Cat Aerobics

I promised a post on cats and how to encourage exercise. I'll post a few ideas, but I would LOVE to hear some ideas you guys have for encouraging cats to be active. It's not always easy!

1. Get another cat. This can backfire BIG TIME! Cats are, by their nature, fairly solitary. Some cats are social and like to play. Other cats are enormously stressed by another cat and they will instead hide. This totally depends on your cat and your situation. I know in my house the cats play a lot and having more than one is a good thing for their activity level. Once you adopt a cat, it is your family member to love and support for life. Do your homework and make sure it's a good fit. Most rescue organizations will allow extended home visits (over a period of days) to see just how well everyone gets along. Don't rush into this.
2. Get some outside time. Outdoor cats are at greater risk for quite a few things. Trauma, disease, and fights to name a few. That doesn't mean that you can't give your cat outside time. Look at this website - www.catfencein.com. We've installed it at our house and now my cats have free access inside and out, but they can't get out of the yard. I'm amazed at how much the sunshine and playing in the grass improves their attitude. I've always been reluctant to consider having a cat with unfettered access to the outdoors, but this works great for me. In Connecticut, I built a huge hutch that the cats could go play in. We had to carry them out to it, but then they could play in the giant cage all they wanted.
3. Toys - cats are funny about toys. Perhaps cats just are too important to tell us what they want to play with, or they consider it beneath their status to actually play when we ask them to. They would much rather play at night by running across our bed at warp-speed scaring the bejeesus out of us and causing us to jump up from a deep sleep while screaming out language that would make a longshoreman blush. My best results have been with milk-jug tops, feathers, empty PAPER bags, and cardboard boxes. Feathers on a string are tons of fun, but require owner participation. I've seen motorized mice that looked like tons of fun.
4. Laser pointer/flashlight. You can get really cheap laser pointers and some cats love to chase the pointer. Don't shine it in their eyes - sounds like it should go without saying, but remember that your cats eyes are just as prone to damage from the laser light as you are.
5. Catnip. Legal in all 50 states. Purchase a baggie for a steal compared to other weeds of similar appearance. The active ingredient is nepatalactone and its mode of action in the brain is poorly understood. Most cats experience a high and will have a sudden increase in appetite. Some drool. Some get angry. Some simply don't experience anything. I call them Nip-positive and Nip-negative. Grow your own - it's also legal in all 50 states to have as many nip plants as you like. You don't have to build any expensive, hidden greenhouses in your garage or dorm room closet. Cheap, very prolific plant. It's in the mint family and WILL GROW OUT OF CONTROL if you don't limit it by potting up the plant or providing space for it to spread.

How much exercise? I've heard 20min/day is a great start. If I am trying to encourage weight loss, that's my goal. To help improve the cats attitude and break bad behavior, ANYTHING will help.

Leave a comment with your ideas on how to get your cat to be active! This should be a community/interactive post!

AMH