Hello... and thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions! 
The is my first cat and I've only had him about 1 1/2 years. He's sort of a rescue and about 4-5 yrs old and has been a bit of challenge to get socialized. Not being sure what would get his interest when I first got him, I've bought all kinds of toys for him to play with. The toys that are based on him initiating the play (Like the ball in the tube, or this little stuffed animal on a string magnet thing) he has zero interest in. He mostly likes to play at stalking things.
The one toy he really responds to is the feather on a string & rod toy. I can't just wave it in the air for him to be interested in it though. When we play I have to try and make it have some sort of "animal" quality by jerking it around the floor to kick in his predator instinct. About the time I start dragging it around the corner of my coffee tabke, he usually gets excited and wants to pound on it. Other than that, he likes when i run the rod to that toy under a rug. He will chase a small sting ball if I throw it, but when he gets to it, he just looks at it like "Ok... Now what?", and I wind up walking up and down my hallway for 5-10 minutes as he chases it. Of course he loves bottle caps, milk jug rings, and crumpled pieces of paper and things I hate having to pick up after (If I can find where he's wound up smacking them around too). I try to play with him for an extended period of time a couple times a day. Mostly what I'll do is when I'm lounging around & watching TV... I'll let him chase the feather on a stick toy for an hour or so.
Unfortunately, here lately he seems to be getting bored with the feather toy.... he still seems to get that pent up aggression like he wants to play (He'll bite me... softly... for attention to signal when he wants to play)... Here lately he's been biting me like he wants me to play with him, but then doesn't show a ton of interest in the toy. Where he use to almost immediately chase after it, lately he just watches me drag it across the floor, I can usually get him interested but it 's been taking 10 minutes to do it.
I guess the question I have is given his need to stalk things for play... can someone recommend an alternative to the feather on a stick toy? Thanks you very much for any suggestions
The is my first cat and I've only had him about 1 1/2 years. He's sort of a rescue and about 4-5 yrs old and has been a bit of challenge to get socialized. Not being sure what would get his interest when I first got him, I've bought all kinds of toys for him to play with. The toys that are based on him initiating the play (Like the ball in the tube, or this little stuffed animal on a string magnet thing) he has zero interest in. He mostly likes to play at stalking things.
The one toy he really responds to is the feather on a string & rod toy. I can't just wave it in the air for him to be interested in it though. When we play I have to try and make it have some sort of "animal" quality by jerking it around the floor to kick in his predator instinct. About the time I start dragging it around the corner of my coffee tabke, he usually gets excited and wants to pound on it. Other than that, he likes when i run the rod to that toy under a rug. He will chase a small sting ball if I throw it, but when he gets to it, he just looks at it like "Ok... Now what?", and I wind up walking up and down my hallway for 5-10 minutes as he chases it. Of course he loves bottle caps, milk jug rings, and crumpled pieces of paper and things I hate having to pick up after (If I can find where he's wound up smacking them around too). I try to play with him for an extended period of time a couple times a day. Mostly what I'll do is when I'm lounging around & watching TV... I'll let him chase the feather on a stick toy for an hour or so.
Unfortunately, here lately he seems to be getting bored with the feather toy.... he still seems to get that pent up aggression like he wants to play (He'll bite me... softly... for attention to signal when he wants to play)... Here lately he's been biting me like he wants me to play with him, but then doesn't show a ton of interest in the toy. Where he use to almost immediately chase after it, lately he just watches me drag it across the floor, I can usually get him interested but it 's been taking 10 minutes to do it.
I guess the question I have is given his need to stalk things for play... can someone recommend an alternative to the feather on a stick toy? Thanks you very much for any suggestions
