Games for cats

Creative Ideas and Tips

Although our velvet paws spend a large part of the day sleeping, once they are awake, they need activity and exercise. While outdoor cats can pursue their natural play and hunting instinct outside in nature to their heart's content, as the owner of a house tiger you have to help a little with a species-appropriate activity. You can find out how to do this and which cat games are particularly exciting for cats below!

Are cats bored? 4 Signs

Natural cat behavior includes foraging, exploring, observing, detecting threats, and social interactions with other animals. In an apartment, cats are safe from cars and other dangers, but many of their instincts are not encouraged. Therefore, house cats are more often affected by boredom.

Are you wondering if your cat is bored too? Although cats are very individual, there are often clear signs that you can recognize boredom in your cat. These include, for example:

• Feeding behaviors: Bored cats tend to eat excessively. To suppress negative emotions, they consume more food than necessary.

• Seeking attention: If your kitten is nudging you or if they are particularly affectionate, they want your attention. If you're busy during these moments, be sure to catch up on the game session!

• Extreme grooming: Cats groom themselves a lot and like to groom themselves – so it's hard to tell if this is excessive grooming. However, if you notice bald patches, sensitive wounds on your cat's skin, or if you find hairballs more often than usual, your cat may be spending too much time grooming. In any case, the cause should be clarified by a veterinarian.

Cohabitation problems: If your cat is unable to act out its hunting behavior, it may transmit it to other pets by attacking or stalking them. Even things that are off-limits to your kitten, such as lying on the dining table, can suddenly be especially interesting when your cat is bored.

Games for cats: 5 creative ideas

If you notice signs of boredom, you can counteract it with some creative cat games. You can make many of the games yourself in a short time and with just a few items.

While kittens prefer action-packed games, older cats often enjoy quiet contact or intelligence toys. Which cat games your kitty ultimately enjoys the most is also due to her character. Just try out some of our game ideas:

1. Water feature for cats

Water and cats? Usually not a good combination. Although our fluffy four-legged friends shy away from water, they are still fascinated by the moist element. If you want to gently introduce your cat to playing with water, we can recommend this quick-to-make water feature:

1. Fill a small container with water.
2. Fold small paper boats and equip them with treats .
3. Let the paper boat float and watch what happens!

2. Search and fumble games for cats

Our older velvet paws in particular like a relaxed game of searching or fiddling. These can be cognitively quite challenging and quickly dissolve boredom into thin air! You don't necessarily have to make or even buy an elaborate fiddling board yourself. We have a simple alternative for you:

1. Spread some dry food or treats on the floor.
2. Make sure your kitty is watching you.
3. Now throw a cloth over the lining.
4. Let your pet fiddle with the cloth until he finds the lining under the cloth as a reward.

3. Play tunnels and caves: why do cats like cardboard boxes?

There are many reasons why cats have the fun of their lives with just a single empty box. Boxes made of cardboard boxes offer our cats the perfect opportunity to hide and retreat. A practical plus point here is that cardboard boxes are excellent insulators – due to the body heat of our fluffy friends, the cardboard quickly turns into a cozy cave.

How about building your velvet paw a small castle out of cardboard boxes? Here she can not only sharpen her claws extensively, but also relax in seclusion.

4. Catnip

Is your kitty one of those house cats who are crazy about catnip? Then you should definitely make her a Catnip pillow. If the mint is well hidden in it, it can lick the pillow, smell it and rub its face against it. It's as simple as this:

1. Fill an old sock with material such as newspaper, scraps of fabric, or cotton wool.
2. Add some dried catnip or valerian.
3. Sew the sock shut or close it tightly with a rubber band.
4. The new cat toy is ready!

5. Cat toys against boredom

If you get bored, you can of course also use cat-friendly toys. These toys are particularly popular with velvet paws:

• Toys with fishing line: Cat toys with a fishing line are great for interaction between humans and cats. You can cast the rod again and again while your velvet paw greedily grabs its prey!

• Balls: When your kitty runs after balls, her hunting instinct is awakened. She is particularly good at carrying light balls around the apartment in her mouth.

• Play mice: Cat toys in the form of prey – your cat will definitely love that! He can chew on the little plush mice to his heart's content or carry them around the apartment.

How long should you play with the cat?

If you have an indoor cat, you should play with them for at least 30 minutes a day if possible. You are also welcome to plan even more time if your everyday life allows it. Try to spread the playing time over the day, e.g. over three 10-minute sessions. This way you have your cat's full attention. Because if the game goes too long, she can lose interest. Pay attention to her body language – she might tell you when she's out of breath!