Cat will not play for more than a minute without food, I've tried EVERYTHING

[freneticmango]

I genuinely do not know what to do anymore. I have 2 female cats, they are litter mates and will be 9 years old this year. One of them just refuses to play, ever, with any toy. I feed twice a day, with a play session before each feeding. I have tried the cat dancer, da bird, other styles of wand toys, balls, string, all of these things combined with that mat with holes in it that you can move around, etc. She will SOMETIMES play with a brand new toy or one she hasn't seen in years for one or two sessions, then is bored of it forever and will not touch it. If I pull a toy under a blanket, she will pounce on it maybe 3 or 4 times. She is 'gun shy' around her sister, so I have tried separating them. I've tried keeping her in the bedroom to try to play with her. She at first would hop up on the bed and have a romp, now she won't even do that, I have to place her on the bed and she just jumps off and sits at the door. I have tried keeping her sister in the bedroom and playing with her in the rest of the house, she just runs up into her cat tree and lazily bats at things, she will not come down or chase anything. She will respond to catnip, but I can only give that maybe once every few weeks or it doesn't work. All she cares about is food. I feed exclusively wet food, and use dry food as treats and for play sessions. If I throw dry food, she will chase it till she is panting and tired, but I am worried that the extra calories will cause her to gain weight. She is already looking a bit heavy. I am at my wits end, waving a wand toy around like an idiot twice a day for 20 minutes while she either stares at me like I'm stupid or ignores me and the toy completely. Then I have to play with my other cat. Fortunately for me my other cat loves to play. I do not know what to do anymore. Please help.

 

[Furballsmom]

If I throw dry food, she will chase it till she is panting and tired,

Hi, instead of kibble, or in combination with a piece of kibble so she becomes familair with it, would she be interested in freeze dried treats, which are typically lower in calories?

Also, can you weigh her at home and keep a log? She's expending quite a lot of energy by chasing those pieces, so hopefully if she likes freeze dried treats you can keep any weight gain in check. Thank you, by the way, for working so hard to ensure your cats are healthy

 

[freneticmango]

She does enjoy freeze dried treats (she likes anything edible pretty much) but they don't "fly" very far? The dry food will go clear across the house lol. I try to make sure she gets a good run when I do this since as I said before I'm worried about her weight. She is a very stout cat, thick and heavy naturally, but I can see a "waist" from above and I can feel her spine and ribs when I palpitate for them so I do not think she is currently overweight. She is just SO food motivated I think it would be quite easy for her to become overweight if that makes sense. I just really want to be able to play with her with toys to balance things out, but it drives me mad trying

 

[maggie101]

I genuinely do not know what to do anymore. I have 2 female cats, they are litter mates and will be 9 years old this year. One of them just refuses to play, ever, with any toy. I feed twice a day, with a play session before each feeding. I have tried the cat dancer, da bird, other styles of wand toys, balls, string, all of these things combined with that mat with holes in it that you can move around, etc. She will SOMETIMES play with a brand new toy or one she hasn't seen in years for one or two sessions, then is bored of it forever and will not touch it. If I pull a toy under a blanket, she will pounce on it maybe 3 or 4 times. She is 'gun shy' around her sister, so I have tried separating them. I've tried keeping her in the bedroom to try to play with her. She at first would hop up on the bed and have a romp, now she won't even do that, I have to place her on the bed and she just jumps off and sits at the door. I have tried keeping her sister in the bedroom and playing with her in the rest of the house, she just runs up into her cat tree and lazily bats at things, she will not come down or chase anything. She will respond to catnip, but I can only give that maybe once every few weeks or it doesn't work. All she cares about is food. I feed exclusively wet food, and use dry food as treats and for play sessions. If I throw dry food, she will chase it till she is panting and tired, but I am worried that the extra calories will cause her to gain weight. She is already looking a bit heavy. I am at my wits end, waving a wand toy around like an idiot twice a day for 20 minutes while she either stares at me like I'm stupid or ignores me and the toy completely. Then I have to play with my other cat. Fortunately for me my other cat loves to play. I do not know what to do anymore. Please help.

So they are 63 year old humans. I'm certainty not as active at 53! My cats are 9,10,and 11. I feed them wet to help with their weight because they are not as active. I have a pet scale to weigh them. I miss their playfulness but I still love them. I am also surching for a cat toy. Even as kittens they did not like da bird but they all like the go cat catcher and purrfect leather bouncer for wand toys. You could try clicker training.

 

[Alldara]

Hey! You are doing the right thing by separating them for playtime. Keeping it consistent and just trying to continue to play for at least 15 minutes is wonderful.
We must remember that for adult cats, that watching the toy is a BIG part of the play as well. They are hiding and preparing...then a burst of one to five pounces and it starts over again. Don't be discouraged by an adult cat's natural play cycle; many people are and give up too soon.

You may also want to check with the vet for signs of arthritis. It can be subtle, such as not playing as much. 90% of cats over 10 years old have arthritis...meaning it develops before age 10! Arthritis in Cats | VCA Canada Animal Hospitals

 

[freneticmango]

Thanks for the advice guys! They are pretty active cats, no trouble climbing up their tree, and they are chasing each other around the house as I am typing this, they just don't want to do it on my schedule She chases food like its her job, zero hesitation and she will keep at it for a while, so I hope she's not in pain? I try every day with toys, and lately she doesn't even look at the toy she just waits for me to let her out of the bedroom again or climbs up a tree to wait for me to stop annoying her and feed her lol. I wonder if the routine of it has made it boring? Twice a day is kind of a lot. I have done a little bit of clicker training before, I think that's a great idea! I'm going to keep trying, but I think I need to give myself a little break from it honestly. I struggle with this one not playing and then having to hover over them while they eat because the playful one is a picky eater and the food obsessed one will steal from her, so meal time is kind of becoming something I dread. I do think its time for a check up though for sure just to make sure everyone is healthy since they are starting to age. My babies are getting older

 

[Furballsmom]

Would a chip activated feeder work, so that the foodie can't readily access the other cars' food?

Do you have a way to take her, or even both of them for walks?

 

[freneticmango]

I've thought about the chip feeder, but I worry picky eater would be afraid of it/not use it since its pretty expensive? Anybody have any experience with those?

I would love to take them for walks, and they have even been on leashes before, but we had an incident of redirected aggression several years ago when I lived on the ground floor and another cat came up to the door. It was extremely violent and scary, pee everywhere, and it took 6 months to get them calm around each other again. I'm a bit traumatized to be honest, so now I'm very scared to expose them to the neighborhood cats and dogs.

 

[Furballsmom]

Anybody have any experience with those?

You might start a separate thread about this aspect of things

 

[freneticmango]

Op, you're right! Thanks again.