel only if I play with them, not spontaneously.

What did you do to have your cat(s) like something they were previously ignoring? Did you find a pattern? Like a bed in the sun, or a bed somewhere high? In a corner? A toy someplace else?

Please share your tricks and scenarios!

 

[abyeb]

Charlie loves cardboard boxes. So, whenever I get him a toy or a bed that he doesn’t take to right away, I but it inside his box and it’s immediately interesting! Once I bought Charlie this big, fluffy green mouse that he ignored. When I placed it inside his box, Charlie jumped in after it, batted it back and forth inside the box, and then picked it up and then started playing with it outside his box. That’s one of his favorite toys now, and Charlie runs around the house carrying it in his mouth.

 

[betsygee]

I spray catnip on them.

 

[Kat0121]

I spray catnip on them.

So do I. It only works some of the time for me though

 

[1 bruce 1]

I shoo them away and say "that's not for you."
Instant Cat Magnet.

 

[Neo_23]

Whenever I buy a new toy I always keep the receipt and show it to my girl before opening the packaging. I can usually tell when she smells it how excited she’s going to be about it. If she sniffs and walks away I take it right back and return it.

I know that’s probably not helpful for the stuff you already have, but I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s always hit or miss with cats. They like random things you never thought they would and they don’t like the things you thought looked like a lot of fun.

 

[Yanaka]

Yes. They like elastic hair ties as much as their cat tree palace haha.

1 bruce 1 that's hilarious!

Catnip doesn't work too well on my monsters. And I don't use monsters lightly: they don't like Fancy Feast. What cat doesn't like THAT?!

 

[orange&white]

My response to any question which starts with "How do you trick your cat into liking...." is this:

 

[1 bruce 1]

In all seriousness, it doesn't work well for beds but for toys it works for our dogs AND cats, and that's to keep it away from them and make a big fuss over how cool the toy is, and let them have it for awhile then take it away and store it.
With our performance dogs this is a really good way to build drive for toys used as rewards, and why a lot of performance folks don't let their dogs have access to those "drive" toys 24/7, it's an engagement (dog/handler) thing. With cats, this is probably why they ignore "safe" toys that are available 24 hours a day but go nuts when you break out the feather wand or something they shouldn't have unsupervised access too. It's kind of a forbidden fruit thing. Plus, it's super fun watching your cats light up like a 3 year olds on Christmas morning when you're all "OK, fine, you can have it forever and ever", drop it onto the ground, and watch them rush in, grab it, and rush off with it like they just scored the Hope Diamond.

 

[himawari]

I place anything new to places he regularly uses/goes into/lays on. He loves catnip filled toys so I get him used to a new one (which doesn't take long) and then places it on his new bed. Before long, he gets used to it. The only toys he doesn't really like are the mylar balls but I leave them out anyway just in case.

 

[Margret]

I got Jasmine a crinkle tunnel with net windows in it, and she wouldn't go anywhere near it, so I put her favorite catnip mousy inside it. Poor Jasmine looked totally betrayed: "Why are you putting my favorite mousy where I can't get at it?"

Okay, that didn't work, so I retrieved the mousy and started tossing treats into the tunnel. Normally Jasmine loves to chase after treats, but this time I got the same look of betrayal.

Then I got out the catnip, broke some up in my hands to properly release the scent, and put it inside the tunnel. No good, "You're still putting my favorite things where I can't get at them?! What is your problem, woman?"

That's when I shook the catnip out of the tunnel onto a scratching post ("About time!"), collapsed the tunnel into the bag it came in, and returned it to the store. It was clear that Jasmine would go into it only under protest, and where's the fun in that?

Margret

 

[Margret]

Margret