now these ideas aren't going to make your cat run a marathon.
but they're certainly going to get your cut in the playful mood.
so you can use these really simple things that you already have around the house
to get your cat interested in playing.
then you can use cat-safe toys to get your cat playing even more.
hey friends it's jess and jericho here to teach you how to play without toys!
for this one we're going to use the end of a spatula it's wooden.
and this is jericho's sleeping bag but you can use a towel, a bed sheet, or any other
piece of clothing that you can kind of move the spatula end around. c
Cats are attracted to movement
and i've found that moving things in and out and quickly under things really gets their attention.
so i like to move it slowly, move towards him, then move away from him,
and then he's kind of like all right i need to catch whatever this thing is.
the indoor version of hunting is playing so any way that you can
kind of replicate the hunting experience indoors is going to get your cat to play.
so in the wild you know things go in and out of things and they go all over the place.
so you just have to copy this when you're playing with your cat.
for this one we're going to use a box and a string.
so jericho's over here on the right this way. so i'm going to put the string through
the box so that he can see it on the other side and then he's going to run through it.
and you can put the string between these right here and see how he's pawing at it.
and you can do the same up here.
now these ideas aren't going to make your cat run a marathon.
but they're certainly going to get your cut in the playful mood.
so you can use these really simple things that you already have around the house
to get your cat interested in playing.
then you can use cat safe toys to get your cat playing even more.
an important thing that i want to note here is that you should never play with your hands.
always play with something else. if you play with your hands you're going to get scratched
and you're going to have a bad time.
so we don't want you to get scratched. we don't want your
cat to think that scratching and biting you is acceptable.
so we're going to use other playthings to play with our cats.
another way to play with your cat with a string is to pull the string through a toilet paper roll.
so
so you see how long that took?
we can't expect cats to play the second that we put toys down.
they're gonna look at it and kind of like get an idea of where it's going
then they're gonna pounce.
that's exactly how they hunt.
here's something that jericho loves to do. i take the toilet paper roll and
kind of fold it in half and then tease it under my bathroom door.
so i go in and out and then also up and down and jericho studies it and then he pounces.
you can also do this with a string.
so move the string under the the door or the piece of furniture that you're using.
think about it like a mouse. this is a moused tail.
so kind of moving around a little
uncontrolled movements kind of unexpected like a mouse would be.
and then just move it in and out of your cat's vision.
he's going to stare at it and when he's interested you'll see his pupils dilate,
you'll see him reposition, wiggle his little butt, test his grounding, and then he's going to pounce.
so let's see if jericho does it.
um
get that string.
now obviously i recommend playing with actual cat toys.
for the best you can check out that video right over meow.
thanks for watching!