Advice on entertaining middle age to older cats

Hey, I'm Tim and I'm new here. I recently got my own place (no roommates) and decided I needed some company. The cat in my avatar is the guy I adopted. He's an 8 year old long haired tabby (?) and he is super sweet. He licks my fingers when I pet him and loves just being around me. Whenever I make dinner or do dishes or anything around the house he follows me and meows at me. It's cute but it makes me think he's bored.

 He's perfectly content when I'm just petting him or sitting next to him. He also lays in my bed with me the entire night as I sleep. Whenever I stir or wake up he looks over and gives me a soft "meow" which I love  but that's pretty much all he does. Sometimes he wanders around the apartment which, at the moment, doesn't have a whole lot of stuff in it. He is an indoor cat (previously declawed) and I live on the 4th floor so he can't really go outside but I just wish I had more things for him to do when he's here and I'm not. I spend about 10 hours away from the house on my workdays so I'm sure he gets lonely. My rental agreement will not allow me to have any more pets. He seems to get stressed around other animals anyway.

 He doesn't like toys but he does seem to like to explore. Any suggestions on things I can build or purchase that would occupy his time when I am not at home would be greatly appreciated. I keep music on when I'm not there just so he's not in complete silence but that's about all I can do.

What kind of toys have you tried? Sometimes it takes few tries before you figure out what he likes. I've bought lasers, turbo scratchers, wand toys, shoe laces, mice, everything you can think of. You just have to keep trying and return/give away what he doesn't like.

One basic thing you might buy is a cat tree. Place it by a window for hours of staring outside at the birds time.

Congratulations on your new family member and hurray for you for adopting an older cat.

Give him paper bags to use as caves. Cut off any handles.

Give him some box forts. One box should be fairly large, turned on it's side with the flaps hanging down, that is the Fort. Another should have about six inch high sides, with the flaps torn off. That one can be used as a bed or as a chewing box (many cats like to chew off the edges of boxes)

Do you have a balcony? Or even a ledge outside a window? Putting out a little seed every day to attract birds provides Cat TV.

Declawed cats often have early arthritis pain in their backs, or residual pain in their amputated toes, so that may be one reason he doesn't want to play. Or maybe no one ever bothered to play with him.

Try this Game: Lay a newspaper flat on the floor. Get a thick string or other string on a stick type toy. Put the string under the newspaper with about half of it sticking out. Get kitty's (what's his name?) attention and gradually, slowly pull the string so it disappears under the newspaper. Watch his reaction.

You can also try Catch the Bump Under the Paper (or rug, for that matter) Cats have a hunting insticnt bred into them, so anything that encourages him to stalk and pounce on may grab his interest. My Tolly only liked to pounce on things he couldn't see. He wanted the string or bump to be already under the newspaper, but the other cats like to stalk the string as it slowly disappears.

Don't give up right away, a cat who has never been played with will need time to learn how to play. With practice he will start to enjoy this kind of interaction, and watching him closely you will learn to read his signals as he tells you what he likes best.

Also, it sounds like he hasn't been with you long. Cats need time to adjust, and he is still just feeling his way. Cats thrive on routine and there can be many opportunities during your home time for bonding. Schedule feeding canned meals for instance, meal times are great bonding times.

Da Bird. Rare is the cat that does not go bananas for that thing. Don't leave it out when you're not around. String = choking hazard. Also, my cat literally eats the feathers.

aeevr said:

Da Bird. Rare is the cat that does not go bananas for that thing. Don't leave it out when you're not around. String = choking hazard. Also, my cat literally eats the feathers.

http://www.amazon.com/Da-Bird-Includes-Original-Replacement/dp/B000FWAP8A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1338747359&sr=8-4

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The problem with that toy is the attachment piece is hard rubber. I was continually bonking my cats in the head. I gave it up, cut off the attachment piece and tied other things to the wands.

otto said:

The problem with that toy is the attachment piece is hard rubber. I was continually bonking my cats in the head. I gave it up, cut off the attachment piece and tied other things to the wands.

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You're supposed to fly Da Bird around your cat, not over its head silly.

Minka said:

You're supposed to fly Da Bird around your cat, not over its head silly.

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I've been playing string on a stick games with cats for almost 50 years. I do not deliberately hit them with it. Since cats like to leap after things, a string on a stick toy is going to go over their heads on occasion.

Sometimes the string/toy lands on the cat. Sometimes the cat jumps up and gets hit in the face with the string/toy. The Da Bird rubber attachment piece is hard and heavy. My cats did not like being bonked with a hard heavy piece of rubber.

otto said:

I've been playing string on a stick games with cats for almost 50 years. I do not deliberately hit them with it. Since cats like to leap after things, a string on a stick toy is going to go over their heads on occasion.

Sometimes the string/toy lands on the cat. Sometimes the cat jumps up and gets hit in the face with the string/toy. The Da Bird rubber attachment piece is hard and heavy. My cats did not like being bonked with a hard heavy piece of rubber.

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Hmm, never has happened to me. :shrug:

Welcome to TCS! 

My 2 are also big fans of Da Bird!  (No head bonking problems here.)  That, the Cat Dancer and the Laser Pointer get even my Mom's older cat going.

Other things you can do are cat trees (I got mine and my Mother's off Ebay from Amarkat (something like that) for very reasonable.  Just bid smartly. 

Do you have a balcony where you can put a small bird feeder?  We have one hanging outside the window where the cat tree is and my 2 love sitting there watching the birds!  But anywhere they can get a view is entertaining to them.  Plus kitties love sunning in the window.  So even a perch of some kind would probably be enjoyable to him.  Just make sure its sturdy.  Some of the ones you can buy for that purpose just dont look like they'd hold a good size cat.  Maybe a light kitten but certainly not an overweight cat (like my 2).  Hope that helps with your kitty!!