What is your kitty's exercise routine?

So, most of us work I assume. And most of the cats here are indoors?

Just wondering what everyone's kitty exercise routine is like? How often do you play per day and for how long?

What kind of activities does your kitty do to keep healthy and trim?

Any standard recommended amount of minimum active play per day that a cat owner should keep in mind?

And of course....there's kitty yoga.

2 5 minute sessions that involve Charlie jumping on various high perches to retrieve food in a bowl. Then I also try to have a 5 minute "chase" session with a toy. Then we do a play session that is more "trick" oriented, (sit, high five, stand on hind legs, spin, and jumping through a hoop). Charlie also loves puzzle games, putting treats in a ball (slim cat brand, I believe) that, as he bats it around, treats come out of the ball. Charlie is also pretty good at exercising himself, I leave catnip mice and those springie cat toys around the house which he loves to bat around.

One of Nala's favorite exercise activities is chasing the laser pointer. She seemingly could go all night, but I do limit it to a few minutes of off and on activity because she can get worked up fast doing it. Nala also really enjoys playing and pouncing on play mice. She also has a large climbing towerer that she jumps on and off of from time time.

Leroy's an Aby, a super energetic breed, so he basically excercises himself when he zooms around
Once in awhile Leroy gets super excited over a new toy and will spend a good amount of time batting it around and stuffing it into his mouth and growl.

A 15 minute playtime once or twice a day is plenty,  IMO. Some cats may enjoy longer or more frequent playtimes.

Indy is non stop energy. She shoots around the house at full tilt while trilling to Kabby the entire time. She can do this for an hour non stop and still have energy.

Indy also enjoys a good secession of herding. She even nips at the ankles of Kabby or any person she attempts to herd. She reminds me of a sheep dog.

First thing in the morning after I give Carleton breakfast he comes downstairs with me and likes to look for squirrels out the window.  He jumps on the furniture to get a better look at them.    We have several trees in the yard so there's always squirrels jumping from one tree to another.  In the evening we have our longest play session which is about 20-30 minutes.  I try to vary it every night so he doesn't get bored and play at least two different activities. Sometimes it's the laser pointer and da bird toy, sometimes it's throwing and chasing one of his favorite stuffed toys and crumpled up pieces of paper which he carries around in his mouth.  I'm always on the lookout for new toys to engage him in play.  

Awesome ideas guys. Thanks for sharing! Cats have so much personality. It's so much fun playing with them lol.

Such great timing for this thread! We just published this new article - 

 [article="33695"]7 Proven Ways To Get Your Cat To Be More Active​[/article]  

Thanks for sharing your cats' personal favorites!

My cats have a big enclosure to run around so when the weather is good they're out there, climbing trees and chasing each other. When it rains they come indoors and charge around the house. They've got a Kitty Highway and our house is open plan loft style, so it's fairly similar to being out in the forest for them.

They're very good at keeping themselves entertained. Until I try to do yoga, that is. Then they rush over to claw my mat and try to knock me down when I'm doing a head stand.

We have random playtimes with our kitties every day, but their main exercise is going outside on a leash for a walk. In the colder months it's not usually much of a walk as they want in pretty quickly, but it does stimulate them mentally and make them walk down and up four flights of stairs, so it's all good.

Our exercise routine for Mama is:  Junior.


He'll appear out of nowhere, attack Mama while he sleeps and the next while is them chasing each other/wrestling and Mama generally laying the smackdown.

The other kitties are really hard to play with because of Junior - he's always the first one chattering with excitement at whatever toy and seems to have limitless energy.  When we can get the others interested with him around it's often chasing the laser pointer or batting around the flying mice on a stick.  Often though they'll exercise themselves - running around like they've been hit with the silly stick, playing with anything they come across from broken hair ties (extremely popular), to mice toys, to Alan keys!?

After quite a few losses over the last few years, our family is now all "seniors" -- two ladies and a mancat adopted last August, age 9, who LOVES to chase the girls.  Baby Su seemed to love him, and his chasing, at first, but something happened to change this, and she now avoids him.  So he and Tarifa play chasing games from time to time, racing through the house at lightning speed.  We have a very long hallway that runs the length of the house, and they seem to think of this as their freeway.    

