Playing with your cat develops his feline “being”

Playing with our cat, will make him grow and feel more cat every day. This may suggest that it will develop physically but its growth through play will make it greater emotionally and intellectually.

Through the game our cat will not only be able to have fun and entertain, but will also enhance the skills that will help him sharpen his hunter instinct, through mental and emotional stimulation. In short, all this will make him more cat.

Cats are quintessential hunters who vibrate and enjoy the art of stalking their prey, which is difficult when they are domesticated and even more so when they live in urban environments.

The game as a copy or caricature of reality brings the cat closer to the activity of its wild nature, bringing to the surface its instincts sleepy by generations of domestication and at the same time allowing it to keep its body and mind in shape.

When spaces are small, we will have to sharpen our ingenuity to replicate predatory behaviors through play.

If we use items and/or toys tied to ropes, we will be imitating the movements of the most common prey of small cats: birds or small rodents. In this way, urban life will be given to one of the main methods of hunting cats, which consists of pursuing their prey.

The way to specify it is through a branch or stick at the end of which we will tie a small rope or thread of at least one meter to which at the opposite end we attach a small inflatable ball (a piece of fabric that wraps a cotton or nylon foam) or a simple cork.

Let us take the stick from one end and with meandering motion we imitate the movements of a prey by dragging it, so that the cat chases it. The important thing is that it can be driven so that the sequence of the hunt ends with a happy and triumphant ending.

Another way to play is with balls or paper balls, especially if they bounce. The rebound will grant them the status of “alive” by resisting and trying to escape. This effect can be achieved by the cat himself by letting him grab a ball of appropriate size. The cat when she sees her roll, will position herself to stalk and attack her. Once it stands still, it will try to catch it between its four legs, with nails and mouth, pretending to have hunted a prey, to which its own stalking gave it “life”.

Toys, which are much better that they are homemade, should attract the cat's attention and that is why they have sound. J amás we must play with our cat with laser light flashlights: since his curiosity will force him to pursue it, deploying all his physical prowess to manage to catch it without the success of being able to hunt the prey. This will frustrate the animal and may have serious consequences for its future behavior.

In younger cats, which most often use their claws to catch toys, a greater playful tendency is observed. It is very important that when playing with cats we use intermediary objects and never our hands or feet to banish the habit of deploying their claws on them, preventing subsequent damage.

*Prof. Dr. Juan Enrique Romero @drromerook is a veterinary physician. Specialist in University Education. Master's Degree in Psychoimmunoneuroendocrinology. Former Director of the Small Animal School Hospital (UNLPAM). University Professor at several Argentine universities. International lecturer.

KEEP READING: