Ideas for how to keep my cat entertained in the winter?

[lissalouie]

Hello, everyone!

I adopted Rory, a five-year-old neutered male cat, about a year and a half ago. Until three months ago, we also had Lou, an older but still spunky neutered male cat. He and Rory got along fantastically and I never once worried about Rory being bored when Lou was around; even having Lou in the same room seemed to give Rory the stimulation he needed to be happy.

Lou passed away suddenly and unexpectedly and Rory has been a solo cat for the first time in his entire life. I am holding off on potentially adopting another cat for a while longer (we had a bad experience about a month and a half ago with this and I want to give him a chance to exist as the king of his domain for a bit) so right now it's just me, Rory, and my mom. My mom works outside the home (and may be moving out in the future) but I work from home, so Rory is rarely alone for long.

Before now, Rory has always lived with other cats. So now he is having to learn how to entertain himself on his own as well. This is easy when the weather is nice, as my apartment is surrounded by lush green plants full of birds and squirrels, and I've ensured he has comfortable places to perch and watch them all. But it's winter now, and everything is cold and dead and awaiting rebirth, and so are our hearts, to be honest.

I'm just looking to see if anyone has any ideas for ways to keep Rory happy and enriched even when the outside world provides no entertainment. Here is what I have so far:

• Frequent interactive play sessions with his favorite toys, rotated on a regular basis. At least 3x a day for 10-15 minutes, often more depending on his mood.
• Five large cat trees and multiple smaller ones, complete with shelves and other pieces of cat-friendly furniture to bring him from place to place. He loved these when Lou was here but rarely uses them now.
• Three Ripple Rugs to hide and play in.
• A personal 24-inch TV at his eye level with Birder King videos on. This is only on for part of the day so he doesn't get overstimulated by it, but it definitely adds something to look at when the world outside is still.
• A cat-safe heating pad in the living room so he can lounge in comfort while watching his TV or hanging out with me.
• Numerous scratching pads, posts, loungers, etc. He is especially fond of long cardboard scratchers so we have two big ones in different rooms of the apartment for him.
• Numerous beds, tents, hiding furniture, boxes, etc.
• A handful of automated toys to play with. These do not hold his attention for long so we rotate and use sparingly.
• A ton of smaller toys to play with on his own, rotated on a regular basis. Special shout out to Yeowww!!! for my sanity.
• Other toys like the Cat Krazies and balls to chase around and hunt.
• An old ritual I had with Lou and then with him was to 'hide' kibble around the apartment so they could hunt for it. Rory was a huge fan of doing this with Lou (who needed the kibble as part of a special diet) but he is not very engaged when we do it now. I'm also trying to ween him off of dry food completely so we only do it now as a special treat or if he asks.
• Same with 'kibble chase', when I would toss the kibble across the room for he and Lou to run after and get. He loved it with Lou, is ambivalent about it now, so it's currently an occasional event.
• We have puzzle feeders that I will put some high value freeze dried treats or dried catnip in from time to time.
• Occasionally I will sprinkle high quality dry catnip on a rug for him to enjoy.

This all sounds like a lot, and I am definitely missing some things, but he still seems bored, especially when I am busy working and can't play with him. I know he is used to always having the company of another cat around, and I know nothing I can provide for him in terms of enrichment will replace that, but please let me know if there are any other ideas or things I've missed.

He does not like soothing toys, and the place I live would not be safe for harness training. (Lots of neighbors in my complex who don't leash their dogs... I'm not taking the chance.) I used to bring him outside in a cat stroller when it was warmer, but it's cold now, so looking for indoor ideas. I used to have a cat wheel for my older cat but donated it when I moved; I don't know if he would ever use it enough to merit the cost, but it's an idea.

 

[neely]

Wow, any cat would love to be a visitor in your home. It sounds like the ideal toy/amusement center. You're doing everything right and how thoughtful to want to entertain Rory. The only help I can offer is to take a peek at some of these Articles and see if there's something that might entice Rory and keep him occupied. I know he's not lazy so ignore the title of the first article since it has some good options and suggestions: 17 Best Toys For Lazy Cats - TheCatSite
How To Choose The Best Toy For Your Cat - TheCatSite
Playing With Your Cat - 10 Things You Need To Know - TheCatSite
Best of luck and I hope you find a successful solution for Rory.

 

[Hellenww]

2 of the things I've done with hogh energy cats are House Tour/Climbing the Walls and hide & seek.