There are scratching posts and pads, cat activity centers, and toys ALL OVER the house, so everyone has a chance to get plenty of clawing, climbing and playing exercise.  I spray a lot of these surfaces with catnip spray or sprinkle with catnip for added interest.  We also have quite a few interactive toys that I want to use more often with them.  They especially love da Bird and Cat Dancer. 

i try and play as much as possible with gracie in the evenings and weekends as I work full time ! She is still very young so runs around the flat and getting up to mischief on her own ! However we play with laser, I have a string toy she loves to jump up high to ! I try and play with her for at least a couple of hours (toy on a string I can let her jump up to easily whilst I'm watching tv)!

I live right on what would be the forest version of a desert I guess. There are a lot of trees as well as a lake in the property/ranch and since we live way out in nowhere its common for people to leave doors unlocked or even open throughout the day since the nearest neighbors are far far away. That being said I leave a small window open for Poyo and Lazaro where they are free to come and go as they please so their exercise is hunting rats mice birds and the occasional possum

Gosh, it varies. Jack sometimes gets 2  20 minute or so play sessions with his favorite wand toy. This involves 4 different rooms of my home which have cat trees of differing heights.I run through all the rooms taking him up and down the trees, across the sofa's and into a room in which I have cat climbing shelves that lead up and down a wall of bookshelves. He then likes to have me flick the toy into his tunnel which he runs into and shoots out of like a bullet. When I play this particular toy Farrah and Milo do not compete for play because Jack will not share

 If I am tired I use the laser because he doesn't go nuts and Farrah can play too ( Milo does not fall for the laser) Same routine, all over the house and up and down the wall, tunnel etc. Later , if I use the wand toy that has a long multi colored felt tail , Farrah goes nuts , but she never goes so nuts that Jack can't join in.

Milo, is craftier, he doesn't want to leap or jump around. He likes the wand toy with the mouse ( GoGo Dancer?) he likes to strategize, hiding behind various pieces of furniture and leaping on the mouse, shewing on it a little before hiding behind a different piece of furniture to repeat the process. At the end of this he tends to flop on his back and grab the toy and madly swat it. 10-15 minutes seems to be enough for him.

 When the weather is nice I play in the backyard with him ( cat fencing ) and he hides behind a tree and I have to run by and pretend I don't see him ...Sometimes I get da Bird and play out there with all three. Jack tends to dominate. So, I geuss I end up playing with them 4-5 days a week for a total of 1- 1/2 hours . Some days just 1 15 minute play session each. I work in a home office so there are times the phone rings and play comes to an abrupt end.

Chula usually has a case of the zoomies in the morning which is excellent exercise since it involves racing through the apartment at top speed and jumping on and off furniture and the cat tree.   We also have at least three daily 5 - 10 minute sessions with a wand toy.   I've acquired a large collection of wand toys and attachments over the years so I keep changing from one to another to maintain interest.  Chula also enjoys chasing the red dot but is growing bored with that so I only pull it out once or twice a week. This regime must be working.  She went to the vet recently who remarked on her good muscle tone.

Paul is a little more difficult to exercise.  He often sits out wand toy play and I've never seen him have the zoomies.  Despite Chula's attempts to get him to play, he just wants to sit around like a slug.  For this reason, I instituted "Hall Time" which involves opening my apartment door and letting him out into the hall.  We are on the fourth floor so there is no danger of him getting away.  During Hall Time,  I follow him around while he runs at full speed trying to avoid me. We have long halls so he gets a good work-out.   When he's had enough, he starts rolling near our door.  That's my sign to pick him up, give him a quick cuddle and take him back inside.

We have Hall Time here in our home, too, and afterwards,  Elvis is apt to roll!  because he knows he's irresistible to me when he shows me his cream shirtfront with the blue buttons 

Iris and Minnie like the laser pointer a lot.  Minnie also loves those small bouncing cat ball toys to chase.  Iris is very fond of toys with feathers.  She is very possessive and selfish with her feather toys.  If the other cat's come near her feathers, she will hiss and growl.  Yunis likes chasing sparkle balls and wands with strings.  Basil isn't really into exercise.  He likes rolling around in catnip and sometimes he zooms through the house when he gets bursts of energy.  He moves fast for almost 14 years old.  

Aya does get to go outside during the daytime when the weather is nicer than it is now. During the winter we play intermittent games of chase with a boa-wand toy or a laser pointer. She would of course prefer my fingers to either of these things, but I don't let her chew on them.