Comments on: Yes, another pet question: I want to exercise my kitty more.

Question: Yes, another pet question: I want to exercise my kitty more.

patheral — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:43:07 -0800

My cat, Mister has gotten lazier since we got him back from my friend. I'd like to find something to perk him up and make life interesting for him because I don't think it's good for him to just sit around and be bored, or more likely sleep, all day. Suggestions?

Sorry for all of the pet questions, but I don't know that many people around here, and the few I do know don't have pets...

Anyway, since getting my cat back from my friend, I've noticed that he's been pretty inactive. He wasn't the most active cat to begin with, but before I moved he at least took an interest in the world around him and did more than sleep all day, even if he is adorable when he does. I'd really love to bring him back into the world but everything I've tried is met with disdain. Catnip? Might as well throw tea in front of him. Little stuffed mice? He's like Garfield. Crumpled paper? Nuthin' Balls? The dog'll chase 'em. He'll bat at string as long as he doesn't have to get up from a lying position. He'll chase a string if I take it around the corner, but only a few times then he's done.

He used to love his feeder ball, but now he does this which is basically bat it around from a lying down position. He doesn't pant or seem tired when he does deign to play with string, he just seems to lose interest quickly.

So, my question is... does anyone have any suggestions that might get Mister moving a little more during the day? He honestly just lies around, and while I know that cats lie around a lot, he should at least show *some* interest in playing and other things, he hardly even looks out the window at the birds... which used to be his favorite past time, and we have *a lot* of windows in the house.

I've taken him to the vet several times in the past few months. He's in good health. Other than this ennui, he seems to be doing okay.

By: littlesq

littlesq — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:55:00 -0800

He sounds depressed. Maybe he is stressed out or sad after moving from place to place (first from your old place, than to your friends and then to your new place). How long was Mister at your friends house? Did they have other pets? Maybe he misses the other animals or people?

I would say just give it time for him to adjust to the new living arrangements. Give him lots of scratches and cuddles and he should come around in a few months.

By: cgg

cgg — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:07:38 -0800

Laser pointer? At least until the novelty wears off, I've seen very few be able to resist the glowing red dot....

How long has he been back to your house though? It can easily take a couple weeks for cats to get back to normal after a major change. Feliway can be great to help with kitty adjustment periods.

By: sm1tten

sm1tten — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:24:29 -0800

He does sound a bit apathetic and possibly bored and out of sorts. In addition to the question about how long he's been home and how long he was away, how has he adjusted to the dog in your house? Any diet changes? When you play with him, do you reward his attention activity? How old is he?

I will say that it's darn near impossible to get a cat moving if he doesn't want to. You may have to find the right toy for him which can be really frustrating -- mine is particularly found of "bird" toys and laser pointers; basically he can only be roused for interactive play.

By: wolfdreams01

wolfdreams01 — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:26:59 -0800

Cats have high levels of theta brainwaves - very similar to the brainwaves of humans on LSD, in fact. (Which, lets be fair, explains a lot of their behavior.) What you perceive of as "sleeping", Mister probably thinks of as "tripping balls." It's probably not anything you need to worry about.

By: bilabial

bilabial — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:59:08 -0800

Mister might need a kitten. I know. It sounds ridiculous, but Schmuely and Pies are best friends now. He was tied for third laziest cat I'd ever met, since the kitten arrived he's lost a few pounds and he greets us at the door when we come home. also? So much fun to watch them play/tussle/bathe each other. He now spends lots of time at the back window chattering about whatever he sees out there, and even pounces toy mice sometimes.

(He still doesn't give a shit about the laser pointer though, which is the thing I tried when I met him.)

I just asked my boyfriend how he thinks Sammy has changed since we got the kitten. He said "He's lost weight. He's definitely more active. Otherwise he's the same."

By: kimberussell

kimberussell — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 18:12:22 -0800

Looking at your post history, Mister's had a lot of adjusting to do in a short amount of time. Friend's place, your place, new dog, new place. And he was sick in between.

So my vote is to leave him alone for a bit. Not literally, but I think he's had a heck of a summer for a cat. So let him be chill and perhaps he'll come around.

By: Mezentian

Mezentian — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 18:25:06 -0800

Nthing the above. He's probably just stressed and worn down.

It could also be a spot of seasonal malaise,

One thing I have noticed, anecdotally, cats can have some pretty distinct personality shifts in moving house. He may now just be a lazy cat these days.

