Hi there, it’s Mom. Zoe and Hugo love to play. Every morning they choose their favorite toys and play as much as they want. It is said that cat’s favorite play is to catch the flying and hovering objects and chase the crawling ribbon. Zoe and Hugo like to catch the ball which I throw at them. Until recently they did not play together with me at the same time because they were not reserved to each other. That is the difficulty of having two cats.
Don’t you have the same problem with your cats? In this article I will introduce how I play with them and recommend the toys.
Zoe does not like Hugo when he becomes aggressive. When Hugo insists his priority to play with me, Zoe quits playing. So I used to prepare two rooms for each of them and visit them respectively. I always play with Zoe, because she came to our home first. For Hugo, I throw his favorite cat teaser and leave him during I am playing with Zoe.
Zoe’s favorite toys are a mouse and a ball. I choose a piece of thick paper of 10cm square and crumple it tightly into a ball. She likes the size and density of this ball and chase it around joyfully. She does it as if she is dribbling a soccer ball. When I toss it she jumps and catches it. She sometimes smashes it back to me. She looks as if she is a ball of knitting yarn when she plays with it. When the paper ball gets wet with her saliva, I take it so that she does not eat it and give another toy.
Zoe hunts the mouse toy. Its color is while, brown and beige, same as Zoe’s fur. It contains pebble inside and she cannot wait hunting it when she hears the noise of pebble. Every time she is given the new one she “customizes” it by biting the body. The mouse becomes like a triangle pole and it is easier for her to hold it in her mouth. When I toss it she jumps and catches it and then lays at full length on her stomach, with the mouse under her belly. She then finishes it off by smashing, kicking and dribbling it. She pretends as if the mouse is alive and intentionally got under her belly. In this way she likes to play by herself.
Sometimes I snatch the mouse out of her hands and toss it to her. She gets more excited and jumps a lot. However, this mouse is a bit heavy for her to catch on the sensitive nose, so I toss it to the place that I guess that Zoe would jump so that she does not hurt. Zoe’s preference of toy changes after several days so I change the toy to the fishing rod with the thin plastic flower and a cat teaser made of flexible metal rod.
Zoe likes fishing rods, but I never use it with a fine string because it might get her injured. I always choose the one with rubber string. The rubber one seems to attract Zoe’s attention a lot.
Zoe sometimes gets tired easily and play little. She might want to eat rather than playing. At that time I put a paper ball at the edge of a table so that she can see a little of it. I can leave her as she wants but I want her to play a lot for her exercise, that’s why I try a variety of toys to her. When I put a ball at the edge, she always stands on her tiptoe, looking her so pretty! She likes to tackle with something challenging. She is not attracted by chasing the crawling ribbon, but she likes me to hang it down from the back of the chair. When she sees it she enthusiastically catches it. I do not understand why she does not like the crawling ribbon but the one from the back of the chair, but anyway she likes to be stoic.
Zoe also runs away from me when we look at each other during playing. At first I thought she misunderstood that I was threatening her or she is afraid of me deep in her mind. And that thoughts made me hurt. But the hope was that she did it only when she was playing. After researching about cat’s play I concluded that it was also Zoe’s play, something like playing tag or inducing me to play. I was so relieved to know that she still loves me.
In doing so Hugo starts to meowing. He wants to play with me want without waiting any longer. Zoe is clever enough to understand that it is Hugo’s turn and she finishes her turn. I can tell it from her attitude that she does not react my toss of a ball and start taking a rest. Then I move to Hugo’s room. Hugo always stands at the door by putting his favorite cat teaser in the mouth. Sorry, Hugo, for making you wait long. Now it’s your turn!
Hugo also likes to play with the paper ball. He likes a ball of fur, too. This fur was originally a part of a cat teaser but it was fallen out. He rather likes the fur part, so I keep using it. Another of his favorite is a cat teaser with the thin plastic cicada on the edge. When I shake it in front of his face, his eyes become larger and round and he tries to catch it by his hands. However, if I keep shaking it he becomes scared and stay still with his eyes even larger. It is really difficult to appropriately attract him.
When playing with a ball Hugo jumps and catches it, and chasing it around in the room. He brings it to me and put it out of his mouth and wait for another throw. I need to make him play with a ball enough, otherwise he takes cat litter out of the litter box. His favorite paper balls are large and light one and small and firm one. He catches it without a bounce and brings one to me.
I try to put pauses during his play. Hugo’s heart beats much quicker than Zoe. Our vet said that it was by his nature and the heart rate was within the normal range. I was relieved to know it is not a ill, but still worried about it because Hugo often pants when he is so excited in playing. So, I came up with putting some pause by making him take a rest and changing a toy so that he does not have to move around. Hugo’s play finishes when his paws get sweat.
Even with that, it is a problem that Zoe and Hugo cannot play together. When Dad is at home each of us play with wither one, but I cannot play with them together at the same time. I feel sorry for Hugo for having to wait for Zoe every time. I was also afraid that Hugo becomes not liking to play because of it. So I started to make them play together step by step.
When Zoe started to get tired to play, I slightly opened the door of Zoe’s room so that Hugo can see her playing. Sometimes Hugo tried to get into the room, but I put the priority on Zoe. When she completely finishes playing, I invite Hugo into the room and play with him, making her watch it. It depends on how they are whether I keep doing it or taking him back to the original room. I anyway leave the door open and make both of them accustomed with it.
Sometimes Hugo chased the ball in front of Zoe making her surprised, but now they seem more accustomed. Zoe sometimes smashes the ball and we three can play together for a short while. The secret is to keep the order of play (Zoe then Hugo) and showed each other’s play.
Now, I have to solve the problem that Hugo becomes sad when waiting for his turn. According to my observation he looks dissatisfied with me shut the door of his room. So, I started to leave the Hugo’s door open and Zoe’s shut. By doing so Hugo can come to Zoe’s door and hear inside, and his meowing became less.
Only several days has passed since I tried this. I cannot yet make Hugo wait for his turn with enjoying his own play, but now I do not have to completely divide the space. They are surely making a progress. I will write another article when Zoe and Hugo can play together more.
