Hello I'm Simon, welcome to Simon's Cat Logic, we'll be finding out from a cat
expert why cats behave the way they do. Today we're finding out about 'Playtime'.
Well over the years, my cats have had hundreds of toys, they have had little mice
they have had little bells, little balls that go everywhere, and most of these toys
have ended up under the sofa, or under the fridge. Teddy's favourite toy is
actually this simple piece of string and this is his actual favourite toy in the
world. It shows like he's been mauling this all day long
and what I like to do is just put a little knot in the end to give it some
weight, and that helps weigh it down when you drag it along the floor.
And then you twitch it, like it's a little animal with little erratic movements and that will
drive your cats crazy. He will chase this all day long if you go outside and
put this through the long grass, he is just the happiest cat in the world.
If you have an indoor cat, you may be wondering how much exercise or play that
they need. Certainly cats that are indoor only, would require more exercise and
play then a cat that has outdoor access. Although there's no definitive amount of
time a cat should play, indoor only cats should have multiple short play sessions
throughout the day. It's important not to play with kittens or cats using the
hands or toes as this will teach them that they're a fun toy. This can be very
painful for owners. It's much better to use something like a fishing rod toy
such as this which keeps the play safely away from hands.
And as you can see from Nigel, they absolutely love them. The great
thing about fishing rod toys is that you can use them to show different styles of
play. So, for example whether you have it up in the air like this or if you run it
across the ground a bit like a mouse. So if you are using a fishing rod toy, it's
best to avoid dangling the toy in front of the cat's face. Cats are far sighted
meaning they can't see that well under 25 centimeters. Cats much prefer it to
have the fishing rod toy moving it away from the cat, similar to how prey would move.
Fishing rod toys are great because they allow the cat to catch and kill the toy
giving cats the opportunity to be successful releases endorphins or happy
hormones and makes them feel good.
This is why laser toys can sometimes be frustrating and may be best avoided but
if you do use a laser toy always end the game on a physical toy like a mouse so
the cat has the opportunity to catch and kill something. Other small toys such as
balls, string mice and ping-pong balls can be very exciting for cats to play
with. We'd recommend that owners experiment with different types of toys
as well as different styles of play to find out what their cat prefers, but
however you play with your cat, it's lots of fun for them and for us and it helps
reinforce the bond between the owner and their cat. Well, my cat Hugh who was the
inspiration for Simon's Cat used to love a little laser toy, a little mouse laser
toy, and it had a little keyring at the back, and whenever you rattled that
keyring, he would run from wherever he was... asleep or in the garden, he would
come shooting in and start to try to hunt that little red dot. Funnily enough
the other cats weren't that bothered about it. Little Teddy used to have a
little go, but then used to lose interest, but Hugh would just follow that
thing all day long, he absolutely loved it. That was definitely his favourite toy!