Guidelines for Playing With your Cat

dogncats — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:52:25 +0000

To satisfy your cat’s natural instincts, think of each play session as a mock hunt for prey. Start enticing your cat by moving the toy in a way that her prey might move. Once you have your cat’s attention, remember that prey moves away from the hunter, so make the toy flee from your cat in short bursts to activate the chase. Eventually, let your cat win by allowing them to catch the toy and “kill” it. Your cat might grab the toy with her front legs, bite it and make little kicks with her back feet. Letting your cat “finish the kill” is very rewarding to her. Some cat experts recommend ending the game with a small cat treat.

Keep these additional guidelines in mind when you play with your cat:

Go at your cat’s pace. Offer several types of cat toys to find out which are her favorites and what style of game your cat prefers.
Your cat’s instincts motivate her to bite toys while you’re playing. This is normal behavior—but be sure you don’t encourage her to bite your fingers or hands as well. Rough play in a small kitten can be cute, but it becomes painful and dangerous when the kitten matures into an adult cat. For this reason, avoid gloves or mittens with toys attached. They might teach your cat that it’s okay to scratch and bite human hands.
If your cat gets over excited, she might redirect some of her energy at your hands and feet or at other animals. Encourage play, but take a break if things get too rough. Let your cat rest a bit, and start back up when she’s calmer.
Using Laser Light Cat Toy during play need precaution because some cats and dogs become frustrated or obsessed with chasing a light that they can never catch. Alway follow this up with allowing your cat to catch and conquer a toy. Also give them a treat for a job well done.
Try scheduling play time with your cat both in the morning and in the evening on different days throughout the week to find out when she’s most receptive and inclined to play. Some cats enjoy a stimulating game right before bedtime. Other cats enjoy playing just before meal times. If you play with your cat before feeding her, you mimic a natural sequence of cat behaviors: she gets to “hunt” and eat, and then she’ll likely groom herself and end with a nice nap. Try playing with a fun cat toy that mimics the hunt such as a mouse toy.
Choose a place to play where your cat feels safe and distractions are minimized.
Give all of your cats a chance to play. You may need to separate them in different rooms and play with them individually if one tends to dominate play time.
Avoid allowing your cat to play with sharp objects, Christmas tree icicles, curling ribbon and any small items she could accidentally swallow. Don’t allow your cat to play with rubber bands, paper clips or plastic bags. All of these things could be dangerous to her.
Finally, keep in mind that it’s always wise to supervise!

What to Consider when Purchasing and Using Cat Toys

dogncats — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:14:39 +0000

Although they are much safer inside from disease and danger, most house cats tend to be overweight and under active. Cats, like people and dogs, benefit from keeping fit and active, both mentally and physically. Exercise is most essential for your cat’s mental and physical health since it relieves stress and boredom, improves circulation, builds muscle tone and can prevent or reduce behavioral problems. So, we need to get our cats up and moving, and there is of course no better way to entice them out their natural instincts to stalk and chase prey than by engaging them with some interesting and fun cat toys. It is also a good idea to keep your cat well-groomed. There are a variety of terrific cat grooming products that will make your cat happy and are easy to use.

Types of Toys for Fun and Games

Cat Toys on a Wand or Stick

A wand toy can be as simple as a stick with a thin piece of fabric or soft ribbon tied to it. You can wave, twitch, flutter and circle the wand around randomly so that the ribbon moves enticing like an insect or bird or other prey. A key added benefit of the wand toy is that it lets you keep some distance between your cat’s claws and your skin.

There are hundreds of variations of the wand style of cat toy, and most are relatively inexpensive. The wand itself can be wire, wood or plastic. Anything pliable but firm will do. Many objects can be attached to the wand to attract your cat’s attention: feathers, strings or small stuffed cat toys. These cat toys can be accented with bells or electronic noises, or with catnip scent or fur that smells good to your cat. Feathers from peacocks or other large birds can be used as wand toys themselves.

