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Cats are excellent pets, but more inclined to act like children then pets. Due to their children like personalities, even when they are 20 years old, it can get difficult to entertain them. You have to look at their personality as a whole to see what they are interested in, and take that information into consideration before buying any new cat toys that are advertised in stores or you might end up wasting your money. Here are some simple ways to entertain a cat, based on my experience with 3 cat personalities

Most cats are entertained by stringy objects, so if you have yarn, extra shoe strings or anything along those lines, you can either grab one end and move it around on the floor, watching as your cat tries to catch it, or does catch it over and over again. Or you can roll it into a ball and watch as he/she unravels it. Re-rolling the ball of string when he/she has fully unravelled it. I've even used my wet long hair as a catalyst for play time with my cat. Also be careful when buying balloons for children when your cat is obsessed with string, as they are liable to eat the string off of the balloon and then barf it up on the floor for you to step in.

You could also buy one of the keychain laser pointers and watch the cat chase the red dot around the room. There are some cats that get annoyed by that though, rather than enjoying it. The older they get though, the easier it is for them to realize that the red dot is controlled by your hand, and they may end up deciding to try and control the red dot themselves by knocking the laser pointer out of your hand.

A timeless favorite for all 3 of my cats is a box. It doesn't matter what size the box is, if there is an open box, a cat will try to get in it. I once had a 30 pound cat who was more obsessed with boxes than any other toy or object. For Christmas I received something that was in a box equivalent to the size of a Cheez-It box. Now, if he was still a kitten, or 15 pounds lighter, he probably would have fit in the box fine with little effort. I was entertained for 2 full days with his determination to get into the box, he tried backing into the box, he tried fitting head first into the box, and ended up getting stuck. He tried side stepping into the box. Finally after 2 days of trying to get IN the box, he decided he would be okay with sitting ON the box.

Another meathod of entertainment for most cats is catnip. Though not all cats respond to it. Some cats just ignore it or think catnip is one of the most disgusting things in existance. Two of my 3 cats were fanatic about catnip, but one just tried to avoid it. There are several toys that have catnip already stuffed inside them available at stores. Both refillable and nonrefillable. Personally, I go with the refillable catnip toys, because the catnip in the non refillable toys tends to loose potency and the toy ends up sitting idle after 2 months.

Personally, my cats don't like the little cat hotel type things, but a friend of my husbands has a cat that adores them. I was told they love playing hide and seek with their owners using the cat hotel. As well as taking things the owners leave on the floor and stashing them in the cat hotel.

I haven't seen very many cats that are actually entertained by the cat gyms that you find in stores. The ones I have seen are kittens and when they grew older than 4 months they left it alone.

There are numerous other ways to entertain a cat, just like there are numerous ways to entertain a child. As it is, all but one method I've listed here are some of the same ways that my children like to play. You just have to pay attention to your cats personality and go from there.

Learn more about this author, Crystal Shimo.
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