Give a kitten a ping pong ball in the bathtub and just watch what happens. Two great cat toys are ping pong balls, because they’re light and they go a long way if you whack them, and walnuts, because they make a little crackly sound, like a mouse scurrying away, and they roll irregularly, like a mouse would run.Ī really good game is bathtub hockey. I also believe if a kitten between 7 weeks and 12 weeks is given a lot of toys to play with, it will probably be more likely to play with toys when it gets older, although that’s just my opinion. Put a tasty treat under the toy and let them pounce on it, eat it, and win. It doesn’t have to be equal time.Īlso, let them win occasionally. Now, some cats will really like bird and they’ll play that longer than other games. When they are beginning to lose interest, change to another game. So don’t try to play longer than the genetic capacity of the cat. After that, they’ll give up and go search somewhere else. In the wild, a cat will only stalk prey for about three to five minutes. The cat bops it a few times, it goes up and down, and the cat says “OK, now what?”Ĭats do want toys, but the toys should be “prey play” oriented. What can I do?Ī: Toys for cats to play with by themselves have marginal interest. Q: My cat doesn’t like toys, or gets bored with them quickly. It’s more mental exercise than physical exercise. The main reason to walk your cat on a leash is to safely give them some time outdoors when they can’t run away. Q: Can you train a cat to walk on a leash?Ī: Yes, but they don’t get a lot of exercise from it because they’re too busy sniffing around and checking things out. But a birdfeeder outside a window that cats can watch is a great idea. I don’t recommend birds inside a house with cats, because birds are very intelligent and know they are being stalked. And cats love watching birds outside a window. But dragging a piece of string around for a little while when they get home is too much work, so they’d rather buy a video. I think those videos are really more for people who have guilt because they’re gone all day at work. Q: Do cats like videos showing birds, squirrels, and other animals? Should I get them a fish tank or put up a birdfeeder outside a window that they can watch?Ī: Some might like the videos, but I don’t personally know of any. It’s all pretend play, but try to make it as real as possible for your cat. Try to think about what a bird really does and then reenact that with the toy. Get a wand toy that looks like a bird and pretend to land and take off. Take a laser pointer and skitter it across the floor like a bug. Buy toys and then use them to mimic the actions of the animals a cat would normally hunt - a mouse, bird, lizard, rabbit or bug. Q: What are some games I can play with my cat to get them moving?Ī: Cats are predators, and the way to get them to play is to let them use their hunting talents. So the association for your old cat is that this new cat comes in with a bounty, a dowry. What you need to do when you bring home another cat is buy a bunch of new resources - new toys, new food, new beds, new treats. Bringing another adult cat into the house has very few positives for the established cat. If it’s another adult cat, you have to be very careful. Q: If I get another cat, will they get more exercise?Ī: If it’s a kitten. If your cat doesn’t get enough exercise, it comes out in bad ways.
#Fat tabby cat how to
That’s the answer to exercise problems, obesity, and how to get a well-adjusted cat. The best exercise is object play - playing with your cat with toys. Could you get all the exercise you need just walking around your house? An indoor cat needs planned exercise. Q: My cat has the run of the house, isn’t that enough exercise?Ī: No. And then there’s the misconception that when a cat isn’t eating it’s somehow sick. The pet food companies make their foods the tastiest they can make it. Tripp is an affiliate professor of applied animal behavior at Colorado State University veterinary school and the University of Wisconsin veterinary school, and founder of .Ī: Because they’re over fed and under exercised. So WebMD asked Rolan Tripp, DVM, for advice on how to get fat cats back in shape.
cats are overweight or obese, according to a 2008 study by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention.
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