How do you entertain a smart kitten?

Well I used to think that Jordan was being sassy, or maybe needy, but I'm starting to think he's bored when he does things that drive me nuts. For example TWICE last night he decided that he wanted to sit somwhere & knocked off whatever was in his way. The first time it was a container of bubble bath from on top of the toilet tank. I thought it was an accident till he I watched him push the plant off the top of my TV. (ok it was a pot with soil the plant died a long time ago) Which of coarse was in a cermic pot which promptly shattered. I know he wasn't trying to get my attention because I had just been petting him & he got up off of me & went over to the TV. So I'm thinking he must be bored. I've gotten glimpses of just what a smart cat he is, but last night made me think he's really smart. So here's my dilema. I love & spoil my boys. They have all kinds of toys, they have a tower to climb. So what is missing? What can I do so he doesn't become bored & destructive?

Wow. He does sounds smart You mention a second cat but I guess that isn't keeping him busy ? I have to say that's what I would have suggested.

Good Luck !

Maybe Hissy can help yu with that one...


~ Salem

Find a very large cardboard box, cut the flaps off the one end, cut some holes in the side (off the floor level) and throw two ping pong balls in the box. He will entertain himself for quite awhile.

Put some pillows on the floor, cover the pillow with a light blanket, toss some toys into the "tunnel" maybe add a little catnip and let him play underneath-


Get an old newspaper,open it up so all the pages lay on the floor in one pile, put it on the floor, sprinkle it with just a tiny bit of catnip, and let him go at it. You can do the same thing with an old phone book, put some catnip in between a few pages of the phone book and let him have fun.

If you have one of those twizzlers on a stick? Cat toy with spangles on one end (tinsel kind of stuff) attached to a wand. Get a pringle potato chip can (empty) cut a slit in the lid, insert the wand into the can. Use duct tape to secure the wand underneath the lid, roll the toy on the floor, he will play with that as well.

If you sew, give him spools of thread that have no thread on them of course, and let him play. Put one spool inside an empty kleenix box and let him play (supervise this one, as they can get their paw stuck and get a bit angry about it.)

Also nothing wrong with getting a second cat condo for him- there are some good ones out on the market now.

Thanks I'll have to try those things. I know one thing I've done is to put toys in an empty Coke box, you know how they make them long now. It only took him a couple of minuets to figue out that if he bumped it from the back all the toys would roll to the front. I do have two cats, they love to chase each other at 3 in the morning which I'm sure my downstairs neighbor just loves but they are still kittens so he'll just have to deal with it.

Our kitten is extremely active and loves to play (even when she was very sick, she was intent on play.)

However, she gets bored with her 5,000 toys pretty quickly.

Toys she never gets bored with:

A straw. She loves plastic straws, especially if they're dropped around some chair legs or something where she can approach the straw from behind a vertical pole or similar. We watch her to make sure she doesn't try to eat them, and we throw them out when they get ragged.

Bird feeder. We have one outside our window; she'll sit in front of it for hours.

Paw Pals Sisal Mice 6-pack with the rabbit-fur tails. She's not into mice very much, but she loves the ones with the rabbit-fur tails and will throw them around. Dropping them somewhere she can't get them easily (under an open door that won't swing shut) keeps her occupied.

She also loves water, so sometimes I'll take a closed water bottle full of water and let her play with it while I watch.

Cut a hole on top and one in the side of the box. Then, invest some money into one of those mouse/fishing pole toys, or you can just use a piece of twine or thick string and tie it around a wooden clothes pin. While watching TV or just relaxing after a long day's work, just bob the fishing pole or string up and down into the openings of the box, on top of the box, or along the sides of the openings. The cat will enjoy playing with the toy in and out of the box. You can swing the toy/string back and forth, too.