House Tour/Climbing the Walls - With Yoshi I'dcarry him around so he could sniff higher up stuff. When he'd lean toward a wall I'd hold him on my shoulder so he could "Climb the Wall". As a kitten I taught Luna to lay around my neck so I can walk around hands free. This happens a few times a week. Even though it's not a very active activity it seems to calm her cabin fever.

Hide & Seek is just that. Yoshi taught me that cats enjoy it and played into his less active senior years. Luna is 22mt and just learning. I hide and make a funny noise until she finds me. It was a few months before she stopped looking at me with a "Crazy Human" expression before began to run a hide around a corner. I wouldn't try this with a nervous cat.

Neither will help when your working. Since they are new and not things he did with Lou maybe he'd be more accepting of play.

Leo and Luna would love to visit.

 

[iPappy]

What does he do when you say he acts bored? (Pacing around, crying, laying around?)
Given how you described your neighborhood, I wouldn't suggest harness training either. As a dog owner, I apologize for the people who ignore leash laws. It's why my dog has never seen public parks, etc., because no one seems to respect the leash law and with her being tiny, I won't take the chance either.
I read through your list and can safely say any cat would be incredibly lucky to have you as their person. I think you're doing a great job.

 

[lissalouie]

Wow, any cat would love to be a visitor in your home. It sounds like the ideal toy/amusement center. You're doing everything right and how thoughtful to want to entertain Rory. The only help I can offer is to take a peek at some of these Articles and see if there's something that might entice Rory and keep him occupied. I know he's not lazy so ignore the title of the first article since it has some good options and suggestions: 17 Best Toys For Lazy Cats - TheCatSite
How To Choose The Best Toy For Your Cat - TheCatSite
Playing With Your Cat - 10 Things You Need To Know - TheCatSite
Best of luck and I hope you find a successful solution for Rory.

Thank you!

That first link made me laugh--I have or have had all of those at some point! Rory is the beneficiary of my deep love for Lou, as I was so devoted to his quality of life and enrichment that money was no object. Lou, however, was more content to just sleep on my lap than anything else, haha. I will revisit some of these and see if anything works better for Rory!

 

[lissalouie]

2 of the things I've done with hogh energy cats are House Tour/Climbing the Walls and hide & seek.

House Tour/Climbing the Walls - With Yoshi I'dcarry him around so he could sniff higher up stuff. When he'd lean toward a wall I'd hold him on my shoulder so he could "Climb the Wall". As a kitten I taught Luna to lay around my neck so I can walk around hands free. This happens a few times a week. Even though it's not a very active activity it seems to calm her cabin fever.

Hide & Seek is just that. Yoshi taught me that cats enjoy it and played into his less active senior years. Luna is 22mt and just learning. I hide and make a funny noise until she finds me. It was a few months before she stopped looking at me with a "Crazy Human" expression before began to run a hide around a corner. I wouldn't try this with a nervous cat.

Neither will help when your working. Since they are new and not things he did with Lou maybe he'd be more accepting of play.

Leo and Luna would love to visit.

I've started doing the house tour with Rory, actually! Although my apartment is catified to the extent that most of the things out of his physical reach are things he shouldn't be experiencing, I'm still trying to find any new spots that he can't explore on his own. I wish he would lie around my neck, but he is a big boy and generally nervous so hoisting him up is the best we can manage.

I'll try Hide & Seek! Rory tends to have some anxiety when I leave the room anyway, so this may be a way to help practice the idea that I never disappear permanently. (He's had some major losses in his short life, including his first owner, who died at home and supposedly wasn't discovered for a few days. We work a lot on his separation anxiety, so this may help with some modifications--and be fun for him too!) He and Lou loved to play Hide and Seek together so this is a great idea.

 

[lissalouie]

What does he do when you say he acts bored? (Pacing around, crying, laying around?)
Given how you described your neighborhood, I wouldn't suggest harness training either. As a dog owner, I apologize for the people who ignore leash laws. It's why my dog has never seen public parks, etc., because no one seems to respect the leash law and with her being tiny, I won't take the chance either.
I read through your list and can safely say any cat would be incredibly lucky to have you as their person. I think you're doing a great job.

His behavior depends on the time of day and what I am doing. It is usually a combination of those three things. He'll also come up for attention and directly ask for it, which is fine if I'm not in a meeting and can drop what I'm doing to help him, but is difficult when I'm speaking to my manager and there is suddenly a screaming cat pressing his face into my cheek.

It's the lying around that bothers me the most, really, and only because I know how different he acted when Lou was around. He was much more engaged with the world with him here, and while I know that part of this is likely his mourning process, I still wish I could help find new ways to invigorate him, you know?

