Ways to mentally challenge my cat

Moonlight_wolf

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Hi, I have a feeling my cat is bored. I play with her every day until she refuses to play anymore and she has so many things to climb on and scratch and play with that my friend comments that my cat has more stuff than any other cat he knows. She even has one of those window box things to give her a taste of the outdoors.

But I know something is missing. I know she needs something extra to stimulate her mind.

I have a treat Maze for her and have taught her various tricks (currently I’m in the middle of teaching her how to turn off the light in my room).

But I don’t know what else to do. I want more ways to exercise her brain. But I’m stumped. I have seen other treat puzzles and I might get another one of those for her. But I kinda wanted to be able to find longer term solutions. Like the treat maze she has now she’s a pro at, so it isn’t even a challenge for her anymore.

I’ve even considered getting Gerbils again because that was the best cat tv ever. 😂

If anyone has any suggestions that would be great, and it would be nice if not all the suggestions were treat based. Because I don’t want to be feeding her too many treats (even though her treats is just freeze dried raw food that I could use as a meal anyways).

Thanks so much in advance!
 

ArchyCat

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All you need is a second cat. About the same age, maybe younger. Neutered male. My experience is that they seem to get along better with other cats than neutered females. YMV. Good luck!
 

She's a witch

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But I kinda wanted to be able to find longer term solution
The only longer term solution I can offer is to constantly change solutions :) despite popular opinion that cats don’t like change, in my experience they actually appreciate the little changes a lot, as long as they are within their comfort zone. So exchanging his toys every week, moving some of your furniture to a different location (Even simple thing as moving one chair to another corner of the room keeps my cats occupied for half a day), coming up with new tricks.
Or a simpler solution as A ArchyCat suggested, another cat :)
 

canucksfan1

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outdoor cats take care of that by hunting everything cat killable.
my cats brought me all kinds of birds, rodents & left a small bunny 1 time i wondered where she get this 1? lol
 
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Moonlight_wolf

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Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

I would love to get another cat, and I certainly plan to in the future. It just wouldn’t be a good decision right now.

Yeah I guess I should get into the habit of removing toys or something and then bringing them back later so they are new and exciting. I think I just don’t want to remove things if she still enjoys them.😂😂 Maybe I’ll get another type of tunnel and just switch them out from time to time. Or the moving furniture thing is a good idea. Just adds a little spice in their life.

I did just buy one of those cardboard tubes made for concrete, and I put it behind my bean bag chair so that she has a way to tunnel behind it? I don’t know if she will like that, but I have a couple other things I could do with that cardboard tube if she doesn’t like my first idea. Lol.’
 

Etarre

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Do you have a window with a view of the outside world? Any window at all has been the best 'cat TV' for my kitties, even though our old apartment basically just had a concrete wall outside the window. I guess the slim chance of seeing a bird outside kept her interest? Now we are on the 6th floor, and I doubt she can see much of anything that's going on down on the street, but she spends a lot of time trying...

Why do you think that your cat is bored? It sounds like she has more toys and playtime and attention than most cats.
 
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Moonlight_wolf

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Yes she loves looking out windows and we have two perches on two of the windows, and on another window I have one of those mesh boxes that sits outside the window that she can lay in to experience the outdoors a bit.

I think she’s bored because she’s a very intelligent creature. And also probably because she wants attention from me 24/7. She’s a very needy cat.
So she meows a LOT and the meowing doesn’t bother me except it makes me feel like she’s asking for things. But the reality might be that I’ve reinforced her meowing because when she meows i respond and ask her what she wants- essentially rewarding her for meowing 😂😂

But I’m not really concerned about the meowing, I just thought that maybe she was meowing because she was bored. So I wanted to figure out if I could do anything else to enrich her environment.

And I know she’s not meowing because there is something medically wrong because she has been very talkative since the day I got her 😂
 

She's a witch

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How old is she?
I have a very playful and active 2.5 yo cat and I was feeling super guilty when I was not dealing with her boredom. And as she accepts only interactive plays with another animal (human included), it was difficult to keep her happy. Regular play sessions greatly helped, now we play with her every morning for 1 or 2 hours and every night for 1 or 2 hours, sometimes less as during our play session both cats get into chasing each other mode and then I excuse myself from it. So everyday at the same time, morning and evening. For the rest of the time she gives us a break, she stopped meowing asking for play or attention as she learnt there is another time for it, she either observes the world through window (although it's also boring her, unless there's a squirrel outside or raccoon or another cat) or play with another cat if he feels like it (he's a normal cat that likes to sleep, unlike her, she sleeps only when she has to).
If you ever want to introduce another cat, remember that the older she is, the more difficult it will be. I personally discourage anyone who wants to introduce another cat to the cat that is 8 yo or older. Although if she will remain active and playful, it would still be possible. But in general, the younger the cat, the easier introduction is.
 
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Moonlight_wolf

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Right now she’s only 3. So still pretty young. She lived with another cat for a while when I lived with my friend who also had a cat, and they got along well. So I know she’ll probably get along with another cat. I do have scheduled play time in the afternoon/evening with her, seeing as I usually wake up at 5:30 to go to work so I don’t have much time in the morning to do anything.
 

Etarre

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Some cats just like to talk, I think. If she's not being destructive or getting into parts of your apartment that she
shouldn't, maybe she's just trying to connect with you, rather than complaining. It sounds like you're giving her a
happy, active life full of toys and things to do. Smart cats are often quite good at entertaining themselves if they
need to.
 

SpecterOhPossum

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Have you tried harness walks? Best way to get mental stimulation and bodily stimulation in my opinion.
 
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