Cat Play With A Purpose

A cat’s play is oriented to the hunting process. When a cat swoops after a leaf in autumn, that leaf is an imaginary bird. The ping pong ball just visible behind a chair leg is a mouse to be stalked, pounced upon and batted around.

The screwed up paper hurled into the air, caught and thrown away to be chased and sent flying again, is being hunted. Even in an apparently sterile environment, a cat will find a scrap of paper, a lost button, or a shadow to play with.

However, do be careful of everyday household objects like the odd button or needle and thread. Swallowed thread can do even more damage than a needle as it cheese wires its way through the bowel.

Do check that any cat toys you buy are reasonably solid. Some cheap imported toys may have small plastic bits that could fall off and be swallowed. Some plastic materials that are safe for children can to toxic to cats.

All that is needed can be found in the home, paper scrunched into a ball and thrown by the owner for retrieval up and down the stairs, a paper butterfly tied to a piece of string and dragged around for the cat to chase, or suspended from the back of a chair to bat.

Some cats are particularly fond of hide and seek. For group play, nothing is better than the great game of the ping pong ball rolled around the carpet between family members and friends, and pursued by your cat.

A young cat needs something to scratch. Instead of the commercial type, sisal rope bound around the upright of a bookcase or banister would be more discreet and just as effective.

Kittens enjoy playing with someone, especially if they are an only cat, they will soon become bored playing on their own with a ball. The perfect combination for a family cat, company, care, attention and a game that seems to be tailor made for cats.

Be careful of any electrical connections, though. A clockwork mouse is a poor substitute for the real thing, as it has to be wound up, but it is less messy for the owner.