Cat playtime - how can I wear him out?

[violetbunny]

BoyCat is an outdoor cat, he recently went missing for 2 weeks and when we found him one of his front legs was injured. A few weeks on, he still has a terrible limp. Long story short, he may need to be an indoor cat in the long term.

The main problem I have is that he's a young male cat (1.5 years) with an apparently insatiable appetite for playtime...! We are actively playing with him for about 45 mins a day and he still howls at us to be played with some more. We get no peace!

Any ideas for wearing him out? We are trying to keep to a routine (so play with him at the same time each day). He loves twisty bag ties, and also loves hair bands being thrown towards the other end of the house (he does little yelps of joy and then happily scampers after them 😂). Also likes his feather wand toy and treat maze. He isn't interested in laser pointers or ping pong balls 🤔

I'm running out of ideas, I'm trying to think of things that ideally will physically exhaust him so he gets some release from those hunting instincts 😂 Any suggestions?

Oh and here is the playful boy in question 🙂

Get another boy to play with him!

Can he chase things up and down stairs?.

Another cat to play with.
More time spent with him.
Lots and lots of toys and a cat tree.
Those electronic interactive toys.
A catio.

I went for the first option plus lots of toys!

He is lovely - looks very intelligent and is plotting something!!

Haha thanks

He has a sister who he plays with, although she's an outdoor cat so comes and goes. He does have a basket of toys and a cat tower, but he seems to crave interaction with us. Perhaps I should try and teach him how to play fetch 😂

@Fluffycloudland77 I'm sure he would, but our house is all on one level.

@Bargebill Do yours go for any toys in particular?

Could he manage some climbing with his limp? If so you could consider building cat shelves or a cat run around your upper walls - especially good for places like the hallway where it can go above the doorways and be quite discreet. Would give him more exercise than just human house.

Agree about interactive toys. Battery powered mouse?? DD’s Little Live Pet that was a mouse has mysteriously disappeared, I do wonder if Dcat has done for it...

Our fosters don’t go outside. Some of them have been very energetic. One loved jingle balls (you can get big bags of them on amazon) thrown to the other end of the house so he could run really fast after them. He would chase one then come haring back for the next one. We all had the knack of aiming through two doors diagonally across the house to get maximum length. Then we’d gather them up and throw them back again. Eventually he would slow down and get tired. Do you have the proper fluttering da bird toy? That is good for tiring them out too. Could you take him out on a harness and lead to give him some fresh air?

@violetbunny

Ours currently have about 40 fluffy rattling mice, several cat nip toys - spacemen, pink hippos, shrimps and catnip chews, 24 rattly, sparkly bouncing balls and assorted kicker toys. Some days it all of them and some days just some of them. Most get ‘posted’ into shoes, bed linen and water bowls.
If I’m unlucky they just attack my slippers whilst I’m wearing them.
Our home is run for the comfort of the cats not us.

I haven’t tried any interactive ones as from experience, if I go for something expensive, it will be ignored.

Our Dcat does exactly what Chemenger describes but prefers tightly rolled up balls of foil. Even cheaper!

Laser pen

DaBird the original one

Cats love novelty. What is a sure fire hit one day will be ignored the next.
I have a basket of small toys, but also some bigger things I bring out occasionally.
Rustling tunnels, cardboard boxes, with extra paper inside, holes/tunnels inside. Sensory stuff also gets their attention, memory foam kneeling mats, big bits of fabric spread out on slippery floors so it slides (sprinkle some treats on it) paper bags, a real winner for mine is a hessian bag hooked on a kitchen cupboard with a rattling/bell toy inside.
Mental stimulation also tires them out in a good way.

@Chemenger Thanks, that sounds exactly like the sort of thing he would go for. I'll see if I can get hold of some jingle balls! He does have a proper DaBird wand, he used to love to jump for the feathery bit pre-injury. Now he can't seem to jump as high so prefers if we wave it under a giant sheet of paper (which was packing material for an online delivery), which he then pounces on. We are also taking him into the garden on a harness 2x a day but whatever happened to him when he went missing seems to have traumatised him - he used to love going out but now he will only sit on the deck and won't venture out, poor wee mite 🙁

@Bargebill19 Thanks, I will try a few of those. We don't have any kickers so I'll order some along with some rattling type toys and catnip toys 🙂

@minipie Thanks for the tip!