Rough play...with people

[Casey56]

Hullo all. I'm looking for some feedback on the pros and cons of playing rough with a cat who seems to enjoy it.

Our Katniss, who has been with us 2-1/2 months now, came to us from a home with a single senior woman and two small dogs, one of which was "her close buddy." We have a quiet senior border collie who ignores all cats, having been raised to do so..she won't approach Katniss and usually will move away if Katniss comes in her direction. But Katniss has seemed curious about her from the beginning and obviously not afraid.

What we have noticed is that Katniss has quite a bit of energy for an 8-yo, and at times seems to be crying for something other than what I offer her which is feather wands and numerous other types of chase toys. She loves chase-and-pounce! She also sometimes goes racing through the house (like most cats), but then will stop and just start crying and crying.

More than once Katniss has flipped over onto her side and made aggressive (yet playful) moves towards my hands. As we can't clip her nails yet, she has quickly "nailed" me a couple times.

Once I put on two heavy socks on my hand when Katniss was behaving like this, and slowly approached her...she was quick to jump on my hand and start scratching at it with her back legs and biting...so energetically that it really put me off and I backed away from the idea. I've never played rough with my cats ever, though we had a tabby that my roommate loved to "rough up" and they both enjoyed it a lot, no harm done. That started when he was a kitten.

Anyway, we are pretty sure that Katniss is missing what may well have been a very physical relationship with a small dog that may have existed for years. We can't replace her playmate (yet), and our border collie is just too old, deaf, and intimidated to even get to know the cat.

If anyone out there has had experience with intentional (but considerate and safe) physical play with a cat, hands on so to speak, I'd love to hear your experience or thoughts about it. I feel sad for Katniss. She's lost her home, her mom, and her play buddy. She is getting more and more comfortable with us and our home, but her behavior makes us feel that something is still lacking for her in the play department. So I'm just brainstorming here! Thanks for listening.

 

[susanm9006]

I don’t think it is a good idea to do any kind of hand play. Roughness and scratches are inevitable. Instead offer her something she can wrestle and kick with - like a small stuffed toy. Or you can use something like a long handled puffy duster to tickle her or touch her and she can pounce, bite and kick that while you are at a safe distance. If she jumps at your hands in an attempt to play tell her “no” in an authoritative voice and immediately leave. It does take a while for an older cat the unlearn some bad habits but given time and consistency she will.

 

[funbagel]

It sounds like she doesn't understand yet play with dogs is different than play with humans, and I'm sure she misses playing with her friends. I think you can very closely simulate that more "physical" play without your hand being the point of contact. I would highly suggest against hand play bc it just encourages really undesirable (and painful!) behavior.

Have you tried playing with any dog toys? Specifically ones much larger than cat toys? My kitten LOVES attacking bully ropes, rubber balls, and jumbo squeeky plush toys—things that can be really roughed up and gnawed, unlike most cat toys. They give me a way to play "rough" without him actually biting/scratching me, which I don't allow. I actually had a big problem with biting at first, as he was taken from his mom too early. With a smidge of discouragement (time out in another room, immediately ending playtime), and LOTS of redirection, he now rarely ever goes after my hands or feet. Dog toys will also be much bigger and more closely resemble another furry friend. I have actually relinquished a big ducky plush to my kitten. It's 3x his size but he will flying tackle and roll down the hallway with it. I'm not sure if he's secretly a dog or a mountain lion cub, but it seems he prefers his prey to be equal or larger size, rather than small little mice and bug toys.

Another thing that could help is those auto-moving toys. My kitty is still learning when play time is and isn't. If he's being really persistent and bothersome I have a pretty big plush fish that flops about on and off every 2 minutes. It moves, he freaks out and does zoomies; it stops moving; he kills it and "eats" it for 2 minutes; it ressurects and the cycle continues lol.

I feel like you can definitely give your kitty the "rougher" play she desires while simultaneously teaching her that your hands should never be the "prey". It might take some time for her to figure things out and adjust but I'm sure she'll come around.

Apologies if this answer was incoherent anywhere, but it's 6am and I'm not quite fully awake lol.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
Do you have a way to take her for walks? Or a backyard where you could build an enclosed catio for her?

I have a cat now who didn't appreciate rougher play when he was younger so I stopped, but there are members whose cats really like the ability to bite something and bunnykick the daylights out of it, as funbagel comments

 

[game misconduct]

you need to quit with all that playing rough using your hands. even more so since you cant do nail trims yet. your setting youself or possible future guest to get scarred for life wont be a good feeling if a friend/family brings over their young kid and your cat shreds that kid up trying to play guees whose fault that will be?yours since you taught the cat its ok to play that way. offer it a stuffed dog toy to beat up on it might save you a trip to the er as well cause guess what cats use to bury their pee/poop in the litter box. also there are no pros to using your hands to play rough with a cat only cons.