Mental stimulation games

Straysmommy · 12-18-2011, 05:27 PM

Prince is hard to please, he gets bored very easily and needs lots of mental stimulation. This is why I take him to the garden downstairs every day for an hour and a half. But it's often not enough, and since he won't play by himself and has gotten bored of DaBird (only toy that ever caught his attention), I'm in a real problem here. Googling I found an interesting idea (by coincidence, it was posted by Susan in Catforum a year ago), and it indeed caught his attention for like half an hour, a huge success. But I'll be happy if others have more ideas, because I need to rotate games. I'm going to put DaBird away for a few months now.

What I did, based on Susan's idea:

I went to the warehouse of the supermarket where I'm a patron and asked to choose a cardboard box suitable for my cat. I found one with round holes on the sides, the very size of Prince's paws. I removed one side of the box (one of the 2 short sides), through which I push the wands, making them poke their heads through the holes for a split second and back in again. I also use the handle of a brown tote bag, which looks very much like a mouse tail. Big hit. Tomorrow I'll make holes in the top of the box too.

YayHappens · 12-19-2011, 02:11 AM

The peek a boo games are a favorite for my cats.

Don't tell the post office (shh!) but I have run in to grab a small free shipping box or two to cut holes into for them to play the reach-in and grab type of games.

The one they seem to really like is where you take the long side of the box and just cut half of it out towards the bottom (on both sides so they can see all the way through. They have to crouch all the way down like they are peeking underneath a door. (I hope I explained it clearly enough to picture it)

My youngest one likes to use it as a goal box for her mouse. She will purposefully try and bat objects into it and then reach in to pull the toy out and maneuver the toy into it again.

After mine lost interest in chasing the Da Bird feather around, I found a trick on the internet: cut the handle part off of a plastic grocery bag, tie a knot in the center and then attach the center knot to the Da Bird toy. (Actually I use the Cat Catcher by the same company) It flaps around more realistically like a bird and makes the crackling/flapping noise. I have tried three colors of plastic bags. The brown ones work for them better than the white ones or other colors. lol.

Does Prince like mice toys?

Milky's Mammy · 12-19-2011, 04:03 AM

I'm also trying to find some more stimulating games for Milky. So far he's enjoying playing with any toys that resembles mice the most, playing fetch (he sometimes asks me to play with him as he'll dump the mouse in front of me and wait for me to throw it across the room!), tote bags/plastic bags (he loves jumping on them to make a crinkling sound), crumpled up balls of paper, and finally ribbons. The only thing he doesn't seem to bet bored of so far are the mice, which he's played with since he came home. Everything else only seems to get his attention for several minutes...

Any new ideas??

WhisperingWind56 · 12-19-2011, 09:58 PM

I'm not sure what it's called, but the toy pictured below has given my cats hours of fun. It has two balls, one sandwiched between the upper and lower section, and then holes on top that the kitties can reach into. There is also a toy perched on top. They love to spin that ball. Sometimes they'll get on each side of it and bat the ball back and forth between them.

Braxen · 12-19-2011, 10:09 PM

My cat's favorite game is with his laundry hamper (it was mine, but he became so obsessed with it that I just gave it to him). I cut a whole in the bottom of it and hold it up in the air. I dangle some sort of toy (usually his Wubba) at the opening at the top and he jumps through the hamper to get to the toy. He thinks the toy is the one trying to take his hamper away, so he beats up his wubba awhile. When he's bored of that, we play a hamper game similar to what bull fighters do. Also, anything I can do that makes him jump he enjoys. He loves jumping.

Braxen · 12-19-2011, 10:10 PM

I suppose you can't really do that, though, if your cat is not obsessed with a hamper.

SpellQ · 12-20-2011, 12:00 PM

My kitties are getting the Nina Ottoson dogbrick toy for Christmas. There are tons of mini training games I can make up for them while they learn how to play the game. Once they've mastered it I'll likely pick up another one.

I like to hide things from them or wrap up treats or toys while they watch and let them figure out how to get the treats. Small paper bags or even leftover blank newsprint weight paper rolled up. Or small boxes. Sometimes I add the challenge of the box inside something else or wrapped up in paper. Since they like this sort of thing (Apple in particular) I thought the Nina Ottoson toys would be a good fit. I can't wait for Xmas morning!!!

MowMow · 12-20-2011, 01:01 PM

I bought this for MowMow last year and quite liked it. I would put a handful of treats in it at bedtime (it used to be his most active time) and he would spend time digging them all out, after food groom and come to bed instead of disrupting the entire apartment complex. It took him about 3 days to figure out how to shuffle the disks around and even after he figured out the toy he would still shuffle the disks hoping he missed something. The second side was more challenging for some reason. He never did figure out how to move the little dowels out of the way to fish food out but if i put treats in the chamber with the ball he would spin the ball around and fish the treats out.

Shephered Book has been working on the toy for about....3 months now and he's not figured out ANY of it. I'm not sure if it's 'cause he's a baby or if he is just...... well, we love him anyway....

Penny135 · 12-20-2011, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhisperingWind56

I'm not sure what it's called, but the toy pictured below has given my cats hours of fun. It has two balls, one sandwiched between the upper and lower section, and then holes on top that the kitties can reach into. There is also a toy perched on top. They love to spin that ball. Sometimes they'll get on each side of it and bat the ball back and forth between them.

Mia has this toy too. She has had it for about 5 months now and still has not tired of it. I got mine at Wal_Mart for $11.88. They are still this price as I saw it yesterday while looking for cat toys. She's so spoiled!

MowMow · 12-20-2011, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MowMow

I bought this for MowMow last year....

