Help: How to keep indoor cats entertained

RoCas

Buy a mouse ... ?

V_Chic_Chick

Buy a live mouse trap and let it go inside the house http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/product/Pest%20Control_Humane%20traps/GPC-320.htm

Or buy a budgie.

Iwantahouse_2

My Cat loves playing with the bits of wire that come tied around the cables of new electrical appliances. I coil them into a spring shape for her and they keep her entertained for hours

kr15snw

Youll all think my family is nuts now....

We have a gorgeous kitten who since they day we got her has been fascinated with our dogs (2 springer spaniels). Although we dont leave them alone together, just in case (dogs wouldnt hurt a fly, but so much bigger than her! Could be an accident waiting to happen) they do love to play.

Anyway...

Our cat is also going to be a house cat just because we HATE it when cats go in our garden and go for the fish and leave their little presents behind. We dont want ours to do this so weve decided its safer to leave her inside, or else the neighbours may start to hate us....

To keep her occupied shes played with alot, but lately shes started to get upset when we took the dogs out on a walk. So we bought her a little kitty harness (SOOO adorable!!!) and now she comes with us! She loves it! We bought one of those extendable dog leads and she nows runs around, plays in the grass and chases bugs and little birds. The dogs dont mind her being there as they tend to dissapear to chase something anyway (up on the moors so plenty to chase). Everyone who see's us thinks were mad as were walking a cat! But oh well Oh and we only take her on nice days, she refuses to go out on wet days (which is understandable).

But if you cant take her on walks, just play with her LOTS before bedtime. We find this tends to tire ours out, so that she doesnt decide at 2am that she wants to play!


(Please dont think Im a weird cat lady) hehehe

keelykat

kr15snw-we've taken our cats outside on harnesses/leads before too!

We have this toy which is a stick, with elastic attached and a furry dangly bit on the end....ours love it! we basically tease them with it, let them chase it etc and let them catch it and play with it, and then move it around so they need to chae after it/pounce on it!

They are indoor cats, but are happy! i keep them well entertained, and have loads of fuss/love from us! and visitors (marmy loves my dad, who looks after them when we go away-she rolls over on his lap and play fights with him when he tickles her.)

keely.

Queenie

keelykat wrote: »

....

They are indoor cats, but are happy! ...

Bet your neighbours are too! :rotfl: Just how many threads have there been on these forums about pesky cats digging up other peoples gardens and using them as a latrine!? :whistle:


My cat is an indoor cat and was sold to me as such and bought because of it!

I hide bits of dry food around so he can hunt it out, we play with him; he does have toys, but just as when my children were little, they are put away at night and different one's brought out in rotation so he doesn't get bored by the same toy/game.

Great book to read "The Cat Detective". My son bought it for a gift for me one Christmas, have a look in your library it's a very good read

liz545

My cat is indoors all the time, we occasionally take him out for a leash walk but he was an indoor cat before we rescued him and he finds the 'big bad world' a bit scary. We're considering getting some wall-mounted shelves for him to play on, as being indoors he can't really climb and get the same kind of stimulation that outdoor cats do. The ones we were looking at are: http://katwallks.com/ but obviously if you're good at DIY I'm sure you can knock up something more budget friendly! Monty also loves to play with string, and chases the beam of a torch or laser pointer, and none of the toys we've bought him have been as successful as a simple ping-pong ball! I'd also see if your library has 'Cat Confidential' by Vicky Halls, it's got a good chapter on indoor cats.

michpatis

We've got 2 indorr cats, they are now 2 years old and we got them from the RSPCA when they were 8 weeks old. They went out a couple of times when they were small but I was always so worried about them my nerves couldn't take it any more!!!
They have got dozens of toys that we have brought for them but like most of the other cats on this forum prefer the cheaper way of life (real money saving experts). Rolled up newspaper, rolled up silver foil, a torch light moving round on th floor. Although one of their favourite toys is one that was brought for them it can be easily made, it's like a small feather boa on a piece of elastic tied to a stick. Simple, but they love it and it was one of the first toys we got them and they still play with it like mad. I think it is really important that you spend as much time with them as you can. I find that they are at their worse at night if I have not had a lot of interaction with them in the evening.
I think the most important thing is to enjoy them and let them enjoy you. They are the most nosey creatures and hiding their toys and treats in and around the house is great fun for them, perhaps do this for during the day when you are at work, keep them busy so they will not sleep and so be awake all night.

odds-n-sods

WE have two cats; one is outdoors/indoors, the other is indoors only right now; she was hurt last Jan and still chews/scratches at the shoulder blade that was broken. SHe also wears a t-shirt, cat-sized, that I got off ebay for her. SHe doesn't seem to mind it too much, and boy, so we get some strange looks when people see her in the livingroom window. We hope that eventually she'll stop. The vet wanted us to try some other drugs, but she was SOOOO stoned on them; it wasn't the same cat.

odds-n-sods

Oh, sorry, I was also goign to say that a very good book to get is 'Cat Confidential' can't think of the author, she is very good at cat issues.