I have 3 cats, 2 are really active and one is fat – suggestions for helping the lazy cat play?
I live with my 3 cats in my bedroom. I buy them lots of toys to see what they like. Toga loves hair elastic and plastic toys – but not for very long. She is the lazy, fatter cat of the bunch. She is not the type to really run around.
I have a wand teaser that I just bought. Toga seems only very mildly interested. If I put it in front of her, she grabs it with a cupped paw and chews it, but she doesn’t go after it. She lets the others do the job.
When I bought the plastic rings, she went nuts and played with them a lot, but after a while they disinterested her, so I put all the toys away hoping that one day she’ll be as interested as when she first saw them. (ocassionally I take them out, but she doesn’t hide them anymore like she used to. She bats them around once and that’s it)
I have a laser pointer. All cats are interested in it, but Toga is slower, I guess and lets the others tackle it. She just paws at it.
She also likes crinkley stuff, but I haven’t bought her anything yet.
She scratches the corrugated cardboard scratcher I bought for her every now and then. The laser pointer is not cutting it for her, and she is only slightly fatter than the rest of my cats. She’s always been the pig of the litter and she’s always been lazy.
I also use catnip, but that doesn’t make my cats playful. One of them becomes aggressive, and Toga just likes to eat it and then she rolls on the floor in ecstasy.
Toga does seem like she wants to play sometimes, but I think she is just too smart for her own good. She knows that I am trying to play with her. At first she is sortof into it, but soon enough she doesn’t care.
Not only that, but the other cats are over-enthusiastic about the toys which gives Toga little chance to respond. I think she just lets them have it sometimes. (I can’t separate them into other rooms because this is not my house)
Toga finds my hair elastic when I am not looking. I highly doubt she’d be able to swallow it. She gently teethes it and then chews it and drops it into my shoe. She loves putting things into holes. The hair elastic I have is very tough, big, thick and coated with something. It’s not the cheapie stuff.
Sometimes she chews on my hair and bunny kicks my head because she likes the smell of my shampoo (while I am falling asleep).
She also loves going inside things when she can. Boxes, bags, you name it.
I feed them IAMS Multi-cat dry food most of the time. I am scared to feed them wet food due to the recent recall. I am aware that dry food contains a lot of wheat = carbohydrates. There’s only one kind of food that I know of which has very little of that and it’s too expensive for me to buy at this point in time.
Wet food also makes them get diarrhea. Too rich.
I will try changing foods once I get a job. My parents are buying the food right now. I probably should’ve mentioned that sooner. Also, my cats are at a pretty steady weight, and I’d say some are even losing. Toga was always the pig of the litter (she was the only kitten for about 2 weeks- then I added 2 more from another litter-, so she had all the milk she wanted for a while, and she kept hogging it). So, she’s had a little pudge since she was a kitten. At this point all I will be able to afford are small toys here and there, or sewing her something. I mostly just really want her to play with something to get her activity level up. I want her to play. I know she can, but she loses interest pretty fast with the things my other cats like.
The hair ties I use don’t come apart very easily. She doesn’t really chew them. She mostly just picks them up and chucks them, mouths them, then drops them in a shoe (milk rings also).
I really appreciate the input though. I will keep that in mind.
Oh ya, I will try playing with her when the others are sleeping, but I will have to see if that’s possible. Toga sleeps the most. The other two are light sleepers and LOVE the laser pointer to death. The others are so agile it’s amazing to think that they are all related. They hear the click of the pointer and perk up.
May 4th, 2009 at 5:57 am
I think the laser pointer is the best toy. I also have a huge cat scratcher for them to play on.. Put the big one on a diet
May 6th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Try not to let them have the hair elastic. They can swallow those.
Seems like you are really trying to find something that works. I would suggest getting that crinkle toy. Many cats are attracted to anything that makes that crinkle noise. Other than that, just try and play with them more. Keep in mind though that she might never play. Some cats just aren’t that interested in it and it doesn’t mean they are lazy.
What do you feed? If it’s dry food, consider switching to canned, or just adding some canned into the dry. Dry foods contain too many carbohydrates and can acutally make a cat gain weight. Cats are carnivores and cannot metabolize carbs all that well. Even if its weight control dry, it probably won’t work.
*edit*
Try switching over slowly. It should take at least a week to completely change food over. If you go too fast, it can cause diahhrea, not because the food is too rich. I was feeding IAMS too and that is what made my fat cat gain weight. I feed Innova Evo now and it has done wonders. It does cost more, but since you don’t have to feed as much it lasts longer, and the cost evens out. In my area, a big can of Evo costs $1.50. That can is like 13 ounces and lasts 2-3 days for my two cats. You can try other brands like Wellness, Eagle Pack, California Natural, etc. None of these brands were affected by the recall because they aren’t made with inferior ingredients that grocery store brands use. Even if you buy smaller amounts and mix it into the dry, it can produce a change. I’d recommend doing that anyway to get them accustomed to a change in diet. Or, you could get Innova dry food to start with. It’s still dry food, so not as good as canned, but the ingredients with this brand is much better than IAMS and more suited for a cats biology.
I wasn’t saying she could definitely swallow the elastic, but it is a possibility. If part of it breaks off when she chews, it could still happen.
My two cats are like that with the laser light, too. The male cat goes CRAZY and dominates it. My female cat likes it, but he’s always getting in the way. Maybe you could try playing with her if the other two are sleeping?
May 8th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Buy it some toys and to prevent it from getting Fat feed it less