I understand the off-leash dogs sometimes; one of the women in an adjacent building has a big, old bulldog who needs to be let out to do her business 10+ times a day. I know it would be a hassle to always get her harness on, especially if it's a sudden emergency. But it also means I can't even try to give Rory the outdoor space since, at any moment, a big unknown dog could run toward him--and he is an anxious cat by nature and I don't doubt he'd find a way to escape even the most escape-proof harness in that situation.

I'm sorry about your dog dealing with that! My best friend has a small dog as well and it's always such a concern, especially as her dog can be a bit reactive.

Thank you so much. I just want to find ways for Rory to, you know, feel excited about things again. When Lou was alive, I never once thought "Rory is bored." But now he spends most of his days lying on his heating pad and crying if I go to the bathroom and it makes me sad.

 

[Alldara]

It's hard but he will need to go through his mourning. I've certainly learned this Calcifer. Some comfort to him was doing things he liked to do with Nobel. But just being patient and there with them.

When we were in an apartment we used to put up chicken wire to let our cats come on the balcony with us (we were 2nd and 4th floors).

Catnip bubbles in front of a fan are fun. They can be an active or passive activity.

We've done shallow water with ping pong balls before. That's hit or miss.

A big thing they love is having an indoor, cat-friendly "garden". We don't have any at the moment, but some catnip plants and some cat-safe herbs are fun to have around.

 

[iPappy]

I'm quite sure he is mourning as well. The loss hits them just like it hits us.
It's also possible that, at age 5, he's learning how to settle and "chill" for lack of a better word, which we see as just laying around. I like the term "off switch" for this. They know when it's time to wind down for awhile; a lot of cats at a few years old no longer need nearly as much stimulation as they did as kittens. As long as he's still active otherwise, I wouldn't necessarily discourage this for an hour or two while you get your work done.
I do like A Alldara suggestion of an indoor garden. That could be really entertaining for him and a lot of the grasses and things for cats are quite nutritious for them.

 

[lissalouie]

It's hard but he will need to go through his mourning. I've certainly learned this Calcifer. Some comfort to him was doing things he liked to do with Nobel. But just being patient and there with them.

When we were in an apartment we used to put up chicken wire to let our cats come on the balcony with us (we were 2nd and 4th floors).

Catnip bubbles in front of a fan are fun. They can be an active or passive activity.

We've done shallow water with ping pong balls before. That's hit or miss.

A big thing they love is having an indoor, cat-friendly "garden". We don't have any at the moment, but some catnip plants and some cat-safe herbs are fun to have around.

I wish I had a balcony! We're not allowed to put anything through the windows (weak vinyl) so I can't even give him a window box. I'm hoping my next place has some sort of safe outdoor access.

He was TERRIFIED of the catnip bubbles both times I've tried. He would run out of the room and only come back when they were put away... and then would lick the remnants off the floor.

I have some of those motorized 'fish' that swim in water. I do that every now and then for him with a plastic bin and he seems to enjoy it, but he does lose interest fairly fast. Still, it's a good thing to remember in the rotation! I'll try ping-pong balls too sometime.

I've been trying so hard to get him an indoor garden! I buy cat grass when it's on sale at our local stores, but my attempts to grow catnip and fresh grass ended in dirt all over my floor from Rory climbing up to sniff them on their high ledges. I'm hoping once the weather turns nicer I'll have another chance.

Thank you for your ideas! I know he has to go through his process--we all do, really--but I just want to find the best ways to support him. Giving Lou three years of complete enrichment brought me such joy and fulfillment, and I want that for his little brother too.

 

[lissalouie]

I'm quite sure he is mourning as well. The loss hits them just like it hits us.
It's also possible that, at age 5, he's learning how to settle and "chill" for lack of a better word, which we see as just laying around. I like the term "off switch" for this. They know when it's time to wind down for awhile; a lot of cats at a few years old no longer need nearly as much stimulation as they did as kittens. As long as he's still active otherwise, I wouldn't necessarily discourage this for an hour or two while you get your work done.
I do like A Alldara suggestion of an indoor garden. That could be really entertaining for him and a lot of the grasses and things for cats are quite nutritious for them.

I definitely noticed the change when he turned five! He turned five right before Lou got very sick and passed away, so I thought his sudden decrease in play energy was simply due to the fact that his play partner no longer felt up to it (and he could sense something was wrong; he was the BEST hospice nurse I've ever met, despite not realizing it at the time). But when we tried to adopt a younger playmate for him, he was so frustrated and overwhelmed with his energy--even though he was the same way when I adopted him a year and a half ago. So I think part of it must just be aging. It's the crying and desperate meowing that makes me feel guilty, like I'm not doing enough for him, but he may also just be dramatic. (He's in fine health and has another vet checkup in a few weeks as I like to do them twice a year minimum.)

