It's Summer And My Cat's Not Playing As Much, Anymore.

[wrenboii]

It's getting rather warm and he's feeling lazier. How can I encourage him to play as much as he did before?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
One thing, try adding ice cubes to his water bowl. Do you have a fan or two so the air is moving?

This isn't play but it's still exercise, can you hide treats so he searches them out, put his food in different places including up higher so he has to jump?

 

[Caspers Human]

Keep him cool.

Think about lions on the savanna. When it's hot, they lay about under a shady tree or some place cool and wait until evening when it's cooler to become active.

Your cat is doing the miniature version of that.

In the mean time, make sure he has enough cool water and a cool, shady spot to lay in.

You could also put a couple-few ice cubes in his water bowl if he's the sort of cat that likes that kind of thing.

 

[wrenboii]

We do have a floor fan in the living room and it's not as good as I imagine a ceiling fan would be, but there is some air circulation. We also keep all of our windows open, with window screens down, of course.

I don't think I can hide treats as we have an ant problem that we can't resolve, as we rent and it's a very old house, but I'll give the putting food in different places a go!

And of course, the ice cube trick, which I haven't tried yet.

Hi!
One thing, try adding ice cubes to his water bowl. Do you have a fan or two so the air is moving?

This isn't play but it's still exercise, can you hide treats so he searches them out, put his food in different places including up higher so he has to jump?

 

[wrenboii]

Keep him cool.

Think about lions on the savanna. When it's hot, they lay about under a shady tree or some place cool and wait until evening when it's cooler to become active.

Your cat is doing the miniature version of that.

In the mean time, make sure he has enough cool water and a cool, shady spot to lay in.

You could also put a couple-few ice cubes in his water bowl if he's the sort of cat that likes that kind of thing.

Yes!

He's been enjoying the tile in my bedroom a lot, as it's the coolest area of the house.

I'll leave the tiled areas of the house open to him And I'll try the ice cubes. This is my first summer with him, so I don't know if he likes that kind of thing yet.

 

[Furballsmom]

There might be something here;
How To Keep Ants Out Of Cat Food

 

[Furballsmom]

I'll give the putting food in different places a go!

 

[wrenboii]

There might be something here;
How To Keep Ants Out Of Cat Food

Yes! I've been using the Vaseline trick and it's been great, but I'm not sure how putting treats in random places would work, haha. The ants have had ridiculously good sniffers so far. There was ONE kibble under the sofa after my cat ate and they found it!

Thanks, though!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hang in there!

 

[danteshuman]

Besides cat ‘popsicles’ made of his favorite liquid in ice cubes & more fans I would also get a damp wet cloth and give him a full wipe down (paying attention to his back & belly.)

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

It's okay for cats to not play as much when it's so hot.

What I do when my cat's activity level is naturally down a bit, like in the summertime, is to just give her a bit less in calories per day to match her lowered activity level. Not a big decrease, but just enough so that the energy input still matches her energy output!
versus

It keeps her weight pretty stable.

 

[Caspers Human]

My former cat, "Spike," used to like to play hockey with ice cubes on the linoleum floor of the kitchen.

He would fish an ice cube out of his water bowl and bat it with his paw, sending it sliding across the kitchen at high speed.

He would play ice cube hockey until his "puck" melted then sit by the fridge, meowing at you, until you got him another one to play with.

 

[danteshuman]

Well it kept his paws cool, I guess?

 

[Caspers Human]

Then there would be trails of water crisscrossing the kitchen floor ending in a puddle of melted ice.

But... It kept the cat happy.