Keeping a 6 month old kitten entertained

BeccaT

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My kitten has recently reached the 6 month mark and seems to be harder to entertain these days.

When we first adopted her, she could keep herself entertained for hours with little toy mice or with a wand toy when we played with her, but lately she's become more picky. She'll come into our room during work hours (both me and husband are WFH) and sit looking at us and trill and squeak at us (she's never been much of a "meower", mostly trills and squeaks!) as if she wants to play or wants attention. If we give her affection, she'll mostly walk away from it or start kicking at our arms (she's not interested in kicker toys, but does it to our arms!). The only toys we have currently that are "interactive" on our part are a laser and a wand toy, she LOVES the laser but I've read that they can be bad for cats so we try not to use it too often (it's also something we can't always play with when we're working), and the wand toy she's mostly uninterested in until she tugs on it and makes us drop it and she'll drag the wand all around the house! It's hilarious but not really what we intended for an interactive toy.

She has plenty of toys to play with, so I know that's not the problem. But most are little plush things or things that make noises. She enjoys playing in her tunnels and boxes that are flipped upside-down, but nothing keeps her entertained for long anymore. She's also a fan of playing with pieces of plastic and bottle caps, but of course we take some of those away from her so she doesn't choke on them.

What can we possibly do to keep her entertained? Whether it's something we can play with her, or she can play alone. We're stumped as nothing seems to work anymore and we don't want our little lady to get bored and upset, and sadly, another cat isn't possible for us right now. My husband is frustrated with me suggesting toys that I think she'd like, and then she gets bored of them quickly so the toys have gone to waste. I know every cat is different, so I'm wondering if there are any easy DIY toys, or just toys in general that most cats love that won't be a waste of money.
 

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all the toys didnt go to waste yet you just need to stash em to bring out again weeks/months later keep a rotation of themyou can also set a birdfeeder in veiw of a window along with a cat tree or spot she can watch birds from graycie will spend most of the day on my bedroom window sill watching birds if the are around
 

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all the toys didnt go to waste yet you just need to stash em to bring out again weeks/months later keep a rotation of themyou can also set a birdfeeder in veiw of a window along with a cat tree or spot she can watch birds from graycie will spend most of the day on my bedroom window sill watching birds if the are around
That's what I do as well . Rotate the use of toys. I often get down on the floor on their level and play marbles with them. Throw marbles and they chase them. Then they often play themselves with the glass marbles. I have a 7 foot Cat Tree that faces my deck window. So they can watch the squirrels in the winter eat corn hanging on the deck.
 
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BeccaT

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all the toys didnt go to waste yet you just need to stash em to bring out again weeks/months later keep a rotation of themyou can also set a birdfeeder in veiw of a window along with a cat tree or spot she can watch birds from graycie will spend most of the day on my bedroom window sill watching birds if the are around
I actually have started to put some toys away in a box out of her reach! I just don't know when is long enough to keep them away and then bring them back. The birdfeeder thing is tough, we have one in the back garden and she loves it when we pick her up and let her look out of the back garden door's window but according to my husband (not sure if this is even true?) we're not allowed bird feeders at the front of our home, but her cat tower is right in front of the window at the front of the house. The best she gets there is watching cars go by, sadly 😓
That's what I do as well . Rotate the use of toys. I often get down on the floor on their level and play marbles with them. Throw marbles and they chase them. Then they often play themselves with the glass marbles. I have a 7 foot Cat Tree that faces my deck window. So they can watch the squirrels in the winter eat corn hanging on the deck.
I was worried about marbles because they're so small, we did buy her a pack of ping pong balls though! She enjoys them at times, but only when we throw them around. A majority of our house has carpet so it's not the best for them to be rolling around on.
 

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BeccaT BeccaT Hi and welcome to TCS :wave2:

I'm curious as to what you've heard about lasers being bad for the cats as I had never heard this and it's one of our favorite toys.
I agree rotating the toys sounds like a great idea, In addition have you tried a cardboard box, bottle cap, bread tie? There are also several videos on YouTube for cats - Cat TV one of my cats just loves watching them.
 

