Have the doldrums of boredom found you and your cat? When all familiar activities and toys have lost their luster, boredom can reduce humans and cats to pure laziness. But there are tons of clever ways to keep you and kitty from falling to tedium. From DIY to bubbles, check out these 11 fun ways to keep your cat entertained and you’ll find yourself amused too.
DIY Activities to Keep Your Cat Entertained
1. Build a Cat Playground with Boxes
In our world of online shopping and free shipping, we tend to collect boxes. Turn this to your cat’s favor by creating an ultimate playground of cardboard. Your creativity will love this opportunity too.
Imagine a kitty palace…
Or a cardboard mountain with caverns aplenty…
Anything you can see in cardboard, you can build. Use tape and scissors to engineer, and if using glue too, make sure its not where your cat can get into the sticky stuff. Be sure the glue is dry before unleashing kitty dear on their new fort.
Also, be sure your contraptions are sturdy and can support the weight of a curious cat.
Gain some cardboard insight with the Honest Kitchen’s cat castle tutorial.
2. New Toys from Old T-shirts
When the wand toy or the crinkle bag just aren’t cutting it, make your cat some new toys!
If you’ve got old t-shirts stuffed in a drawer, then you’ve got the makings for some new toys that will keep your cat entertained.
All you need are a few t-shirts, scissors, and a ruler.
Simply cut your shirts into equal-sized strips and knot a pile of the strips together. That easy, you’ve made a new cat toy! Muslin & Merlot offers a step-by-step guide with photos for making t-shirt toys.
For even more fun, tie a couple of the t-shirt toys on some string. Either drag it around for your cat or suspend the string from a door frame and watch kitty go crazy!
3. Create a Cat Puzzle to Keep Your Cat Entertained
Creating a cat puzzle from a disposable food container can keep your cat entertained for hours. Fill it with toys and treats and your cat won’t be able to resist it!
Check out The Glam Cat’s full instructions for this DIY Cat Puzzle Tutorial.
High-Tech Options to Keep Your Cat Entertained
4. Cat-Friendly Apps to Keep Paws Busy
In this tech-heavy world, apps are available for all aspects of life, including apps designed to engage cats. Keep your cat entertained by downloading apps to stimulate their brains and paws.
Friskies offers two apps for kitties to play catch. Whether your cat prefers fish or bugs, he’ll be happy to pounce the critters skittering across the screen.
If digital catch isn’t your cat’s bag, then maybe download a pond app for serene watching. There’s a number of these Zen apps across the market so you can keep your cat entertained with whichever water-feature app keeps his attention best.
Beyond apps for play, your cat can unlock their inner Picasso with Paint for Cats. While chasing a digital mouse across the screen, kitty’s prints and swipes are laid down in ink colors and pen styles of your choice. You can then share your cat’s masterpiece via email and social media. It’s some of the best couple of bucks you’ll ever spend and you’ll combat human and cat boredom.
5. Selfies for Your Cat Superstar
Spending hours capturing the purrfect pictures and videos of your cat is easy to do. After all, there’s no one more photogenic than our cats! Keep your cat entertained, and yourself as well, with a fun photoshoot.
Dig out some fun items that can serve as props. Need an example? Cats are adorable in hats!
Things like decorative pillows and blankets serve as great backdrops too. Treats and toys are key for keeping kitty’s attention. Open your blinds to catch your little meowdel in ideal natural lighting.
And once you have a camera roll of cat pics galore, start an Instagram page and introduce your cat superstar to the world!
Keep Kitty Sharp by Learning New Things
6. Teach Your Cat to Walk on a Leash
Indoor cats don’t often get a chance to explore the great outdoors, but with a leash, the world becomes theirs for the conquering.
Dr. Frank McMillan, veterinarian and director of animal well-being studies at Best Friends Animal Society, reports, “Walking outside can be great fun for cats — it gives them new things to see and sniff out.”
And the backyard is a great place to begin leashed explorations.
But the slow training actually starts indoors. Start by showing your cat the new harness and leash combo. You know how cats are, their curiosity drives them to sniff and eyeball all new things. After lots of sweet words of encouragement, coax her into the new harness. Once she’s in, praise her with hugs and treats.
Next, open the back door and let her lead. Chances are, she will slowly inch out the door with more careful sniffing and watching. Don’t force your cat outside if she does not want to go. Remember, leash training should be fun and never stressful. This is a practice in patience and may take some time to make it out the door. While you hold the leash, your cat sets the pace.
Eventually, you and your cat will be exploring the back yard like champs while keeping kitty dear safe on a harness and leash.
For a full tutorial, check out AdventureCat.org for a full tutorial on training cats to walk on a leash.
7. Teach Kitty Some New Tricks
Cats are brilliant beings that require mental stimulation. From sit to roll over, teaching your cat some new tricks will help keep his mind sharp. And because cats love food, using treats to encourage learning new feats provides great positive motivation.
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Consider clicker training to help your cat learn, and clicker apps are available for download.
Cat Care can be Fun Too
8. Brushing for Bonding and Heath
Cats are excellent groomers, but its good for us to help them out. Regular brushings mean less shedding, quicker action against fleas, and easing senior cat joint pain. PreventiveVet.com also points out, grooming serves as a bonding exercise between cats. So, by grooming your cat, you’re helping to strengthen the bond between you and your cat.
Add a kitty massage and turn a must-do care action into a luxurious treat.
9. Pawdicures
Okay, your cat probably doesn’t think of nail trims as a fun activity, but it does keep our fur babies healthy. Check out Fetch by WebMD’s instructions on how to trim cat nails.
Super Silliness to Keep Your Cat Entertained
10. Bubble Fun
Blowing bubbles is fun and if you happen to have a bottle of bubble soap around, it can be even more fun when your cat is involved. Cats love to chase and catch and the bubbles gliding and bouncing from a bubble wand provide great targets for kitty paws.
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Obviously, don’t let your cat drink bubble soap, but the little bit a cat may catch on their tongue won’t do harm. Bubble soaps are typically labeled as non-toxic, but as with all things, keep an eye on your cat while blowing bubbles and keep the bottle out of their paws.
To really drive kitty wild, grab some catnip bubbles for your kitty.
If All Else Fails…
11. Make new cat toys out of toilet paper rolls!
Feature Images: @happy_puffy/Instagram & Cats in Boxes/Facebook