Do cats become less playful?

I have two littermates that are approaching their second birthdays. I was wondering if anyone has noticed their cats becoming less playful as they get older. My father-in-law keeps saying that when they turn three they will settle down a lot, but I really think that such a generalization can't be made. What are your experiences?

Cats eventually reach an age where they start to mellow out. Willow mellowed out around her 1st birthday, though Buffy had her 2nd birthday in April and she's still a little firecracker. I dread the day when Buffy decides sleeping is fun, lol

I wasn't Oliver's owner until he was a little over 2 and a half.... now 3.5 years old, he still seems like a kitten - yes he sleeps a lot like any cat does, but when he wants to play, HE WANTS TO PLAY! Sometimes he takes to hiding under the desk or bed then attacks my feet when I walk out of the bathroom, then takes off running and playing all over the place... this is usually followed by a nap - I think a lot of it has to do with the cat's temperment and personality... kinda like us - some of us stay active our entire lives, while others decide to (or due to physical ailments) become more lazy... Oliver definitely has his "kitty moments" every day and I think he always will

I have a nine year old black/calico cat name sassy. In the morning she loves to play. She's happy with a peice of paper that was dropped on the floor. I think it varies with all cats. My father has 23 cats some sleep all day, some tan in the sun, and the others just drive each other nuts by playing all day.

I hope mine stay playful. They are fun to play with and fun to watch. Alex loves these little balls I found at wal-mart. They have bells in side, so they're pretty noisy in the middle of the night (hence the name on the package: Midnight Crazies) but it's fun to watch him play with them. He chases them everywhere and entertains himself for quite a while. He won't let Cleo play with them either. If he hears one of them jingle he goes and finds it and then stashes it somewhere. I found six of them under the computer desk the other day.

They do mellow as they age.

My alix is turning 12 this month, and while she's a bit plump so not as active as a kitten, she still is quite playful (and in fact enjoys her job as chief toy tester) she will dance, leap, wrestle, rabbitkick etc. with her toys.

And...don't tell anyone, I saw my over 18 y.o. American Curl have a brief tussle with one of his favorite toys in recent months

I do think some aspects of playfullness are not age related but personality/breed traits.

My oldest Katie, who's 12, was really started to mellow out until I brought Pete home at six months. Like any kitten he was extremely playful. Now he and Katie play chase and she's back to playing with her toys like a much younger cat.

Well, it really depends on the cat. I would give a percentage of about 90% do indeed settle down quite a bit even after their first birthday, much more by their second, and even more from then on. There are some, though, that stay quite goofy, such as our little Sunny. Our babies had their first birthday in April, and I've noticed that our male, Hobbes, has settled down quite a bit, but she's as crazy as ever (I suspect because she's rather small).

We had a cat when I was little that was about 5yrs, and was INSANE...would climb the drapes and race around the house on a regular basis...so much so that Princess is talked about to this day!

If you don't want them to settle down too much, you could keep playtime going by getting them all excited with their favorite toys and playing with them regularly as they get older...but once past their first birthday, the kitten crazies don't really ever return full-blast, unfortunately. That is, except for those few that insist on being an eternal kitten...lol!!

Rosie turned 3 in march and she still plays with her toys, and more so with Sophie.

Kandie is 17 now and less active than a kitten but still plays and races ( sister should give her jt stuff lmao) .. Zoey is about 18 months and wild child ..