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best toy is a live feeder cricket from the pet store dbls as a treat also cause kitty gets to eat it after its been played with to a soggy mess graycie always gets one when i feed my tarantulas:rolleyes:i just tell gf "oops one got away
 
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BeccaT

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BeccaT BeccaT Hi and welcome to TCS :wave2:

I'm curious as to what you've heard about lasers being bad for the cats as I had never heard this and it's one of our favorite toys.
I agree rotating the toys sounds like a great idea, In addition have you tried a cardboard box, bottle cap, bread tie? There are also several videos on YouTube for cats - Cat TV one of my cats just loves watching them.
I read in some places that lasers can be bad as some cats can get frustrated/anxious at the fact they can't "catch" the light they're chasing, and it could damage their eyesight. But we do still use it as she loves it so much! And she does love a good cardboard box, especially if it's flipped upside-down.
Try some of these springs from Chewy: Springs My cats love to play with them.

But the very best toy for your kitten is another kitten. They will keep themselves entertained for hours.
Those springs look like something she'd enjoy, thank you! And yeah, sadly we're unable to adopt another cat right now but I'm hoping we can before she's (at least) 2 years old.
Another cheap toy for self-entertainment is a ping pong ball that you throw in the bathtub. Cats seem entranced by the sound and it always comes back for more! Sure, they always get lost, but a package of ping pong balls doesn't cost much.
We did buy her a pack of ping pong balls actually, and she does love it at times! But not all the time, unfortunately. I sometimes put toys in the bathtub as well but we recently had an incident with her chewing on the shower mat in the bathtub and throwing it up, so we're scared to let her in there again 😓
I second the ping pong ball in the bathtub. I put other toys in there too...
View attachment 410403
And yes they all entertain each other ! I'm sorry that you can't add a 2nd kitten for a playmate...
I've been considering getting one of those ball track things for her! (The green toy on the left, sorry if I got the name wrong!) I just hope she'd enjoy it. She's also had fun knocking the little rubber duckies we have on the side of the bath into the tub and batting them around.
 

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Every cat is different, but one of ours keeps himself entertained with a Cat Dancer. It's a really simple looking toy, but he's crazy about it, and when no one's playing with him with it, he'll take one end in his mouth and spin around trying to catch it as it spins around with him. He's 2 years old now and still plays with it every day. There's also a version of the Cat Dancer that has an attachment on one end to mount it to something for independent play.
 
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vince

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Does she have a kicker toy? If you don't want to buy one yet, you can make one out of two old sweat socks, one inside the other and tied in knots. You can put some catnip inside if you like, to make it more enticing for kitty.

Another toy that's worked for me is to tie a piece of paper on a string and tie that to a doorknob. It's sort of a kitty tetherball.
 

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Amazing, but with all their toys available..... Bam Bam loves to fetch crumpled paper balls. (he started it, I didn't teach him) And Theo's favorite is straws, ever try to throw a straw ? I tie a knot in them so he can pick them up better....

Man, there are so many cute toys out there, but most of my cats are "cheap" dates ! :winkcat:
 

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Yeah, you'll go buy nice toys for your cat and all they want is a ratty old chewed-up box. Mine go nuts for wood dowel rods, the plastic stilts they put inside pizza boxes and crinkly plastic wraps.
 
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BeccaT

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Every cat is different, but one of ours keeps himself entertained with a Cat Dancer. It's a really simple looking toy, but he's crazy about it, and when no one's playing with him with it, he'll take one end in his mouth and spin around trying to catch it as it spins around with him. He's 2 years old now and still plays with it every day. There's also a version of the Cat Dancer that has an attachment on one end to mount it to something for independent play.
I've seen cat dancers being suggested a lot lately! Being able to mount it to something sounds ideal as well, I'll have to take a look.
Does she have a kicker toy? If you don't want to buy one yet, you can make one out of two old sweat socks, one inside the other and tied in knots. You can put some catnip inside if you like, to make it more enticing for kitty.

Another toy that's worked for me is to tie a piece of paper on a string and tie that to a doorknob. It's sort of a kitty tetherball.
She does have a kicker toy, but sadly she has zero interest in it. She does sometimes like some bunched up socks though, I'll have to try the catnip inside of them!
Amazing, but with all their toys available..... Bam Bam loves to fetch crumpled paper balls. (he started it, I didn't teach him) And Theo's favorite is straws, ever try to throw a straw ? I tie a knot in them so he can pick them up better....

Man, there are so many cute toys out there, but most of my cats are "cheap" dates ! :winkcat:
I'll have to try the paper and straws! I'm always a bit unsure what household items I can actually give to her that are safe, as she's always more interested in things that aren't actually toys.
 
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