Tips for a lazy cat

Georgie clocked in at 20lbs at the vet this week! The vet and I set a goal to slowly reduce her weight into the 15lb range. Her previous owners had her on a tower feeder so she was able to eat as much as she wanted and she certainly did! I have switched her over to 2 feedings a day and I am trying to get her to be more active. She spends most of her day sleeping (but what cat doesn't) but when she's awake she's still not very active. The trouble I've been having is getting her to play with interactive toys and exercise her a bit. She will give a toy one or two swats for every 3 minutes of me enticing her with it. I'm hoping, as she and Tofu get more comfortable with each other they will play, but until then, does anyone have tips of engaging a cat, getting them more active, and exercising a bit?

Also, her previous owners had her on low quality dry food. I will be switching her over to some higher quality stuff (I just hope she eats it!). Do you think the food could be contributing to her low activity level or is that more her personality?

I fully believe that the quality of food will affect activity. Low quality dry food is full of carbs--well most dry food is full of carbs--which we all know are not essesntial nutrients to the body, we can obtain all of our energy from fat and protein. I think that a food rich in meat protein will affect the body greatly and that alone with make the body work differently.

Be creative in making play fun. I have a cat who lived on the streets and doesn't full understand "toys". So I had to get resourceful. I recently made a box playhouse/maze and he's loving it--he really likes games that involve hunting because that is a habit he knows--my other cat who has never been outside is amazed by bird watching.

Leslie

What kind of toys have you tried? My cat could care less about most of the mountain of toys I have for her, but she can't resist the laser pointer.

Maybe getting a harness and taking her outside to explore/roll around?

My "big boy" loves anything he can chase which simulates prey: a string or a bouncy kind of toy. And, he just adores the laser light!

I stopped by the store this evening to pick up some more toys. I have already tried the kind that hang on the door knob, fuzzy mice, fishing poles (<---we have had the most success with this), but she only shows mild interest unless its covered in catnip. So I got her some toys that you can stuff with catnip and you know which one is her favorite? The brown paper bag I brought them home in! I laid the bag flat and tapped the bottom. She went diving in head first!!! I don't usually get bags, because I bring my own reusable ones, but I forgot it this time...fate I suppose!

I found something just now that I thought I would share. I live in an apartment and my kitchen and living room are connected but there is a wall in between them, kinda like an 'O' if with the center of the 'O' being the wall. Well she started following me today so I thought I would see if I could get her to chase me. I would run around the 'O' and she would come chasing after me as soon as I turned out of sight. We did this for 5 minutes! I think I might have gotten more of a work out then her but it was still fun and it got her moving!