Play with the cats

#cats#play#pets#cat toy#animals

Cats love to play, but on their own terms, and a hand waved too close can end in a scratch. The picture below shows a boy playing with the cats through a feather toy, a handy way to show your child how the game works.

A boy sits on the floor playing with two cats using a feather toy, with a ball of yarn nearby.

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Playing with the cats

A boy sits on the floor playing with two cats using a feather toy, with a ball of yarn nearby.

About this visual support

A child who wants to play with the cat often wants to do it right away, with bare hands, and for a little too long. The cat has other ideas. It happily chases anything that moves but tires quickly, and when it has had enough it says so with its tail, its ears or its claws. To the child this can feel unfair, especially if they did not see the signals coming.

The visual support shows a boy sitting on the floor tempting two cats with a feather toy on a stick, with a ball of yarn nearby. The toy keeps hands at a distance, and the cat's own movement becomes the game. Look at the picture together before you start and talk about how to tell that the cat wants to carry on: it follows the toy with its eyes and keeps coming back. A practical tip is to agree on a clear ending, such as putting the toy in a box once the cat has jumped ten times, so the game stops before the cat ends it itself.

In Routined the time with the cats can sit in the daily schedule next to feeding and the litter box, and you can try the app for 14 days at no cost.