New Ways to Entertain My Intelligent Cat?

[bearintheair]

Hey guys. I've got a playful, food motivated, intelligent orange tabby boy turning 1 year old this April. :-) He's an awesome guy. I was wondering if anyone had experience with a cat that regularly seeks new stimulation---he tires of his multiple toys--from da' bird to a whack a mouse game to crinkle tunnels to bounces springs. From going outside on a harness (though some times he won't because of noises or the cold. And he won't go far from the house) to performing tricks for treats. Some times I'm out of ideas. He vocalizes and jumps places he shouldn't when he's bored. And it's difficult finding new ways to cure his boredom. He's not fooled by lasers. His new thing he does sometimes when he's bored is pawing at cabinets as if he wants inside. Pawing at the door to our unfinished basement (he's not allowed for his own safety). There are days when he'll jump for stick and feather toys and play fetch with his spring toys. There are other days when nothing seems to satisfy him. So we're always buying new toys hoping that they'll keep him occupied for a few days. We rotate the toys. I wish I could train him to be less afraid of spending more time outside on his harness--I feel that it would tire him out and make him less bored. I've tried a lot of things as you can see. And while I love playing with him, sometimes I don't have time to play with him for 5-10 sessions a day. Haha. Let alone coming up with more ideas to keep him occupied. I've made egg carton treat puzzles, tunnels out of boxes, tried turning on 3 hour videos of squirrels and birds. He has multiple cat trees and windows to look out of. I'd get another cat friend for him if I could. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to do so right now. And I'm on a pretty low budget--most of my extra cash goes towards the raw food I make for him.

Ideas?

 

[tabbytom]

Hi bearintheair, is your boy neutered? A neutered cat will mellow down and will be less active. They tend to rest and sleep more. Not only that, you'll be doing a lot of good to him.

Find out what are his favorite toys and leave them out for him. And use these to play with him and toys that he likes, he'll play with it by himself too.

Here's an article on neutering:-

[article="22304"][/article]

My boy is neutered when he was 7 months old and he has mellowed down a lot since though he is still active running about and sleeps a lot. Not as active as before that I've to entertain him. I have many toys for him but his favorites are just a ball, tunnel, a cardboard box and his cat tree and watching birds from windows which he does all these on his own, but I play ball with him a few times everyday So these items are left out for him and the rest of the toys are kept.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Believe it or not, our cat Milly loves to play with coins, mostly quarters, nickels and dollar coins.

We leave them all over the apartment for her to discover and "capture" during the day and night. Then she'll knock them off the windowsills, for example, and play for many minutes trying (and succeeding) to pick them up with her front paws, clutch at them, dandle them, kick them around, throw them in boxes or baskets with her paws or mouth & jump in after them, scoot them under furniture... it's hilarious. And gives us a few minutes' break from having to entertain her, lol!


Postscript- I want to add that "discovering and capturing" and hunting toys is really fun for cats and kittens. We always leave several toys "hidden" behind curtains, "lurking" on a shelf, "cowering" behind a chair leg... and Milly always proudly hunts them down and brings them to us. Usually it is one of the woolly cat toys we get from a particular Etsy vendor.

 

[bearintheair]

Yeah. He was neutered before I adopted him.

 

[bella8188]

Are you able to get a second cat? Having a playmate could definitely help to alleviate his boredom, particularly when he's home alone.

I also bought my cats a remote controlled mouse, that they LOVE. They tire easily of toys, but they're still super interested in this one.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hey guys. I've got a playful, food motivated, intelligent orange tabby boy turning 1 year old this April. :-)


... I'd get another cat friend for him if I could. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to do so right now. And I'm on a pretty low budget--most of my extra cash goes towards the raw food I make for him.

Ideas?

 

[bella8188]

 

Ah, I missed that bit sorry!

Do you know what he's like with other animals - dogs, perhaps? Any chance you have a friend with a gentle, friendly dog that you could arrange a 'playdate' with?

That's definitely not something that will work for every cat, but it could for some - a friend of mine occasionally takes her dog (a maltese) with her when she visits another friend of hers who has a cat - the two animals get along great.

 

[yoshiyama]

Your guy sounds a lot like my 2 1/2 year old guy Loki.  He gets bored very easily, is highly Intelligent, has tons of toys to play with, which he does when we are at work as they are being dragged around the house & left in different rooms.  I have 2 other cats, however they are 7 years old & are not up to playing as hard as he wants them to.  He will get on the kitchen table to find the mail just so he can start to shred it, until I get up to get him of course.  He doesn't paw at the cabinet doors, he just slams them over & over again until I tell him to stop.  Then he back talks me LOL!  If my husband would allow it, I would so get another cat that was just as active as he is just so he could have a buddy to run around the house with.  I feel your pain trying to keep these intelligent cats entertained!

 

[tarasgirl06]

Coding school? 

 Seriously, though, have you ever seen cat behaviorist extraordinaire, Jackson Galaxy's "MY CAT FROM HELL" on Animal Planet or watched any of his videos on YouTube?  He is amazing when it comes to play and cats.  He even has his own line of cat toys and interactive products.  You might want to check him out if you haven't yet, because I'd think he'd have some interesting ideas that might keep your cat interested and entertained.  Good on ya for caring so much about his food! 

 

[kcb385]

I've been trying to do the same thing for my cat who is approx a year and 3 months old. He is super intelligent and gets bored very very easily. Like you, I am not in a position to get another cat, but I really thing that this is probably the solution.

