Help: How to keep indoor cats entertained

carli_h

I would appreciate advice on keeping indoor cats entertained. For a bit of background info my cats are 7 months old (I have had them since 6 weeks)and as I live on a busy road they have to be kept indoors. One of the cats is very easy going and we have very few problems except the odd mad 5 minutes (but as she's a tortie will forgive her for that) the other one however is a different story, she just seems to constantly look for trouble. Most recently she has started to jump on top of the internal doors and wake me up in the early hours for a fuss (she's extremely affectionate).

They have lots of toys (about 20) two scratch towers (one on two levels the other four) and a cat mobile. I've tried moving the toys around, hanging them in different places but the cardboard boxes seemed to keep them most amused. We've even started talking about our next move to a quieter road as the cats welfare is very important to us and giving them away is not an option.

Does anyone have any useful tips?

steve_r123

Do you actually play with the cat and her toys? We have an indoors cat about the same age as yours, and he plays up at night sometimes. I now make sure I give him a good run around throwing his toy mice and stuff around just before bed time. A good 10 minutes of running around as he is usually getting tired, and then just goes straight to sleep.

gazza975526570

If you already lived on the main road before you got them and you knew you wouldnt let them out should you not have decided to have them?

carli_h

Yep, but one of them doesn't seem to sleep very much. I assume this is probably because they sleep whilst we are at work.

Timmne

gazza975526570 wrote:

If you already lived on the main road before you got them and you knew you wouldnt let them out should you not have decided to have them?

If they're indoor cats why would this be an issue?!!

Confused....

dmg24

If you already lived on the main road before you got them and you knew you wouldnt let them out should you not have decided to have them?

Really unhelpful comment. It is quite common to have indoor cats, the only time it would be unfair is if they were older and used to going outside.

Can't really offer much advice, but just to say am having the same 'disruptions' here! Moo thinks I should only sleep when he wants to, and chooses to eat my hair if he wants to wake me.

I too have bought every type of toy I could find, but have found that his absolute favourites are sweet wrappers ... and toilet paper! x

kezia

Hi

We have a rather lazy cat and to try and get him motivated to move we hide little bits of dry cat food around the house ( dry is best as if you forget about it it doesn't smell after a few days )

He likes to go hunting for it. We also put treats inside toys or boxes etc so he has to work a little to get them out. It is fun for him and he seems to enjoy it. Perhaps you could try something similar? might take your kittens mind off being naughty?

claireandella

I have 5 cats and all but one live indoors and venture out only occasionaly in summer, when I am around to supervise/hide behind!. Most were rescued as kittens/young cats and had bad experiences which led to them preferring the safety of our house. They are all Siamese or Tonkinese and I was also afraid that they could be cat-napped as they are affectionate and pretty(although they are probably not worth very much).
Before having my cats I thought that it was cruel to keep them indoors but they genuinely prefer it. To prevent boredom I make sure they have lots of toys, a cardboard box with holes in to hide in and 'hook' passers-by from, and a scratch post and loop pile carpet remnant. We arranged the furniture to provide lots of interesting hiding places and nooks and crannies and put all their 'stuff' in the utility room so that they have somewhere where they won't be disturbed very much. I also shut them in there at night so that we weren't disturbed by mad 4 o'clock games. I also found that they would knaw on raw chicken wings for hours and these gave more fun than any toys. They have all calmed down hugely with age- your cats are still kittens really- and weren't nearly so mad by about 18 months. In the meantime I agree with the op that a really good game before bedtime should tire them out! good luck

ps- You may want to grow trays of 'cat grass' to help their digestion as we found they really appreciated this!

lilminx_2

I sympathise Carli, we got our kitten when we stayed in a high flat (so she was unable to go out) she was always playing up tearing the wallpaper, running up the curtains etc. Fortunately, she did calm down slightly as she has got older (now 5) and we've moved house, although i still dont let her out as we are next to a main road but dont think she would go out even if she were allowed. We tried all the different toys to keep her entertained, and although the catnip toys entertained her for all of 5 mins she much prefers a plastic bag or a scrunched up crisp packet to chase about. The only other tip i was given by the vet was to use a water spray to spray them when they are misbehaving, its supposed to deter them from doing the same again if you are consistent in using it (which i wasnt i hated spraying her).

ckerrd

gazza975526570 wrote:

If you already lived on the main road before you got them and you knew you wouldnt let them out should you not have decided to have them?

Obviously not. I had cats that never went outside and were very happy spending all their time indoors.

Carrera74

My cat used to wake us during the night as he wanted to play. We seem to have fixed this by tiring him out late evening by letting him chase a piece of string around the living room obviously avoiding furniture and feet!! He loves string more than the silly amount of toys he has