How to entertain a kitten when I can't walk her?

[LokiWolf]

Ok so last Tuesday I rolled my ankle bad getting Lizzy our of a tree after she got chased by a dog. So I can't walk well. The big issue is that I walk Lizzy to get some energy out and engage her. She has been going bonkers. Jumping and knocking stuff down, breaking things, and annoying Bella to the point Bella will attack her. Last night they got into it on my head!!! I still have to work and when I get home I'm exhausted and in pain so I can't exactly rub around with her. Sadly I do not have much money to but toys for her. I do have wand toys. And mice. Does anyone have any suggestions? It's gonna be a month or two more before my ankle heals.

She's 8 months old so yes she is still young and has energy. I don't know how to expend that energy in a one bedroom apartment. Especially when I need to rest.

 

[maggie101]

A long wand toy. Does she have a tower to run up and down? I sprained my ankle and could not do anything but elevate it. After a few weeks my cat got struitive crystals from stress. Even if you can't do much talk to her,music,sing, brush,ripple rug and hide lots of chew toys,pop up cubes. I even have a chewy box with holes cut and shipping trash.do some clicker training

 

[StanAndAlf]

Wads of balled up paper and cotton tips are hits in my house. An empty carboard box. Tie one of the mice to a piece of string, or a cotton tip, and hang it somewhere she can bat it. Even reusable shopping bags have their purpose at my house. Even a string with buttons threaded on and strung up may be entertaining.

 

[maggie101]

Ok so last Tuesday I rolled my ankle bad getting Lizzy our of a tree after she got chased by a dog. So I can't walk well. The big issue is that I walk Lizzy to get some energy out and engage her. She has been going bonkers. Jumping and knocking stuff down, breaking things, and annoying Bella to the point Bella will attack her. Last night they got into it on my head!!! I still have to work and when I get home I'm exhausted and in pain so I can't exactly rub around with her. Sadly I do not have much money to but toys for her. I do have wand toys. And mice. Does anyone have any suggestions? It's gonna be a month or two more before my ankle heals.

She's 8 months old so yes she is still young and has energy. I don't know how to expend that energy in a one bedroom apartment. Especially when I need to rest.

I can walk now but it will be a year to totally heal. I can squat but not get on my knees to grab something to the side and cannot push anything heavy. Being 50 does not help. Amazon has lots of inexpensive cat toy bundles though you still have to pay shipping. When you can use a crutch go to target and find someone doing freight to get a free box. Unfortunately it happened on my driving foot!

 

[kakers]

If you toss a mouse in the air will she jump up and catch it? That's how I've been getting my energetic boys energy out lately. He loves it! Some toys he catches in his paws and/or mouth, some he bats away like he's playing volleyball or something. But all that jumping definitely uses up a lot of his energy! If she'll do it with the mice you can try and vary it with balled up paper etc.

And if you want to try clicker training you just need treats and a clicker really, I have a free app on my phone for the clicker and use kibble since my kitty I'm training is on a restricted diet and can't have real treats so I just do it before breakfast when he's the most hungry.

I also crochet and have a lot of spare yarn so I've been making a whole variety of toys- balls, kicker toys, things that connect to the wands. There's definitely some arts and crafts toys you can make if you get great I've enough! You can even take an old sock and stuff it with paper or a plastic grocery bag and tie it off to make a kicker toy. Sprinkle in catnip if you have some for added effect.

 

[vince]

Ping pong balls are good cat toys. Put one in the bathtub for kitty. They'll surely get lost after a while, but they're cheap.

The home made kicker doesn't have to be stand-alone. You can tie a cord to it and use it for a pursuit toy or dangle it for kitty to jump at.

 

[LokiWolf]

Thank you guys for all your suggestions!!!!

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

Laser pointer. I held off on buying one for a while, after reading that it's controversial (no ability to "kill" the prey). But man, once I caved, it's all Juno wants. She will chase it around my coffee table happily until she runs out of breath. I stop using it before I take Juno to stay at my mom's, so it's fresh and new; it's so much easier for my mom to use, just a flick of the wrist. Very cheap too

 

[vince]

I haven't used one for the reasons stated above, but some others have said to just end the chase session with the laser pointer by stopping it on a treat left on the floor as "prey" so kitty gets to eat the fruits of her labor. Sounds reasonable; I might try it. It may work for you, too.

 

[maggie101]

I Ave been thinking of trying toilet paper rolls like 3 put together with thick thread

 

[vince]

You can also use the TP roll as an interactive treat toy: Put some treats in it and fold the ends down to conceal them. My cats like this (but they got wise and it's not the puzzle it used to be for them).

 

[maggie101]

You can also use the TP roll as an interactive treat toy: Put some treats in it and fold the ends down to conceal them. My cats like this (but they got wise and it's not the puzzle it used to be for them).

You should be a toy inventer. So many great ideas!

 

[vince]

You should be a toy inventer. So many great ideas!

I'm just a cheapskate!

 

[kakers]

You can also use the TP roll as an interactive treat toy: Put some treats in it and fold the ends down to conceal them. My cats like this (but they got wise and it's not the puzzle it used to be for them).

I bet it would also work to cut a paper towel tube into a couple spirals that would make fun springs! Cats seem to love those little plastic springs, why not bigger cardboard ones right?

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

You can also use the TP roll as an interactive treat toy: Put some treats in it and fold the ends down to conceal them. My cats like this (but they got wise and it's not the puzzle it used to be for them).

Um, is my cat really dumb? I just tried this and she didn't seem to grasp that it was a puzzle. She just followed after me, pawing me to give her the shrimp treats hidden inside. Even when I opened one end halfway, she only managed to get half the treats out before giving up....

 

[kakers]

Um, is my cat really dumb? I just tried this and she didn't seem to grasp that it was a puzzle. She just followed after me, pawing me to give her the shrimp treats hidden inside. Even when I opened one end halfway, she only managed to get half the treats out before giving up....

Doesn't necessarily mean she is dumb. I heard of a study recently that found that cats are unlike other animals in that they DON'T prefer to work for their food. So it may be that she's just uninterested in making an effort and would rather you just give her the treats in a way that requires no effort on her part.

 

[ladytimedramon]

pipe cleaners and twist ties are Delilah's go to after her springs.

Springs are pretty inexpensive though.

You could also tie some string/yarn/old shoelace to a broom handle and use that as a wand.

Delilah also likes Cat TV on youtube. I put it on the big tv and she will either watch or chase whatever is on the screen.