Hello,
Just under a month ago I rescued a beautiful silver tabby/Maine coon mix from a local rescue agency, it was instant love on both our parts. We were first told that Opie (If religion is the opiate of the masses, cats are mine) was a three year old boy--and a big boy was he!--but just before we finished the adoption, the paperwork showed that Opie was only a year old. In fact, I adopted him on his birthday! Our first week together was incredible, I woke up the first morning with him to find him laying in bed with me, on his back, his head on my shoulder, sound asleep and purring up a small storm. I couldn't ask for a better kitty!
However, now that the stress of a new home is wearing off, his energy is staring to return, and he's certainly acting like a one year old! The problem is... it almost seems like he doesn't know how to play to wear that energy down.
I first noticed it toward the end of our second week together. If I was on one end of the hall and he on the other, he'd start to arch his back at me, then charge at me, slapping a (clawless) paw at my leg. I thought it was cute, he was wanting to play like I was just another cat! I quickly pulled out every cat toy I had collected over the years, feathers on sticks, strings hanging from suction cups on the windows, toy mice, bells on strings, you name it, he has it.
But he doesn't see to 'get' any of it. He's quite interested in the bells on strings and feathers on sticks, but he won't run after them or leap in the air like all my previous kitties would. Every now and again he'll pounce his big butt up from the ground onto the sofa to try and pin it, but generally he'll just hunker down and swat at it, or stair at it wide-eyed from the other side of the room.
That's all fine and dandy, until he's trying to pounce on and play with me in the middle of the night. If I do put on a glove and long sleeved shirt and try and 'wrestle' with him like he seems to want, he panics and runs away after only a few seconds of play. After a while of this I figured maybe he wanted to play 'chase away' but no, he seems to hide under a chair/table and stay put... once again not responding to my trying to wrestle or taunt him with toys.
Long story short: I'm lost. I desperately want him to be a happy, well-adjusted and healthy cat, but I can't seem to find any way to really help him play and burn out his energy. From what little I know of his former owners, he was really expected to stay 'out of sight and out of mind' until *they* wanted to see him, so I'm pretty convinced that is the reason for his odd behavior here.
I need a cat whisperer who can give me some advice on how to help my baby learn how to play! Thanks for any and all tips. <3
Just under a month ago I rescued a beautiful silver tabby/Maine coon mix from a local rescue agency, it was instant love on both our parts. We were first told that Opie (If religion is the opiate of the masses, cats are mine) was a three year old boy--and a big boy was he!--but just before we finished the adoption, the paperwork showed that Opie was only a year old. In fact, I adopted him on his birthday! Our first week together was incredible, I woke up the first morning with him to find him laying in bed with me, on his back, his head on my shoulder, sound asleep and purring up a small storm. I couldn't ask for a better kitty!
However, now that the stress of a new home is wearing off, his energy is staring to return, and he's certainly acting like a one year old! The problem is... it almost seems like he doesn't know how to play to wear that energy down.
I first noticed it toward the end of our second week together. If I was on one end of the hall and he on the other, he'd start to arch his back at me, then charge at me, slapping a (clawless) paw at my leg. I thought it was cute, he was wanting to play like I was just another cat! I quickly pulled out every cat toy I had collected over the years, feathers on sticks, strings hanging from suction cups on the windows, toy mice, bells on strings, you name it, he has it.
But he doesn't see to 'get' any of it. He's quite interested in the bells on strings and feathers on sticks, but he won't run after them or leap in the air like all my previous kitties would. Every now and again he'll pounce his big butt up from the ground onto the sofa to try and pin it, but generally he'll just hunker down and swat at it, or stair at it wide-eyed from the other side of the room.
That's all fine and dandy, until he's trying to pounce on and play with me in the middle of the night. If I do put on a glove and long sleeved shirt and try and 'wrestle' with him like he seems to want, he panics and runs away after only a few seconds of play. After a while of this I figured maybe he wanted to play 'chase away' but no, he seems to hide under a chair/table and stay put... once again not responding to my trying to wrestle or taunt him with toys.
Long story short: I'm lost. I desperately want him to be a happy, well-adjusted and healthy cat, but I can't seem to find any way to really help him play and burn out his energy. From what little I know of his former owners, he was really expected to stay 'out of sight and out of mind' until *they* wanted to see him, so I'm pretty convinced that is the reason for his odd behavior here.
I need a cat whisperer who can give me some advice on how to help my baby learn how to play! Thanks for any and all tips. <3