I love giving him cat grass and other cat-safe plants when possible! It's hard as my unit does not get a ton of direct sunlight and it's currently the dead of winter here, but I try to pick him up some when Wegmans (local supermarket) has healthy-looking grass.

 

[Alldara]

My fresh indoor plants died last year and I haven't had the energy to replace them. So my boys have been without anyway.

That's okay. Ghostie is a sweet boy....but a serial plant murderer.

 

[Mac and Cats]

Are you able to put a small bird feeder outside a window? We just did this at our house and my youngest sat at that window and watched and cackled at the birds for an hour and a half today!

 

[Hellenww]

small bird feeder

They make little ones that suction cup to the outside of the window.

 

[lissalouie]

Are you able to put a small bird feeder outside a window? We just did this at our house and my youngest sat at that window and watched and cackled at the birds for an hour and a half today!

Sadly, there are no birds up here in winter, and my windows have screens on the outside, so the suction cup ones won't work. We're technically not allowed bird feeders here but I am gonna risk it in a back window next year when it gets warmer (the building management is currently doing construction back there so it's a mudpit at the moment) because I've seen other tenants do it and I doubt they actually care.

 

[Mac and Cats]

Sadly, there are no birds up here in winter, and my windows have screens on the outside, so the suction cup ones won't work. We're technically not allowed bird feeders here but I am gonna risk it in a back window next year when it gets warmer (the building management is currently doing construction back there so it's a mudpit at the moment) because I've seen other tenants do it and I doubt they actually care.

Ah ok, we still get a lot of little song birds where we live even during the winter. We have a suction cup one, but the birds didn't seem to notice it. So, we hung another one from the eve and now they have figured it out.

I had another idea, but it requires you to do some of the work. Does your kitty like to play fetch at all or chase things? My youngest LOVES to play fetch. He will even bring us his sparkle balls and drop them at our feet when he wants to play. He even brings them back several times in a row to us. I bought a cheap toy slingshot on Amazon so I could throw them farther. If your kitty doesn't like to fetch, but still likes to chase things, this could still work. But it may involve you picking up several hundred toys when you're done playing.

 

[Kwik]

You mentioned you used to take Rory out for walks in the stroller- sounds like you live in an apt Bldg? Do you have to go out and walk a little to the mailbox? You can take Rory out in the stroller for a few minutes,an hour or 5 minutes are all the same to a cat

My Bengal,Sami who is a Certified Therapy cat has been going out with me wherever I go since he's an Itty bitty kitty - he's very used to a busy schedule,visiting patients at the hospital etc and since I've been immobilized myself( needing both knees replaced) Sami gets very bored- brings me his leash,gets very vocal etc.....I tack him up in full gear get my rollator and hobble out to throw out the garbage or get the mail and Sami is thrilled,you'd think we were out for hours

Also,I tell him to get in the stroller or ontop of my rollator and roll him around to get my coffee,water the plants and just give him little rides inside the house -it quenches his thirst to be busy..... hope it helps Rory when he complains to you

 

[IndyJones]

They make little ones that suction cup to the outside of the window.

I would not use these as it could increase the risk of window collision deaths.

Use these in conjuntion with them Amazon.ca

I had one when i was small but squirrels ripped it right off the window and destroyed it.

 

[danteshuman]

I have a hyper problem child so I hear you! My go to got rainy days is hexabugs. However he needs a playpen.

So every month I give him a tub or giant bag or box and fill it with slightly crumpled newspaper or tissue paper or the rare cat sage Easter grass. Then I stir in jingle balls, chirping bird toy, a few mice, maybe a light up ball, sometimes catnip. Then I let my little terror go nuts. His brother loves when I visit and bring the jumbo bag. Think of it as a ball pit with extra toys for cats.

 

[Kwik]

I have a hyper problem child so I hear you! My go to got rainy days is hexabugs. However he needs a playpen.
View attachment 467800
So every month I give him a tub or giant bag or box and fill it with slightly crumpled newspaper or tissue paper or the rare cat sage Easter grass. Then I stir in jingle balls, chirping bird toy, a few mice, maybe a light up ball, sometimes catnip. Then I let my little terror go nuts. His brother loves when I visit and bring the jumbo bag. Think of it as a ball pit with extra toys for cats.

View attachment 467793View attachment 467794View attachment 467799

Oh WOW- those mice are furry? Sami and Max would love those because be easier to pick up than their plastic robo mice

I like you play pit idea too- I'm literally filling a big bag ATM!