Playtime 101 — How To Play With Your Cat!

Do you love playing with your cat? Well we have a few pointers for you to get the most out of playing with your moggy! Obviously there are no strict rules when it comes to playtime with your cat, but we want you and your cat to enjoy playtime as much as you can and exercise their hunting instincts.

1. Create the Right Stage

Obviously, your cat doesn’t really mind where you play, but if there are a lot of things on the floor and around the room where you’re playing with your cat that they can hide behind and pounce out from, they can get a bit more enjoyment from playtime. Playing with your cat is basically like a role play! Your cat is playing the role of the hunter and you will play the role of the prey. Having a room with little hiding places and places they can stalk you from can be a bit of extra fun for your cat.

2. Imitate Prey

Unlike dogs, cats don’t just go chasing after things, bringing them back and repeating that over and over again. As fun as that is for dogs, quick, sharp movements with the toy and then freezing and hiding with grab your cats attention and will hold it until they have caught their prey.

3. Don’t Frustrate Your Cat

Obviously you want these games to be fun and satisfying for your cat, so make sure that their toy isn’t always out of reach and allow them to catch it quite often, maybe even let them hold it in their mouth for a while before starting the game again. You don’t want your cat to come away frustrated and annoyed, they might end up going outside and bringing something back that’s alive.

4. Don’t Exhaust Your Cat

These games can be really fun and your cat can probably go for a while, but especially if your cat is a young cat or kitten — exhausting or tiring them out could be quite dangerous for them. You don’t want your cat not to enjoy playtime with you, but what you have to remember is that these games are mental exercise as well as physical activity.

5. Warm Up, Play, Cool Down

This might sound like something that you are told at the gym, but again, you want your cat to really enjoy their play, and it’s really important to remember what your cats body can and cannot do. Always start off the slow with them stalking and hunting their prey, gradually work up to the excited and frantic chasing, and then cool down with a lot more slower movements. This kind of play is a lot healthier for your cats body and will stop them from getting exhausted and tired too quickly. It’s very important to remember that your cat is a very small mammal and if they start panting or getting very tired — it’s time to stop.

6. Separate Play

If you have more than one cat in the house, keep the playtime separate from each cat. Quite often, if there’s more than one cat in the room and you are playing these hunting games, they may get a bit frustrated with just being spectators; this could end up causing arguments and tension in your cats and they could end up attacking one another instead of the intended victim — the toy.

7. Keep it Up

It’s obviously more fun to play with kittens as they have so much energy, but it’s very important to keep playing with your cat as they get older. If you cut down or stop playtime with your cat once they are not kittens anymore, they can become lazy and a bit sedentary. Older cats could benefit more from a bit more physical and mental stimulation. If your cat isn’t really much of a player, use a laser pen or something that is infused with catnip, they might not play for very long but they will enjoy some playtime for a little while with the right stimulation.