It is best to put the wand toy away after playtime for three reasons:

This toy should be available to your cat only when you’re playing so you can build on your relationship with your cat.
When you put the toy away after a play session, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s still safe. Watch for pieces of string or other components that might fall off the cat toy and get swallowed by your cat. If you notice any loose toy parts, it’s probably time to retire the old toy and get a new one.
How many times have you seen a mouse or birds just hanging around a cat? If you removed the toy after playtime, it remains exciting and gain their interest when you start the next play time.

Some wand or stick toys you might like to try:

Ball Toys

Balls are also very attractive to many cats. Their movement along the floor mimics the movement of scampering mice or other prey animals, which will entice cats to chase. You can insert treats or catnip into some balls to make playing with them more rewarding and exciting for your cat. Other balls have bells or other small objects inside them that make noise to attract your cat’s attention. The only downside to ball toys is that they often end up under the couch or other furniture!

Some ball toys you might like to try:

Wadded-up paper (experiment with different textures and sizes)
Mylar balls (crinkly and shiny)
Dust Bunnies Cat Toy
Ping-pong balls (watch for wear)
Hat Heads Catnip Toys
Sponge balls (nice and quiet)
Catfisher Fishing Bobber Toy

Food-Dispensing Toys

Many people allow cats to have free and full access to food at all times. This can be convenient for the cat’s owner, but it often leads to cats eating more than they should. Instead of free feeding, try using a food toy to deliver the cat food. Your cat will have to work a bit for her meals, which will engage her mind and satisfy their natural instincts to hunt. Food-dispensing toys can also slow down cats who eat too quickly and encourage more activity throughout the day.

Start with a hungry cat and some of your cat’s favorite treats. Open the food toy and make it extremely easy for your cat to get a treat out of the toy. This process will remove any fear your cat might have of the toy itself, and it will help her learn the association between the toy and eating. As soon as your cat is happy to eat out of the toy, make the situation a little more challenging. Close the toy, or reduce the size of the opening so that your cat has to interact with the toy (touching, pawing or nosing it) to get the treat to come out. Over time, begin to mix your cat’s kibble with the treats. Over time you can gradually fade out the treats until you’re using only kibble. Finally, set out a couple of the toys in different places in your house, and feed your cat only with the toys. No more boring food bowls!

Catnip Toys

The majority of cats in the U.S. find catnip stimulating. Adding this herb to play time can greatly increase your cat’s entertainment! Catnip can be stuffed into toys or packed into balls. Try sprinkling it onto a fresh piece of newspaper or into a paper grocery bag to invite your cat to play. It’s safe for your cat to ingest catnip, especially if you choose an organically grown brand without any additives. One caution about catnip: Some cats become very excited when smelling or eating it, so be careful about petting or rubbing your cat until you know how she responds. When cats get over excited, they can sometimes bite.

Some catnip toys you might like to try:

Classic Crackler Catnip Toy
You can take any type of small fabric sack and fill it with catnip
Classic Springy Worms Catnip Toy
Zoom Around the Room Organic Catnip

Feather Type of Cat Toys are the Cat’s Meow of Fun

Cats love to bat and play at almost anything and if it is light weight and fluffy, so much the better. Feathers do just the trick and cats just love the way they feel and move. They are easy to make if you go to a craft store you can find all the materials. It is important to note that your cat’s safety is most important to make sure that all parts are secured in place correctly. Especially if you have a baby or toddler in the house that could pick up the toy and ingest something that would be a choking hazard.

Some feather cat toys you might like to try:

Classic ShowGulls Catnip Toy
Take a ping-pong ball, and cover it with velvet fabrics and colorful feathers
Fluffy Feathers Cat Toy

Toys Made of Attractive Materials

Similar to using catnip to attract cats to toys, toy makers combine materials that cats like in one toy:

Feel: wool, fur, fleece
Sound: crinkly materials, bells, electronic chirps
Sight: flutter, feathery materials, lights, moving parts
Smell and taste: fur, added flavoring (catnip fish, fowl, beef, honeysuckle, etc.)

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