Help! I'm Bored!

OK, now that I have your attention, here's the issue.

I currently have 2 toys that I use to play with Junior. One is a laser pointer and the other is a curtain rod with a string on it to which I attach various light objects for Junior to chase and catch. While Junior appears to be perfectly content with just these 2 toys (he has a lot of other toys for solo play), I'm bored out of my mind!

My question is, what toys do you use to play with your cats? Junior may not need variety but I do.

Mez

Sometimes, you can introduce every toy in the store, and they will still go back to their favorite one or two! Silly kitties!

My boy has a whole basket of toys either I've bought him or that he got last Christmas from family and friends (he got more than me.. hehe...) He still prefers the little stuffed soccer ball I already had, a long soccer sock with a knot in it, crumpled up paper towel over any 'cat' toy... in the mornings we have the routine of laser pointer and stringy toy, and when I try to introduce a new toy into the routine he walks away... they are picky little things

I didn't mean to imply that Junior only likes the 2 toys I mentioned. Those are just the only 2 I currently have which involves both of us. He has many other solo toys which he uses regularly.

My question was what other types of toys are there which involve human interaction.

Mez

Let's see...
I think all that I have for dual interactions for myself and the cat are...
A plastic stick with a long piece of felt (like 7 feet) tied to it that we can run through the house with it
2 plastic wands with a big feather on the end of each so that I can swing while she chases it
A loofa dog toy that she can wrestle with and I'll make squeek
Lots of mice that I tied a string to the end of the tail
and (my definite fave) a bunch of bouncy spongy soccer balls (they also come in golf ball shape) that we can play fetch with--yes, you can teach a cat to bring it back to you!!

Da bird is a great toy, it's a rod type toy with a string and then you attach feathers at the end. The difference is that it spins in the air and makes a whirring noise which makes it more fun both for the cat and the human.

I.e for me atleast I really enjoy making it fly across the room and trying to listen for different type of whirring noise depending on exactly how you're making it move. My cat goes completely nuts over it as well which is pretty entertaining.

Then there's having a bunch of toy mice and throwing them for your cat. I needed to buy a lot of them before it was "worth it" for me. I.e I throw them all out and then go and collect them back. If I had only a few I'd always be having to go around to fetch them back.

Edit: Oh and then there's putting a sheet or a towel on the floor and then putting a toy on a stick (feather sticks for example) underneath the towel so you're playing a game of "burrowing mice"

What, you don't think batting a small mouse around the floor is exciting?

You can get remote control toys, or try to come up with new ways of playing with your cat. For instance, my cat loves playing with toys he loses sight of. If he hears a toy and it's just there for him to grab, he's like "yeah, so?" If I get his attention and then hide it, like behind a table or the stairs, he HAS to investigate.

So we do the same thing on his cat tree, by moving toys around and making him run all over the place.

Ultimately, though, he's a cat and I'm a human, and I let him play with things on his own or I do other things and let him investigate/play with me. He has no interest in computers, but that paper towel he dragged onto the floor is very interesting. I have no interest in it (except that I'll have to pick it up now that it's on the floor), so I just keep using my computer.

The only toy I have found that Zane gives more than a cursory look is Da Boid. He gets up on his hind legs and hops like a small, grey kangaroo!

One game I like to play with mine is Scavenger Hunt. Their favorite (dry!) treats - I take a dozen and have all feline eyes riveted on me - treats! - and they watch as I put the treats in out-of-the-way but accessible places. For example, inside the kitty condo, just barely under a lamp, on the book case, on the window sill...I don't think cats have what's called "object permanence" - that is, if they can't see something, they are not sure it exists. Also, they aren't that great at seeing things closer than six feet unless the things are moving; all this means that what seems like a simple-minded hiding place to me is not so simple for them...

Anyway, then I sit back and watch as they "hunt" the treats. Siggy's the best at it - she realized a while back what the idea was and checks out every little place just on general principles. Myrtle watches and memorizes where I was for the last one, then goes for it, eats it, declares herself the winner and falls asleep. Piglet loves finding one or two (unlike Siggy, who's in it for quantity) and makes a big to-do about stalking each one he finds.

I've taught Siggy and Piglet how to play fetch. I have to admit, the funniest thing for them to fetch (for me, the audience) is a stick toy - twice as long as them, they have to straddle it and waddle like ducks to bring it back

It's easy to "teach" a cat to fetch if they have a favorite interactive toy - like yours with the stick-n-string thingy - just get playing with it and throw it - if Junior is really into it, he'll go get it and may even teach himself to drag it back...otherwise, if he picks it up, then get it and play some more, then throw, then he picks it up, and this time wait for him to bring it a little ways back, then getit and play some more, etc., successive approximation yada yada... sorry, I do tend to go on too long!

You may want to look into clicker training or some other type of cat training. It can be a challenge for the both of you and help you bond.

Originally Posted by cat52

It's easy to "teach" a cat to fetch if they have a favorite interactive toy - like yours with the stick-n-string thingy - just get playing with it and throw it - if Junior is really into it, he'll go get it and may even teach himself to drag it back...otherwise, if he picks it up, then get it and play some more, then throw, then he picks it up, and this time wait for him to bring it a little ways back, then getit and play some more, etc., successive approximation yada yada...

sorry, I do tend to go on too long!

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Fetch is a good one, even if it's not much to alleviate boredom for a bored owner (since in many cases it's a matter of hoping they actually bring it back!). I did the same thing; Juniper got used to carrying around a mouse, so I would take it from him and throw it. He quickly realized that if he brought me a toy, I'd throw it for him to chase, and often when he's bored and my wife or I are home, he'll bring one of his mice to us. It's very cute, and entertaining if he feels like playing when guests are around

I now have a "fetch spot" on the couch, where if I'm sitting there he'll usually bring up a mouse and drop it right by my hand. I soon discovered that when he's really in a playful mood, I'm no longer "human guy" but "cat springboard," and he will bring the mouse back to the couch, jump up, across my chest, and push off to land on my other side. He drops the mouse, I throw it, and he bounds off across the coffee table (more obstacles!).

What's really funny is that I always try to throw it into the other room, where he sees it fall but not where it lands. My wife usually just tosses it a short distance, and sometimes she'll do a bad throw that just bounces a few feet away, and Juniper immediately loses interest. Probably thinking "that's not a throw, I'm not gonna chase it if you don't put some feeling into it!"


That does remind me of a new toy we got for him, though, that we've been enjoying quite a bit. We have one of those IKEA rats, and it's about 1/3 the size of our kitten. It's poofy enough, though, that we can "attack" him with it and he'll attack the rat, and not us, so we can play with him as if we were a "play rat" without him associating our hands with play targets. Would probably work with any small-size stuffed animal, as well, as long as the stitching was good so the fluff didn't come out.

Heh. If I were you, I'd make it a time to listen to music while your cat amuses himself with the dangly toy....

we have an ice fishing pole, small but strong, with a cat toy on the end. It's fun because it's interactive and you can try our realing your cat.....it doesn't work out for me too often