How to play with a cat
How to effectively play with a cat
Play is an important part of a cat’s mental and physical wellbeing. Playing with your cat is a great way to build your relationship and bond, a great way to build a relationship between cats, helps to alleviate the cat from biting and scratching you, helps alleviate destructive boredom behavior, and it helps a cat to relax between activity periods.
Play for a cat is hunting. When they play with each other and with toys it is akin to when people engage in LARP, live action role play. When you pick up a toy and start playing with your cat, you have entered into the role or a prey animal. You are now the mouse, the bird, or the bug and so you need to make the toy act like a mouse, bird, or bug.
Prey animals don’t dance around wildly and smack a predator in the head. Prey animals creep, hold still hoping not to be noticed, creep again, and when the predator has found them they dash away or fly up out of reach. Then they hold still trying to hide and camouflage into the environment. Prey animals also move around the environment, they climb up trees, hide under bushes, run away as far as they can, dash around corners. They don’t stick to one isolated location. When you play with your cat you need to use your entire home and all the furniture. Make your toy creep behind a box and scratch on it as if it’s chewing a hole to escape. Scratching sounds are provocative, and when prey holds still it’s provocative. When your cat stalks over and finds your toy, make your toy scurry away up the couch and then stop and hold still hoping it lost the cat. When your cat comes looking, make your toy take flight just over your cats head and watch your cat fly up to catch it.
If your cat is actively watching the toy but sitting still, they are still playing. Continue to make the toy behave like a mouse, bird, or bug who thinks they are safe from danger now.
Let your cat catch the toy from time to time and let them carry it around in their mouth, when they spit it out to stare and pat at it, suddenly the toy comes to life and scurries behind the curtains.
Signs that your cat is satiated and ready for play to end would be panting, heavy breathing, laying down, and putting less effort into their movements. When it’s time for play to end, wind down the action and allow your cat to cool down. You do not want to end play while they are high on arousal and stimulation. In the end let your cat catch the toy one last time and then drop a treat on the floor in front of them. The treat (consuming their prey) signals and completes the end of the predatory sequence. After they’ve hunted and eaten, they should go off to groom and nap.
In summary:
Live action role play as prey
Move around the entire home and change levels
Don’t give up when the cat is just watching, they are still playing
Watch for signs the cat is satiated
Wind down play to help your cat’s arousal level lower
End play by letting your cat catch the toy and eat a treat