Then, one day, it could all change.

By: patheral

patheral — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 19:52:46 -0800

I forgot to mention that he doesn't even acknowledge the laser pointer. I did think of getting a kitten, but when we lived with my daughter (and her kitten) he did not get along well with said kitten. Actually, I think the kitten bullied him, ate his food, stole his toys, etc... Also, my guy is allergic to cats. He doesn't seem to react to Mister, but he says this is unusual.

Mister was at my friend's for about four months (Jan through April), and has been back with me since the beginning of May. We had the new dog since end of June, and we just moved into the new house. So yeah, he's been through a lot. I guess I'm just used to him being a chill cat and going with the flow (he used to live in my trailer with me and moving never stressed him then). But I guess maybe it's all been too much too soon.

By: BlueHorse

BlueHorse — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 00:40:24 -0800

I'd give him a bit of time just to get accustomed to all the changes, but you might try some Feliway to help him mellow.

The weight is problematic, though. How are you feeding him? If free choice, maybe you should cut back to twice a day to control how much he eats. If you don't free choice, you could play what we call the starving cat game.

Have one hungry cat, and most of the kibble you'd give for dinner. Toss kibble in front of the cat. Once the cat realizes what the game is, you can toss the kibble further and further away. Make Mister work for his dins. Our fat cat got into the game enthusiastically enough that he would leap to catch food out of the air. Once he'd eaten a handful of kibble, we fed him a bit of wet food--so it all evened out to a meal. If he was lackadaisical in playing catch, no wet food. Zonkers figured it out pretty fast that way. He slimmed down nicely, became more playful (bags were his thing) and had a long, happy life.

By: DarlingBri

DarlingBri — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:10:03 -0800

You realise that a cat typically sleeps 20 hours a day, yes?

By: patheral

patheral — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 06:43:20 -0800

I do realize that cats sleep a lot, but even when he's awake, he's pretty meh about the world. He and the dog seem to get along pretty well, but I understand that they don't always speak the same language and Mister needs to get away from Brandy's rambunctiousness every once in awhile so I've been trying to make the house as stress-free as possible for him. I built him a scratching bed to take his frustrations out on. I bought a pet gate so he'd have a room of his own (laundry room, lots of high perches) to get away from the dog. I created a little nook in the living area (sorry, no pics) that the dog can't get to which he sleeps in quite a bit. I keep the door to the sun room open so he can bask in the steaming hotness all day long should he want to (which he does quite often).

I did buy a Feliway collar for Mister, but he ran away from it every time I tried to put it on him. He's no stranger to collars, so I have to assume it was the pheromones.

By: anaelith

anaelith — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:48:41 -0800

You can make him new foraging toys since he's mastered the ball. Something that's a little more difficult to roll around or with slightly smaller holes so that it needs to be jiggled more for the food to fall out. Almost any small, plastic container that you can put holes in will do (the smallest size of plastic juice bottle, for example, or a cream cheese tub).

By: patheral

patheral — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 19:01:27 -0800

I cobbled together something like this for Mister today. Hopefully it will help perk his interest in play.

By: deborah

deborah — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 02:55:34 -0800

Is there a window that you can put a bird feeder on the outside of and a perch for Mister on the inside? We have one window that has two bird feeders in front of it, a couple cat condos on the inside and the cats love it. Sometimes they'll stalk a bird from that window to the slider door to the kitchen window. They also like to watch the seagulls and crows that hang out on the street lights that they can see from a different window. Anyway, it may get Mister up and moving around a bit more.

By: patheral

patheral — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:09:42 -0800

I really meant to answer the bird/perch question. We have, in our living room, a bow window that looks out into the front yard that Mister likes to sit in (as does Brandy). He'll watch the birds from there occasionally. We also have for his perusing amusement (and it's one of the reasons we bought this house) a sun room with wall to ceiling windows that looks out into the back yard. He spends a lot of his day out there -- sleeping. I open the window in my closet/sewing room for him to look into our side yard (we have a big lot with this house) but the sill there is kind of narrow.

He's a big kitty so he doesn't fit onto normal kitty condos. Condos and shelves for bigger kitties are really expensive and money's tight right now because we just bought a house. I had to cobble together a scratching bed for him out of packing boxes (which he loves), and his "condo" right now consists of more packing boxes which he really likes to hang out in. They're not pretty, but he seems to like them. Once our finances straighten out, we'll get a shelf for the closet/sewing room window