Keeping a chill cat happy & healthy

March 2, 2015 3:26 PM

I just adopted a sweet, 9-year-old female cat, Lucy. I want to make sure I give her a happy and healthy life. Particularly, I want to make sure she stays physically fit and is not bored.

It's just me and her in the apartment. So far, her favorite activities seem to be cuddling with me, walking around and jumping on my furniture, and cuddling some more. She'd probably like a cat tree.

She doesn't seem very playful (I tried da bird, which she watched with mild interest but did not chase), though I will try a few more toys before giving up. Maybe she doesn't like "hunting" toys because she is declawed and can't really catch them?

She's not that excited about food (she free feeds dry cat food and is slender; I tried some canned food and she looked at it and walked away). And I live high up in an apartment building, so she can't watch nature from the window.

She seems happy and calm, but I am used to MUCH higher-maintenance cats, and I feel like I should be doing something to keep her happy.

From those of you with easygoing cats, any tips on making sure they stay engaged?

Thanks!

posted by picardythird to Pets & Animals (23 answers total)

My easygoing cat likes to play with toys that have strings or ribbons on them.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:29 PM on March 2, 2015

hits in my house:
toys that are out and available to be played with on the cat's schedule. paper balls, mice, etc
some way to look at the birds and squirrels outside. including bird feeder close to the window to attract said vermin.
shoe boxes
laser pointer
posted by ArgentCorvid at 3:33 PM on March 2, 2015

My easygoing (read: lazy as hell) cat really enjoys her scratching post, but she has all her claws. Nonetheless I'm told declawed cats also enjoy the sensation of kneading at the whatsitcalled, sisal rope stuff.

She likes to chase little stuffed things, especially rattly ones, but she does this very much on her own schedule, not mine.

She enjoys anything that bubbles, including but not limited to a see-through humidifier and one of those fish tank bubblers.

But mostly she enjoys lying down in a warm warm place, from which she can stare creepily at me until she falls asleep.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:35 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Some cats, especially older ones, are perfectly happy just chilling out. She's probably doing all right.

That said, I've never met a cat who didn't go nuts over Yeowww! catnip toys. The Cat Dancer is usually a hit, too. And cardboard boxes - cut holes in them, change their position or location from time to time, hide toys in them.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:40 PM on March 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

mine also like the cat scratchers that consist of a bunch of layers of cardboard on edge (so that you can see the corrugations), and they don't have their front claws.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 3:45 PM on March 2, 2015

Nthing the Cat Dancer; my cat, who pretty much sneers at everything, loves that thing. She also loves when I use my tape measure and it waves around; she'll go into ecstasies over that, or anything that's ribbon-like, including belts that tie wrap dresses.

And yep, boxes -- I've never met a cat yet who doesn't adore boxes of all different shapes and sizes. I switch mine up pretty frequently when I get a delivery or buy new shoes or what have you, and the cat has a great time climbing in and out of them, squishing herself to fit into ones that look too small, etc.
posted by holborne at 3:52 PM on March 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

We adopted a super laid back 8 year old almost 2 years and I had this same worry. I just did a bunch of trial and error stuff, but even after figuring out what she was into, she really only wants to spend an hour or two a night engaging in those things. The rest of the time she's happier cuddling, sleeping, or both. I was worried she was bored but then I figured out that after a day of me trying to engage her she would literally sleep the entire next day because I apparently wore her out? So: I bet you are doing fine.

Oh - one thought re: nature - my cat loves sitting at the window watching snow or leaves fall, which seems like something you could set up even in an upper floor apartment?
posted by marmago at 4:07 PM on March 2, 2015

Truthfully? I have several toys but my lazy cat might bat them around a bit and then walk away. She'll play with string toys a little longer then catnip mice or balls.

She does like to knead. She kneads me. she kneads my pillow. She kneads her cat bed.

I haven't met a cat yet that doesn't love to play with milk jug rings. Some smart entrepreneur cat toy manufacturer should just make them in bulk.

Also we can't possibly help you properly until you provide a picture. And you win the internet today for adopting a senior kitty.
posted by royalsong at 4:07 PM on March 2, 2015 [8 favorites]

Some cats I've had weren't into any 'Jump! Get!' toys like da bird or cat dancer. But those were usually into playing paper ball soccer (especially those magazine subscription cards, crumpled up) or other ground-based toys like bottle tops or milk jug rings, that they could swat around and chase until they end up under the fridge. Then they make sad noises at me until I rake some out with a hanger.
Chase-around-the-apartment for no reason is also a game two cats will play with each other. I've been told that I'm actually scaring the cat when I instigate this? So I wait until they instigate it; any time the cat does the thing where they run up to you and attack your toes or similar, that's my cue for running around room to room like an idiot, alternately chasing and being chased, for a couple minutes of cat cardio.
But yeah, some cats are just lazy. Or are only into one particular thing. Like the one whose only game was rubber band fetch; it would find a rubber band, bring it to me, I'd fling it somewhere across the room, she'd go hunt it down and bring it back, repeat. She had no agility issues when playing fetch, jumping up to the top of the fridge or parkouring her way into the 4th shelf of the bookcase; but she barely left the couch otherwise. And she could not be convinced to play it when I wanted to play; it had to be her call. And when she didn't bring it back after a couple times, she was done playing.
So I'd go through some trial and error trying things (paper bags? string? dirty socks? a superball?) and don't get disappointed when your cat doesn't want to play at the same time you do. Just try to jump on any play cues you do get from her.
posted by bartleby at 4:23 PM on March 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Okay, our very small cat is 800% tiny feline dynamo, but of particular kitty interest are those rustly foil balls that you get for $1 at big box pet places. She also loves a good pinch of catnip, especially delivered to her cat perch by the window in the evening, where she can watch the city lights and get high while gearing up for the next mad apartment dash.