My cat LOVES da bird but gets bored of the attachment after 2 weeks or so and I usually buy a refill. I've done this a few times until I realized how much money I've been spending on these refills. So I recently bought some 150 varied feathers on amazon for about $15 and plan on making my own and rotating them. That should keep him entertained for a bit. Maybe try that since you are on a budget as well?

My problem really is when my cat gets bored, he also gets a bit aggressive and will want to bite and wrestle my arms as if wrestling with a litter mate. Currently trying to curb this habit. Anyone have ideas?

 

[duncanmac]

 
I've been trying to do the same thing for my cat who is approx a year and 3 months old. He is super intelligent and gets bored very very easily. Like you, I am not in a position to get another cat, but I really thing that this is probably the solution.

My cat LOVES da bird but gets bored of the attachment after 2 weeks or so and I usually buy a refill. I've done this a few times until I realized how much money I've been spending on these refills. So I recently bought some 150 varied feathers on amazon for about $15 and plan on making my own and rotating them. That should keep him entertained for a bit. Maybe try that since you are on a budget as well?

My problem really is when my cat gets bored, he also gets a bit aggressive and will want to bite and wrestle my arms as if wrestling with a litter mate. Currently trying to curb this habit. Anyone have ideas?

You can make your own attachments out of string, yarn, ribbon or whatever - they hook on with a standard fishing swivel/clevis.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy.

 

[bella8188]

I just thought of something else - can you stream internet to your TV? If so, there's a bunch of 'cat TV' things on YouTube, like videos where someone films birds eating seed for an hour. Occasionally when I'm going out, I'll chromecast that from my laptop to the TV, and my cats will very happily watch that while I'm out.

 

[foxden]

I just thought of something else - can you stream internet to your TV? If so, there's a bunch of 'cat TV' things on YouTube, like videos where someone films birds eating seed for an hour. Occasionally when I'm going out, I'll chromecast that from my laptop to the TV, and my cats will very happily watch that while I'm out.

Need to be careful with your television. See this thread...http://www.thecatsite.com/t/336053/can-cat-claws-hurt-an-hdtv-screen

 

[bella8188]

Need to be careful with your television. See this thread...http://www.thecatsite.com/t/336053/can-cat-claws-hurt-an-hdtv-screen

Thanks for that warning! Fortunately, my TV is out of cat range, and they also aren't pouncers/interested in touching it, only watching. But I'll definitely keep that in mind!

 

[dustydiamond1]

Same problem with our girl. Good luck. ; )

 

[danteshuman]

Dante loves to fetch hair rubberbands (the fabric one piece kind) , and a feather toy is under a blanket it is super fun Salem just likes to play with anything. What makes the toy most interesting is me moving the toys around, making them challenging. Though I do have a couple cat trailer/a long braided leather cord toy that drags a 3 feet behind me, that I use to get them up & down the stairs/follow me all around the house.

Both of my cats get bird watching (and provided the bird feeders are high enough) unsuccessful bird hunting outside during the day. If you can't/don't want them outside giving them a window seat, that you hopefully on good days leave the window open so they can get fresh air (make sure the screen is solid/secure.) If they start to lean against the screen/scratch it maybe only leave the window open a inch or two. If you are doing the window option your cat would love it if you can hang a bird feeder by the window. They now even  make suction cup 2 way mirror bird feeders (My guys are supervised, trained to stay in the backyard and generally do, and know when it gets dark the house gets closed up and they get wet food.) You can also with lots of patience teach your cat to walk with a harness.

I have heard from Jackson Galaxy that you can get a small terrarium of crickets to entertain your cat. 

 

[danteshuman]

Oh and newspaper/tissue paper ... Dante just loves grabbing a crumpled/folded in a fan piece and biting off a chunk, spits it out and bites off a new chunk ..... it is more fun for him if I give the paper a little rustle or pull it a little bit every once in a while so he can kill it again

 

[msFriday]

I have the same problem with my 4 year old cat, Indy.  He lived 3 1/2 years at a cat rescue farm with 106 other cats, so when we adopted him 6 months ago, he got bored easily (he's now an only child)!

I am home all day, and play with him often, but thought that still wasn't enough.  I came up with 2 things that help.  The first is simple -- a bath towel on the floor, with a large catnip rat (with a rattle) hidden inside.  I discovered this when he was sick one day, and I got a big fluffy towel out to put down on the floor in case he got sick again.  He loves the towel!  I fold it in half so it's almost square, and he will "attack" it and kick it with his back feet.  One day I hid his "rat" under the fold, and he loves that, too.  He will play with this by himself...

The other is a "treasure hunt."  Since your cat is food motivated, this might work for you.  Indy has dry skin, so I give him Greenies Smart Bites for Healthy Skin & Fur every day.  The package says he should have 30 per day for his weight.  Instead of feeding them to him by hand, once a day I take 15 of them and hide them all over my den.  On top of our 6 ft bookcases, on my desk, on his window seat, etc.  I don't let him in the room while I hide them (he has actually gotten to the point that when I ask if he wants a treasure hunt, and point out into the hall, he will leave the den and wait patiently on the other side of the door!)  Then I open the door and call "treasure hunt" and the fun begins.  He gets to find his prey, and eat it too!  I always count how many I have put out, and count them as he finds them, so food is not left laying about to draw ants. 

Then in the evening, I put the other 15 treats in a "treat ball" which is a plastic ball that dispenses treats or food while he bats it around.

If you think these ideas might help, and you want to know more about the "rat" and the "treat ball," let me know and I can send you links to them.

Good luck!