Cat not Playing!

McCloskey_A

hi all looking for some quick advice about a female 2 year old neutured cat,
she was always an extremely playful cat and now she won't play at all,,
she had some problems recently with crystals in her bladdder and was treated with steroids and antibiotics, the tablets seemed to knock her out, and increased her appetite - i have never seen her eat so much!
so she has been off the tablets a few days and is now just seeming very lazy we are trying to entice her with some new toys, and in general trying to play with her the way we always did, she is having none of it. just lazing around, - we did think that maybe she was sulking a bit because we were away for a few days and someone was just popping in to feed her, but back a week now.

health wise she seems good again, all ok in the litter tray dept, eating, drinking, no sore spots, no prob being picked up etc,

So we are just looking for some tips on how to get her motivated again??
obviously not looking for medical advise.

thanks for help.

ABajaninCork

Try her with a catnip toy perhaps?

McCloskey_A

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Try her with a catnip toy perhaps?

believe it or not she turns her nose up at catnip!

ABajaninCork

Blimey! That's two cats I know don't like catnip! My old boy wasn't too keen on it either...

gerrowadat

Apparently it's about half and half, I have one that goes mad for it and another that doesn't care.

Cats are creatures of habit, and it could be the disruption just has them stressed a bit. I had a stray in my house for a few days while being re-homed and it changed my two's behaviour for a month afterwards.

I'd say continue giving them a solid routine, and they'll come back into their own. Since the cat is 2 at this point, they do grow out of being madly playful eventually, but it's usually not for another couple of years.

IvySlayer

Older cats have these sessions where they are playful, lasts only for minutes though.

Don't bother with toys though, a piece of string that's going behind a cushion, she'll pounce :P

A straw...they love flicking them, rolling them.

A scrunched up piece of paper

A box...

A laser pointer

A ping pong ball

Put a newspaper on the ground, blow it, they go mad for attacking the corners

McCloskey_A

We were in the pet shop this afternoon, and we happened across a laser pointer! She is now running around the house like a lunatic , so we will see how she goes

gerrowadat

Careful with laser pointers -- laying for cats is practice for hunting, so they can get a bit stressed if they never actually catch something, make sure it's not the only thing they play with :-)

McCloskey_A

We are very careful that she does catch it!! Plenty of praise etc, so she's v proud of herself at the moment

Pumpkinseeds

We got a Da Bird toy for our 2 cats and they're insane about it. Our 5 year old chap has gotten a tad portly this year and lazy too, so we hoped this would get him galloping about and it has. He's like a kitten again. Our 3 year old chap loves a laser toy but the other isn't bothered. They both love to destroy a newspaper though. We put the paper on the floor and poke a stick under it, they go mad for it. Also ping pong balls are great, I sometimes throw it up the stairs and they'll gallop up after it.

For anyone with a lazy moggy I can't recommend Da bird highly enough.

ABajaninCork

Began wrote: »

Poor thing sounds depressed. Maybe best have it put down?

And a Happy New Year to you too troll! (And not a very good one either).

Now bugger off and let the grown ups talk, there's a love...

McCloskey_A

The laser pointer is the business!! She's running around the house like a lunatic