4 Healthy Games To Play With Your Cat

By Arden Moore for Vetstreet

Never underestimate the power of play for your indoor cat: Cats not only need but enjoy regular play sessions. Just don't expect your Persian to revel in a game of fetch, and forget trying to engage your Siamese in a friendly game of tug-of-war.

What games do cats enjoy the most? Ones that harness the true hunter inside them, says Joan Miller, a veteran all-breed cat judge and vice president of Cat Fanciers' Association, the world's largest registry of cat breeds.

"Cats are farsighted animals who really don't see that well close-up," says Miller. "But they can detect even the slightest movement that is, say, 120 feet away -- even in dim light. And their ability to hear is way beyond that of humans and dogs."

So how do you play with your cat? Miller identifies four feline-preferred game styles and the best times to play:

Comments

[PhantomPhlyer]

02:03 PM on 03/02/2012

Joan Miller needs to get better info on house cats. Cats actually are slightly nearsighted. Their best vision is about two to three feet in front of them - which makes sense if you consider their hunting ability. Far off, their vision is blurred; however, they can detect even slight motion at distance.

You may have wondered why, when you approach your cat from a distance, their eyes look out-of-focus and they don't really seem to recognize you until you say something or get close to them. That's their near-sightedness kicking in.

I would think the head of the CFA would know more about cats!

[amr16]

01:09 PM on 03/02/2012

iPad game for cats.... our cats love it

[stellablu]

12:43 PM on 03/02/2012

My cat loves to chase bubbles it is a good game he jumps and stalks them!

[amr16]

01:09 PM on 03/02/2012

Have you ever tried the catnip infused bubbles?

[Prinann]

11:57 AM on 03/02/2012

My beautiful Darcy can't understand drinking water out of a bowl. It has to be running water. Or in something she isn't supposed to get into, like the water under a plant or in a pitcher. We have learned not to leave a glass of water by our bed. I love her to pieces, but I don't appreciated her putting her paws in my drinking water. She is a rescue cat, had a hard child-hood so we just make adjustments. She now has two fountains, she can drink to her heart's content.

[mmvernes]

11:01 AM on 03/02/2012

Kitties rule!!!!

[map71]

01:52 PM on 03/02/2012

They sure do! My cat loves to run around the house with my pantyhose!

[tamthebrat1978]

11:00 AM on 03/02/2012

Good advice for cat owners, since we just experienced it recently. If you have a rodent problem and you notice the cat is not hunting it but more playing with it, eliminate the rodent quickly. We had a mouse for some time here, I'd say for at least a month, well our cat was just chasing it around up on the kitchen counter, I finally purchased a trap and within 5 days the mouse was caught, our poor cat started howling and crying as soon as the mouse went into the trap and she actually pulled the trap out from where it was located to almost where I was, which was about 5 to 6 feet. For almost a week she went into a depression actually looking for this mouse and laying around and not touchng her food much. So what is normally a cats prey could turn into their best friend in time.

[amr16]

01:12 PM on 03/02/2012

I think I would have bought the cat a mouse then and let them play together : )

[tamthebrat1978]

02:38 PM on 03/02/2012

Thats what my mom said or a hamster, let her chase it around in the ball

[LivelyLexie]

10:45 AM on 03/02/2012

Are there "unhealthy" games to play with your cat?

[PutYourNameOnIt]

10:45 AM on 03/02/2012

The bouncy balls you get out of the gumball machine work well.

[Mark Brislin]

10:21 AM on 03/02/2012

When my younger cat was a kitten, she played at anything I tried, tossing a plastic bag in the air for her to "attack" on the way down, and pretty much anything else that I moved across the floor. Now she'll play for a few minutes and just lay down. She'd rather chew on my fingers. My older cat never has been much of a player. But, when I treat both to canned meat food, she will find and drag anything she can to her dish in order to cover up "the kill". I just hang several toys with feathers and things that jingle around the apartment and I often hear my cats playing for a bit as they pass by them.

[randallchi]

09:30 AM on 03/02/2012

This is actually a great article for cat owners, as many of us (me included) don't exercise our cats enough.

I have noticed that some of my cats prefer bird games, some really get going with mouse games. I let them play hide and seek among themselves. I'm too old.

[susanherna121377]

09:04 AM on 03/02/2012

The main game my cat like is Fill My Food Dish.LOL. If she can see a bare spot in her bowl, she will sit in front of it making a ruckus until one of us picks it up and shakes it so the bare spot is covered.

She also loves to have her head scratched. In fact, if you stop she will wrap her front paws around your hand to keep you doing it.

[Maria BriggsCronk]

08:36 AM on 03/02/2012

my cat plays fetch!!!!

[Mtka]

08:46 AM on 03/02/2012

Two of ours did, too, but only when they were young. Now, they prefer to watch us stupid humans throw a toy, fetch it, and throw it again for the cat's amusement...

[randallchi]

09:23 AM on 03/02/2012

I have one that's better at fetch than any of my dogs were. It's a blast. But since I added a new kitten to the household, I can only play when she's asleep, because she just gets in the way and messes up the game. The "fetcher" is five and doesn't show any sign of being tired of the game.

[Mtka]

08:31 AM on 03/02/2012

That is so true about cats appearing when you're changing the sheets on your bed! I've gone so far as to tuck them into the sheets until they're just a lump under there before I take them out. They love it! What I want to know is why one of my cats, a neutered male, insists on carrying stuff to one of their water dishes and dumping them in there - ???? A large rubber band, a piece of jewelry, a toy, a ball - whatever suits his fancy! And no, I do not leave little stuff out for them - I know they're dangerous. He just FINDS stuff and insists that they belong in a water dish - ???

[ohwhen]

08:41 AM on 03/02/2012

My neutered male just plays in the water...almost like he's washing his paws, but with the added benefit of splashing water everywhere.

[randallchi]

10:22 AM on 03/02/2012

Yes. The blanket game, aka the bed-making game. Now it's three against one. Me against two siamese and one oriental shorthair. It's a grueling chore!!!

[amr16]

01:13 PM on 03/02/2012

umm, shut the bedroom door : )

[feistyredheadct]

08:31 AM on 03/02/2012

Playing "chase" is one of my favorite cat's games. I make believe I'm trying to catch him and I run around the house like a nut (not a pretty sight lol) saying, "I'm gonna get you". And he runs and hides, comes out and we start again. My deaf cat loves to play with the laser light. He's a maniac with the light. They are such fun.

[racetrak3]

08:04 AM on 03/02/2012

try a lazer beam light...