If you get a cat tree, I recommend putting it in an out the way space near a window, where your little friend can chill and watch the cat TV. Even if she isn't food-motivated, you might try getting some dried fish type treats and putting them in a treat ball or similar.

Don't rule out the fact that she's just new and settling. Our little one was very curious and engaged from day one, but didn't want to play with us too much for the first week.
posted by averysmallcat at 4:24 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

If she's 9, she's kind of in cat middle age and may not be super-gonzo-hyperactive anyway. Even so, the milk jug rings are indeed a great treat (and I have seen some kind of cat toy thing that tried to replicate that, but if you buy milk in jugs why bother). The cat dancer also is enticing.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:25 PM on March 2, 2015

My declawed cats sometimes enjoy playing soccer with a tennis ball. They love their scratching post. They also enjoy rugs.
posted by irisclara at 4:44 PM on March 2, 2015

Checking in with a happy, healthy, lazy cat. She does have a (fancy, designer) tree and she likes to hang out in that in the summer but other than that, she won't play and just wants to be petted and purr. I don't think you should overthink this, but do monitor her weight and adjust food as necessary.
posted by ftm at 4:50 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Maybe she doesn't like "hunting" toys because she is declawed and can't really catch them?

Our eldest cat is front-declawed and still enjoys batting at string-like objects and catching them in her mouth. Often she even manages to get them wrapped around her paws such that they're as trapped as if she had claws. So it's not necessarily that your kitty is missing hers; cats are just weird. One very chill cat I had enjoyed playing in paper grocery bags, mouthing catnip mice to death, batting at a small brass ring I'd wrapped in string and hung in a doorway, and attacking/eating cat grass. Otherwise he slept in the sun a lot and purred loudly. It always seemed like a good existence to me.
posted by teremala at 5:05 PM on March 2, 2015

Most cats love hiding in paper bags, and REALLY love attacking any fingers or toys that gently scratch the outside of the paper bag while the cat is inside.

Catnip toys are also frequently winners.
posted by Owlcat at 5:55 PM on March 2, 2015

My cat is pretty chill too (now: she was different as a kitten). She will only engage in playing with toys maybe one time out of the ten I try. She doesn't seem excited by food ever, but will reluctantly take a mouthful now and again when she passes her bowl. But she likes boxes, and she likes to snuggle, and she really likes to be up high in places where she can sneer down her nose at the rest of us below. So we indulge those desires (every bookcase in our house has a desk or other table nearby so she can jump up onto the top of the bookcase, and some of them have rugs along the top for her to lie on). Sometimes we lift her into a high wardrobe top or similar to explore.

I have also realised that her idea of an exciting day seems to be that she sleeps in seven or eight different places in the house instead of just one. It seems like she is being very boring, sleeping all day, but I'm sure for her it's quite thrilling to dominate first the couch, then the bookcase, then a human's lap, then the floor under the coffee table, then a box by the computer, then...?!
posted by lollusc at 7:07 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Even on the 24th floor of my old apartment, my cats were still fascinated by windows. Birds! Bugs! Even empty space seemed to contain amazing things I as a mere hoomin could not possibly see nor understand! So don't underestimate the windows, even if all kitty does is chill on the window sill.

Also +1 for making sure there are accessible high surfaces, catnip, and small random objects left around to steal like golf pencils, hair elastics and q-tips.
posted by cgg at 7:25 PM on March 2, 2015

Response by poster: Wow, I shouldn't be surprised that metafilter families have a lot of happy cats :-)

Pictures as requested: here and here. She still looks like a kitten, but she's just tiny.

Averysmallcat was right on the money to say she is still getting settled in--I tried playing with her again tonight with "da bird" and she was way more into it, if not a masterful hunter. I think it has been a long time since anyone played with her. I will definitely be trying more of the ideas in this thread.
posted by picardythird at 8:04 PM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

My two cats (about age 11) are pretty mellow, but one of them does enjoy the Yeowww! catnip toys that Metroid Baby mentioned. The set of three balls has worked best, with the banana being too large. The other one likes this scratcher and also Game for Cats on my iPad - the upgraded version. They both like chasing the red dot from a laser pointer.
posted by jeri at 1:09 AM on March 3, 2015

You might enjoy some of the answers to my question a little while back. Our lazy guy's favorite playthings involve string, ribbon, and rope, but be careful not to leave string and ribbon out for kitty to swallow.
posted by moira at 6:52 AM on March 3, 2015

hooray for adopting old ladies! I recently adopted a 10 year old who sounds similar to yours. 2nding crinkly balls, they're non-dangerous enough to human feet that you can just leave them about for kitty to attack at her leisure. I also leave a couple cat toys tied on strings for her to bat around. I'm still trying to figure out what she really likes though, since she mostly lays in the sun (maybe put a soft blanket on a windowsill she likes?) and sleeps on the laptop (that's how i know i have the apartment temp set too low - a heated pet bed might be another good idea!)
posted by ghostbikes at 10:34 AM on March 3, 2015

My 8-yr-olds are super picky about what they'll play with. They're crazy about rubber bands, which I worry they'll eat, so those are off-limits but I periodically hit up the dollar store's toy section for anything with a similar soft rubber texture. For $5 I have a year's worth of jiggly spiders that make my cats INSANE. Anyway, maybe think outside the box for what might make your cat's day. (And she's so cute!)
posted by jessicapierce at 10:44 AM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

Chaplin loves fishing pole toys, as well as batting at any sort of dangling ribbon, string, or similar objects. We live in an upper-floor apartment, and he enjoys sitting on top of the loveseat, looking out the window. And one of his very favorite things is to take a nap in a sunbeam. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 5:58 PM on March 3, 2015