Feline Fitness
by Heather
Indoor cats lead safer lives and have a greater life expectancy, as well as a reduced risk of contracting feline worms or fleas, but one drawback is that they are often less physically active. Too little activity can lead to some cat health problems or even cat behavioral problems. But there’s an easy and fun remedy for this — feline fitness.
Kitty play time can be fun for you and your cat. It’s a great way to interact with your cat and those furry felines can be pretty funny when they’re playing. I know my cats have given me more than a few good laughs.
If you take a little time to learn what your cat enjoys and responds to you should be able to get any cat to play. Try working with things that bring out natural cat responses like chasing, climbing or jumping.
I know from first hand experience that two cats can react very differently to the same toy. One of my cats loves our laser pointer. He’ll tear around the place and jump on the walls chasing it. But the other cat sits and looks at the red dot then looks at me with a look that says “are you kidding me?” Needless to say we have a different play time strategy with her. But both of them get excited when we bring out Da Bird. That’s one of the best cat toys I’ve seen.
It’s also good to rotate the toys. Cats can get tired of their toys if they play with the same ones every day. If you put them in a basket and bring different cat toys out each day you can keep them more interested and get more use and entertainment out of each toy.
Indoor cats can become bored and sometimes destructive since there’s not as much to explore inside so feline fitness can be a great remedy. Providing toys for your cats and engaging them to play can help direct this restless energy towards playtime, instead of climbing the curtains.
By balancing a healthy feline diet with daily play breaks you can reduce the risk of feline obesity. Regular feline exercise can also help reduce the risk of developing age-related cat health problems like heart disease, arthritis and diabetes in cats.
Have fun with kitty play time. It can be pretty entertaining and it will help keep your feline friend happy and healthy.