the story of the very bored cat

[vjoy]

Dani is BORED.

Sigh...she shows no interest in any of her toys anymore. Even the beloved laser light, I can tell she has no interest. The only thing she wants to do is lie on or cling to me or hubby. She looks like she WANTS to play, but nothing works anymore.

Any suggestions? Not only is she bored, she is not getting any excersise. I get one scootch out of her a day. She has the energy, just not motivated to use it.

Thanks.

 

[airprincess]

going to move this to the behavior forum, cause I think it's more of a behavior issue, and some members who are very knowledgable about these things don't frequent the lounge.


I don't know awhole lot about cats, just the basics, but maybe Dani just wants to take it easy? I would think if she wanted to play, she would. As long as she's healthy and the reason she isn't as active isn't phyical, then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[cleo]

I have the same problem with Cagney, and she's only 3.

Lily and Rudy never hold still, but even when they try to play with Cagney, or when I tempt her with something, she just ignores it or walks away.
She isn't overweight, but I worry that she needs exercise.
The only real life she shows is when I open the patio door...then she races to it, wanting to get out. She isn't allowed out though.

I hope someone has suggestions, I'd love to know what we can do for Dani and Cagney.

 

[sunlion]

I'm no expert, so someone will correct me, but in this order I thought:

Is she feeling well? It might be something small but chronic, like having a low-grade headache is for us. Or worms? Sometimes that makes a cat lethargic.

What kind of toys does she usually like? I have a cat that likes to chase things at ground level and a cat that prefers dangling prey. They don't like the same toys, and they don't like each other's toys. One trait they do both have in common is, if they don't get to catch their prey at least once in a while, they quickly lose interest. Which is why I think they wouldn't like that laser pointer thing, because there is nothing to catch.

Some cats are just less active than others. Just like some people like sedentary activities and others can't sit still.

I'm sure there are other possibilities and someone will post them pretty quickly. Good luck figuring this out.

 

[alexnell]

Occasionally I do something weird or unexpected to mess with my cats' minds.

Maybe you could leave something different out for her to investigate like a paper grocery bag, a cardboard box, or a laundry basket.

I "hide" extra water bowls around the house, and move them now and then (the main ones are always in the same place). I've also hung a towel outside ffor a few hours to get an "Outdoor" scent on it then left it in the middle of the living room. Maybe those things would work with the toys, an unexpected location or new smell.

 

[lorie d.]

One thing I have noticed is that cats seem to lose all interest in playing with their toys once the catnip smell has worn off.

You might try getting one of those wand toys that has a small furry object on the end of an elastic string. If you move the little furry object across the floor using jerky movements, (like prey), the cats natural hunting instincts will be triggered. You can also dangle the object in the air and let the cat run and leap at it.

 

[donna]

Vjoy,

I have a tendency to agree with AP. My cats lay around all day long. Believe me, when they want to play, they let me know it. Chill.

 

[melissa]

Its possible she plays while you're asleep at night...my cats all lounge around in the day/evenings and at night the go nuts. I wake up to them thumping around during the night, and every morning the fishbowls seem a little lower

:LOL: Dani has to do things on her own terms, I say just let her be herself, as long as she isn't getting super overweight or showing signs of illness.

 

[lorie d.]

Val
I need to try to clarify what I posted earlier. I do agree with Donna and Melissa. Snowball lays around most of the day too, and we just leave him alone and don't worry about it. Cats are nocturnal and more active at night.

When we know Snowball is feeling really playful, we like to get out his wand toy. It seems to provide him with a longer play session, interesting stimulation, and good exercise. It also doesn't seem to need a catnip smell to be enjoyable.

 

[vjoy]

Thanks everyone...I feel better.

I have tried all sorts of toys, which she used to play with, laser lights, bouncy balls, feathers, catnip, no catnip, etc....
She loved the laser light but is not interested anymore.

Anyway, I will not worry, maybe eventually she will come back to it.
Sandie, I know you moved this posting, but everyone is responding here..so I thought I would. If you would prefer I post in the other one, just say so.

Sorry for hte confusion.
Thanks everyone.

 

[vjoy]

OOPS!

I see that I should post here. Sorry I got confused a bit.

Dani seems very very happy to just cling to me or hubby for now. I guess that is okay, That is what she wants.

 

[krissie]

Maybe she's just decided she's bored with her toys? My kitty loves everything when it's new, but often loses interest after she's played with it and looked at it for a few days. I keep a stash of new stuff hidden from her, to take out when she gets bored with the old stuff. Then the old stuff is put away, to be brought out as "new" later.

 

[shawna]

I'm trying to get my brother's cat to be more outgoing like Sophie; she's 3 and used to be full of as much vitality, but now she just has no interest in playing with her toys (he took her to the vet and she was perfectly fine) . She even came over one day and Sophie offered her her favourite toy (she was so sweet:-) but Roxy just put her haunches up and hissed-otherwise I was hoping they'd become friends; Let me know if you find something that works.

I find with Sophie anyway she HAS to have structured playtime with me; she's very stubborn and nips at me if I head off to do something other than play with her. Some toys she just couldn't care less about preferring to play in and chew up a cardboard box instead!

Good luck.

 

[sunlion]

Shawna,

Does she actually chew pieces off the box? Because my Sparky has begun taking bites out of one particuar cardboard box, and I think it's so odd I was considering posting about it in the behavior forum. He doesn't eat it, just bites chunks off. It's very annoying.

But I've never heard of another cat doing that until now. Maybe he's not so wierd! lol

 

[shawna]

Yup she sure does; leaves little wet bits of chewed up cardboard all over the place. It's annoying at 3 am, but I figure she's either trying to tell me something (like get out of bed and play with me) or she's going through some sort of kitty teething problem (she's under a year old still) She's gotten into bits of styrofoam too which makes an awful mess!

 

[sunlion]

No styrofoam for Sparky yet, thank you! That's doubly annoying, the mess and the squeaky sound when she bites! Makes my teeth hurt just to think of it . . .

Sparky's about 7 or 8 months old. I didn't think of teething, though, I thought he'd changed his teeth ages ago. But maybe it's a kitten thing and he'll outgrow it after a while.

 

[shawna]

Sophie and Sparky are the same age; I too thought her milk teeth were long gone; hmmm maybe it's just another growing phase. In the meantime I guess we'll just have to keep picking up after them and trying to divert their attention their toys

 

[jacquiefaith]

Yup, my cat, who passed away, used to do the same thing. He had a cardboard box bed at one point in his life that we made for him. He loved it, but he would bite little pieces off of all 4 sides of it and toss them on the floor all around the box!!! Eventuall there were no sides left!!! I thought it was pretty unusual at the time too, but cats do strange things sometimes!!!

-Jacquie

 

[debra myers]

Val - just wondering how Dani was doing and if she was playing again? My tub-o-lards do not play much anymore either. But the old laser light has not lost it's magic yet. I find a paper shopping bag makes the best toy around here when all else fails.

 

[melissa]

I did a couple of things for my cats the other day that kept them entertained for hours...I put a cardboard box on its side and covered it with a blanket so that only half of the opening was visible and I also put about an inch of warm water in the bathtub and left the bathroom door open. The cats had a blat checking out the box, and every once in a while I'd hear them splashing around in the bathtub :laughing: I had lots of little wet paw prints

on my floor that day!