A force for good

No matter how old or young your cat is, regular play is hugely beneficial to his health and well-being, and while some cats will happily keep themselves entertained by pouncing on a shadow or jumping up at a fly, it’s still important to be able to offer him some toys to challenge him, stimulate him, and distract him from any anxiety that comes his way.

There are two main ways to get your cat playing.You can use toys that allow you and your cat to play interactively together, and secondly, you can provide toys that your cat can play with alone. It’s possible that your cat might prefer one over the other or enjoy both types of play, so it’s a good idea to have a variety of toys at his disposal, which inevitably means trying to figure out what he might like.

From talking to cat owners over the years, I’ve learned that buying cat toys is quite an exciting experience for us, so much so that we often purchase toys that appeal visually to us. However, what we like is almost certainly not going to provide the same allure for our cats.

To maximise the chances of getting your cat to engage with his toys, the following criteria should feature in your decision making: the size of the toy, its similarity to prey, its texture, its weight, and whether or not your cat has been previously exposed to something similar.