Cat Info Center

The Toys Cats Will Love

Do you walk through the pet store, see the many toys available for your cat, and wonder if the expense will be worth it? Cats can be fickle creatures, but a good time can be found with almost any toy. Cats are like children they go through stages and sometimes need age appropriate toys and can get bored very easily. Some suggestions for toys include the cat towers, stuffed mice, small amounts of catnip, stuffed animals, ribbons, and plastic balls.

From an early age, kittens learn to pick up things in their mouths. It is an instinct, just like using their claws. When a cat plays, they like to grab and bit their toys. Let us look at the toys listed above. A cat tower is a great way to teach you cat where it is appropriate to climb. It will keep them off the blinds or curtains while giving them hours of fun. There are many styles of cat towers from the two story towers to the ones rising to the ceiling.  The answer to your question is, the more levels they have the more fun and enjoyment they will receive out of a cat tower. A cat will use the tower for play as well as sleep.  They like to bat at ropes and other items dangling off the tower as well as going through little tunnels up to the next level. If you have two cats you will have fun watching them give chase to the top often trying to knock the other off. A cat tower can be practical because they will scratch at it rather than your couch.

Stuffed mice are also important to any kitty’s playtime. Not all mice are the same; most cats prefer the small leather mice with the multi colored fur and long tails. These mice come in twelve packs or three packs, and believe me if they are anything like my kitty they will tear them apart. Cloth mice are typically second during playtime. If you find your kitty to be uninterested in mice you might want to check the type of mouse you have bought them.

Catnip toys are very popular. Catnip will cause your cat to be more rowdy, which can be a plus because they wear down faster. Catnip before bedtime is a great way to get your cat to sleep for quite a while and leave you to slumber. Catnip should be given out sparingly. You do not want to give your cat catnip everyday because it can have adverse affects to their behavior. They can start to depend on it and have mood swings.

I have found the best toy may just be your old stuffed animal lying around the house. My kitty, Ida, will bring me a stuffed animal when she is ready to play and she has stuffed animals in her toy basket. There is nothing more amusing than watching my kitty brings me a stuffed animal bigger than she is and proceeds to toss it in the air and pounce.  Cats like the feel of certain things in their mouths that is why they chew on paper, plastic and even your blankets. The feel of the material in their mouths allows them to clean their teeth or when they are teething help reduce the pain. The stuffed animal can work in much the same way and keep them away from harmful products.

To answer my above question you do not have to go to great expense to entertain your cat, however when you spend a little on toys you keep your kitty from getting bored.  You may even decide to hide a few toys and reintroduce them after a few months to keep from purchasing new ones all the time. Just make sure it is not the favorite toy of your pet or they may find other ways to entertain themselves that you do not find amusing.

Climbing and Jumping

Cats are able to jump up to six times their own height and have an incredible ability to climb.
Not only can they jump up high but they also have the ability to jump down from great heights without injuring themselves.

When a cat is trying to scale a tall tree it will initially jump as high as it can and then use the momentum to run up the remainder of the tree using its claws to hold on.

Their ability to climb up the tree is a lot better than their ability to get back down again.
And when chased a cat can climb a considerable way up a tree for security, and then realize that the climb down is a lot higher than expected. If a fireman isn’t present to help it down from its perilous position the cat will initially stretch down as far as possible with its front legs before making a final jump.

Sometimes the cat will reverse back down the tree using its hind claws for grip until it gets to a height that it is comfortable with, to jump the remaining distance, knowing that it has an inherent ability to always land the right way up.

Their ability to jump from one object to another is a lot better, as they are able to judge distance very well and always land just on the edge of any object no matter how much the distances might change.

In less than a fifth of a second a cat can right itself, even if it has started falling upside down.
This allows a cat that is dropped upside down from a height of only 1 1/2 feet to land on its feet. It will land with all feet together helping to spread the impact and reducing the chance of injury.

If the cat falls from any great height it will spread its legs out to slow down it’s rate of descent similar to that of a parachute. The only injury that generally happens in these cases is where the cat will fracture its jaw by not being able to stop the impact of its head hitting the ground.

Cats Natural Instincts

Kittens love to play and they appear to have boundless energy. They are very inquisitive creatures and love to explore and giving them things to play with and look at will help to keep them occupied and out of trouble as much as possible.

There are lots of different excellent toys available to keep young kittens happy for hours on end, but there is nothing better than the time that you spend to interact with your kitten and develop a relationship that will ensure you have a lot of fun for its entire lifetime.

Kittens will go through various stages in the first weeks of their life, and they will learn about their surroundings and how to interact with other pets and people in the house, and more importantly how to interact with you.

Playing with your kitten will teach it a lot as it develops all the natural instincts from playing around to hunting. You will find that after about six weeks the cat will begin stalking and hunting and often jump out from behind things to attack your leg as you walk by. This is a natural instinct that needs to be developed for you to have a healthy happy cat.

If you find your kitten is jumping out and attacking you or others in the house it should not be reprimanded otherwise it will get confused about something that is only natural.

It won’t do you a lot of harm but it will do your kitten a lot of good to develop these instincts.

Naturally you will have to stop it from misbehaving, and that is something that it needs to learn as well as all its other natural instincts, but common sense will let you know what it should and shouldn’t be doing.

Just like children, kittens will test the boundaries and if left unchecked you can have a cat that is very difficult to manage as it gets older.

Playtime for a Cat

Playtime is essential for cats and is one of the ways that they can develop their natural instincts as predators. Where there are two cats in the household they generally swap positions in their role-play as prey and predator allowing both cats to develop their skills.

Young cats will generally play like this a lot more than older cats as they hone their skills for hunting. Even though they are playing they are still concentrating on their natural hunting skills but they will very rarely cause injury to another cat in doing so. They will bite and scratch each another but are generally very carefully not to hurt one another.

One cat will attempt to hunt the other and once caught turn around and escape allowing the captured cat to resume the pursuit. Where there is only a single cat in the household it will be your position to play with the cat and help it to develop these skills by chasing and running away from it.

This also keeps the cat occupied and reduces the boredom as unlike their counterparts in the wild they don’t have to go and find their food as it gets delivered to them on a plate each day. By relieving their boredom they remain a lot happier and are less likely to develop behavioral problems which has a higher incidence with cat that are bored or unhappy.

This playtime also helps to develop a better bond between you and your cat as they become to trust and respect you and are more likely to allow you to train them in specific tasks.

Playtime also helps to develop a better appetite insuring that your cat eats well, sleeps well, and remains healthier by using its muscles and limbs regularly.

An active cat is less likely to become overweight and have the health problems that are associated with obesity.