My Little Wild Cat Won't Play!

[CreamsiclePuff]

I took in a little orange and white wild cat close to a year ago. The vet thought he was about a year and a half old. I'm sure he's never seen the inside of a house before I took him in as he literally tried climbing the walls at first, but he's come a long way. However I just can't get him to play. He's very muscular and is just absolutely breathtaking to look at and to watch but he does spend a large amount of time prowling around the house, from room to room to room. I think he was maybe so used to walking large distances outside that he seems to have a need to continue that indoors? I would Love to find something he enjoys playing with, something that will engage him so he doesn't pace the floor so much. I have tried laser toys, remote control mouse, all kinds of balls and feathers, jingly toys, soft toys, quiet toys, toys that roll, toys that chirp, toys that squeak, you name it, I haven't found one single thing that he wants to bat at or bite. He looks at the toy and then looks at me like 'what do you want me to do with that, it's not a real mouse/bird.' I even tried tying a piece of cooked liver onto a string.. he was mildly interested, but once he realized I was controlling the string he just gave up. He's a cuddly boy, and has grown to Love being held and being brushed, he enjoys going out for walks on a leash twice a day, but I would Love to see him play, he's still young. Anyone have any ideas on how to get a previously wild cat interested in play?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
For the pacing, have you tried music? Musicforcats . com

Also, would catclaws . com or hauspanther . com have anything?

 

[CreamsiclePuff]

Music!! What a great idea. When I first captured him I used to play music and cat purring sounds for him all the time.. not sure why I stopped. That might just be the ticket to settle him down. I also haven't heard of either of those sites. I will for sure check them out and see if they have something I haven't tried yet. Much appreciate the advice!!

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how things go

 

[Jcatbird]

I deal with feral kitties and I find that grown ones (they are very smart) are not fooled into thinking toys are prey. They don’t have to capture prey in order to eat anymore so seem far more interested in affection. I have an older male that I have tried to engage in play. He finally chose something himself. My glasses! I guess my scent attracts him and maybe the distorted movement as seen through the lens.
I had previous ferals that liked watching my fish in a fish tank but I had to secure the openings to protect the fish. Keep trying though. You never know when something will catch sir interest. Have you tried the video games that have flies that move around the screen? There are some with mice, fish, birds etc. that one of my ferals likes. She prefers the flies! Lol She also likes one that when she hits the screen, the fish dive under the edge of the screen.

 

[CreamsiclePuff]

I did try him with cat video games but it only worked once. He immediately looked behind the screen to find the mouse and realized it wasn't real, since then he's shown zero interest. I do have fish, and birds and a rabbit that he initially flattened to his belly and tried to stalk.. but he stopped that once he realized that we care for them, and we don't hurt them. Now he pays them no attention either. It was interesting because at first my birds and rabbit were extremely afraid of him, they somehow knew that he was very dangerous to them.. and these are animals that grew up with my other resident cat. The birds used to sleep on her back and pull bits of cat hair out to make a nest with, and have a bit of a ride on her back. She is so extremely used to me dragging home pets that she will quite literally put up with anything. So it was interesting to me that they recognized that Blazer meant them harm. It took some time with me holding Blazer in one arm while I fed the birds and rabbit and cared for them with the other. But he eventually learned that we take care of them, and they are protected.. and then one day the birds and rabbit stopped acting afraid of Blazer.. and Blazer stopped looking at them like they were prey. Now he rarely even looks at them and the birds can fly freely around the room, and the rabbit can come out for some exercise and Blazer will simply watch them from wherever he happens to be laying at the time. I still closely monitor everything and he knows this. I think it may be a different story if I were to leave the room, but there will never be a time that the animals aren't extremely closely monitored when they are out together in the same room.

The only thing he does seem to Love is Catnip. Actual fresh catnip leaves from the plant itself. He will eat them and roll in them, so for 5 minutes or so he is completely occupied. Oh and he learned to use a cardboard cat scratcher with his nails instead of biting and ripping it to shreds so I suppose there is progress, because the only thing he ever did before is try to rip open the garbage bag to look for food. You could sure tell he's done that before. We have to make sure we never leave a garbage bag out around him.

That is super cute that your older guy is fascinated with your glasses! They all sure do have their own little personalities and interests don't they. Actually now that I think of it, there is one thing that interests him.. he's a bit of a narcissistic kitty, he Loves to look at himself. The first time he jumped on the bathroom counter and saw his reflection in the mirror it scared him so bad he backed away and ended up falling. ...he eventually got used to it and used to spend a lot of time watching me in the mirror and then himself.. so much so that I now have a mirror sitting on the floor near his bowls and he spends a concerning amount of time in front of it, just sitting there looking at himself. I can hardly blame him as he really is such a handsome fellow and he does walk with quite the strut, but I do think he has a bit of an ego problem!

 

[Jcatbird]

That is soooo cute! They are just so smart!
I’d love to see that!