Oops, by "THIS" I meant WARE Kit-E-Quiz Interactive Cat Game at PETCO

12-18-2011, 05:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
Straysmommy Cat Addict Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Middle East Posts: 2,125	Mental stimulation games Prince is hard to please, he gets bored very easily and needs lots of mental stimulation. This is why I take him to the garden downstairs every day for an hour and a half. But it's often not enough, and since he won't play by himself and has gotten bored of DaBird (only toy that ever caught his attention), I'm in a real problem here. Googling I found an interesting idea (by coincidence, it was posted by Susan in Catforum a year ago), and it indeed caught his attention for like half an hour, a huge success. But I'll be happy if others have more ideas, because I need to rotate games. I'm going to put DaBird away for a few months now. What I did, based on Susan's idea: I went to the warehouse of the supermarket where I'm a patron and asked to choose a cardboard box suitable for my cat. I found one with round holes on the sides, the very size of Prince's paws. I removed one side of the box (one of the 2 short sides), through which I push the wands, making them poke their heads through the holes for a split second and back in again. I also use the handle of a brown tote bag, which looks very much like a mouse tail. Big hit. Tomorrow I'll make holes in the top of the box too. __________________ *The Royal von Meouw Family: His Royal Highness the Prince von Meouw, Her Royal Highness Princess Gatita von Meouw and Lady Nikita von Meouw.*

12-19-2011, 09:58 PM	#4 (permalink)
WhisperingWind56 Jr. Cat Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 71	I'm not sure what it's called, but the toy pictured below has given my cats hours of fun. It has two balls, one sandwiched between the upper and lower section, and then holes on top that the kitties can reach into. There is also a toy perched on top. They love to spin that ball. Sometimes they'll get on each side of it and bat the ball back and forth between them. Last edited by WhisperingWind56; 12-19-2011 at 10:01 PM.

12-20-2011, 12:00 PM	#7 (permalink)
SpellQ Tom Cat Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada Posts: 484	My kitties are getting the Nina Ottoson dogbrick toy for Christmas. There are tons of mini training games I can make up for them while they learn how to play the game. Once they've mastered it I'll likely pick up another one. I like to hide things from them or wrap up treats or toys while they watch and let them figure out how to get the treats. Small paper bags or even leftover blank newsprint weight paper rolled up. Or small boxes. Sometimes I add the challenge of the box inside something else or wrapped up in paper. Since they like this sort of thing (Apple in particular) I thought the Nina Ottoson toys would be a good fit. I can't wait for Xmas morning!!! __________________

12-20-2011, 01:01 PM	#8 (permalink)
MowMow Premier Cat Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 5,643	I bought this for MowMow last year and quite liked it. I would put a handful of treats in it at bedtime (it used to be his most active time) and he would spend time digging them all out, after food groom and come to bed instead of disrupting the entire apartment complex. It took him about 3 days to figure out how to shuffle the disks around and even after he figured out the toy he would still shuffle the disks hoping he missed something. The second side was more challenging for some reason. He never did figure out how to move the little dowels out of the way to fish food out but if i put treats in the chamber with the ball he would spin the ball around and fish the treats out. Shephered Book has been working on the toy for about....3 months now and he's not figured out ANY of it. I'm not sure if it's 'cause he's a baby or if he is just...... well, we love him anyway.... __________________

12-19-2011, 02:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
YayHappens Cat Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Valley of the Sun, USA Posts: 173	The peek a boo games are a favorite for my cats. Don't tell the post office (shh!) but I have run in to grab a small free shipping box or two to cut holes into for them to play the reach-in and grab type of games. The one they seem to really like is where you take the long side of the box and just cut half of it out towards the bottom (on both sides so they can see all the way through. They have to crouch all the way down like they are peeking underneath a door. (I hope I explained it clearly enough to picture it) My youngest one likes to use it as a goal box for her mouse. She will purposefully try and bat objects into it and then reach in to pull the toy out and maneuver the toy into it again. After mine lost interest in chasing the Da Bird feather around, I found a trick on the internet: cut the handle part off of a plastic grocery bag, tie a knot in the center and then attach the center knot to the Da Bird toy. (Actually I use the Cat Catcher by the same company) It flaps around more realistically like a bird and makes the crackling/flapping noise. I have tried three colors of plastic bags. The brown ones work for them better than the white ones or other colors. lol. Does Prince like mice toys?

12-19-2011, 04:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
Milky's Mammy Tom Cat Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 440	I'm also trying to find some more stimulating games for Milky. So far he's enjoying playing with any toys that resembles mice the most, playing fetch (he sometimes asks me to play with him as he'll dump the mouse in front of me and wait for me to throw it across the room!), tote bags/plastic bags (he loves jumping on them to make a crinkling sound), crumpled up balls of paper, and finally ribbons. The only thing he doesn't seem to bet bored of so far are the mice, which he's played with since he came home. Everything else only seems to get his attention for several minutes... Any new ideas??

12-19-2011, 10:09 PM	#5 (permalink)
Braxen Tom Cat Join Date: May 2011 Location: AR Posts: 355	My cat's favorite game is with his laundry hamper (it was mine, but he became so obsessed with it that I just gave it to him). I cut a whole in the bottom of it and hold it up in the air. I dangle some sort of toy (usually his Wubba) at the opening at the top and he jumps through the hamper to get to the toy. He thinks the toy is the one trying to take his hamper away, so he beats up his wubba awhile. When he's bored of that, we play a hamper game similar to what bull fighters do. Also, anything I can do that makes him jump he enjoys. He loves jumping.

12-19-2011, 10:10 PM	#6 (permalink)
Braxen Tom Cat Join Date: May 2011 Location: AR Posts: 355	I suppose you can't really do that, though, if your cat is not obsessed with a hamper.

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