Kitten won't play unless I'm watching

[Renne]

When I brought the kitten in my mother and I watched her 24\7. She played A LOT. Her normal routine was to play for an hour, get tired and fall asleep. She never played less than for an hour.

Once she became used to the litterbox we stopped watching her. And we noticed a significant reduction in her playtime.

The kitten follows me from room to room. If she starts playing and I leave the room, she stops playing and follows me. If I'm using my PC, she becomes bored quickly and falls asleep. When I sleep, she sleeps, too. Well, she still wants to play like a normal kitten and she has short bouts of playtime, but goes back to sleep soon.

She can still play for an hour but only if I'm watching!

She was 1.5 months when I bought her in, now she's 3. Shouldn't a kitten still play like crazy at 3? Or maybe her initial playtime was excessive and caused by stress?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!

Or maybe her initial playtime was excessive and caused by stress?

I think this is possible. Have you had her in to a vet lately?

 

[lucicat]

My kittens are similar. . .meaning they don't really play much when they are alone (I mean they have each other so they do at times). But if no one is home they pretty much just sleep. When we are home they tend to follow me around and at times they have rambunctious moments with each other (mornings especially), but at other points they would love to play WITH me. They'll be lazy if I don't engage them. I think this is part of cat behavior or indoor cats anyway, which is why having regular play time with your kitties is needed. They need the play, but they also get bored easily and need new stimulation or a play partner.

Does your kitten have plenty of toys? Do you engage her with wand toys? Set up tunnels or boxes. They love the big pieces of packing paper! My two will go nuts with that. But anything is not as exciting by the next day. . .so the key is to rotate toys. I have a tunnel, boxes, a ripple rug. . .I don't leave any one out for more than 2 days.

Also they will tend to mellow out as they age and they get used to your routines. Of course rule out her being sick, but otherwise I think you just need to enrich her environment and add new things to play with and make sure to play *with* her too. Playing alone can get boring fast!

 

[susanm9006]

If you haven’t had her in to the vet you should so that she can get her kitten injections and also so she can be tested for worms. Those can sap the energy of a kitten and are very common. When you take her in you want to bring a fresh poop sample so the vet can check it for the parasites.

 

[daones]

I think all of my cats have been like this, if we come into the room where my computer is and tv they are pretty much quiet and usually will sleep. When we come outside they will wake up and go crazy playing then sleep again... But in your case 3 months is still a good age for them playing but every cat is different i seen mine also play for long periods of time sometimes over an hour.

If she is still playing when your around that is a good sign, from my perspective its not uncommon if the cat is alone (without other cats or people) to not play that much... Just see if you notice anything else strange about her behaviour such as eating and using the toilet to make sure its not health related. Also not a bad idea to take some time every day to play with her.

 

[Renne]

I hung a few dangling toys for the kitten in my room with the PC, and now she plays a lot more, even when I'm busy. I guess lack of toys was the issue, indeed!

Although I brought in toys before, but apparently those were the wrong kind of toys in her opinion, haha. Balls and (toy)mice. What she needed was something dangling, she likes that a lot more and she can play with those even when I'm not playing with her.

Thanks everyone! She's going crazy right now with a toy dangling from the window. And that's a spot she usually used for sleep only.

 

[daones]

Thats good to hear, yes cats can be picky with toys, Mine they get bored with a certain one after awhile they like balls and things they can bat around on the floor but when we play they like the dangling line with the mouse attached to it.