Having toys for your cat to play with will not only keeps your cat healthy by letting them have a way to exercise, especially if they are too dormant or temporarily inactive because of surgery or other health problems. Getting your cat active and exercising will speed up the progress of recovery from the health issues that  your cat may be suffering.

They have an instinct for certain ways of stalking their prey and the pouncing onto it and not letting it escape and if it does, recapturing it again and again and again if necessary. Certain cat toys can help sharpen and develop their skills to let your kitten and cat grow not only physically but mentally healthy cats and that is what we all should thrive for.

Cat Trees are probably considered more as furniture than toys but our cats and even when they were kittens enjoyed climbing to the different level to keep that one open eye at all times covering their domain from invaders or if an un-expecting   prey wondered within being captured they would have an advantage from their elevated position so that there was no escape from their grasp.  Having a great comfortable place to sleeping carefree or mark their territory by scratching the post is ok. Better than the wife new leather couch on wooden end table.

There are several interactive cat toys some use batteries some do not by having a spring steel wire attached to the base of the toy or having the spring steel wire attached to a clamping device are two great ways to capture your cat and kittens attention and keep it. The battery powered toy changes direction to create unpredictable bouncing movements to keep them entertained longer. The Wire alone toy will still amuse both cats, kitten and their  owner  because of the way the spring steel reacts and bounces this way and that forcing your cat to change direction sometime in midflight.  Both styles the wire bounces back to its original shape or position. Most model allow for the worn or damage toy to be replaced.

Curiosity never killed this cat. Cat toys with Catnap some are designed to have your cat interact by rubbing grabbing and even wrestling with hind paw kicking and even hugging and curling up with this toy most are filled with a lasting amount of catnip. The fluffy tail of this model will add extra excitement.  The Catnap will dissipate eventually and your cat may not show much interest if this happen you can replace them  for less than ten dollars at most pet stores or online.

Bonding or spending one on one time with your cat will go a long way for keeping you and your cat healthy. So having a toy to play with or dare is tease them with is a great way to get this interaction going between you and your cat or kitten. Something that looks alive and moves crazily, wildly in sudden direction change and full of surprises can guarantee a never a dull moment and hours of fun for the both of you.  

 Simple way to keep a healthy cat and a healthy kitten healthy.

What is this magical potion that makes Zak my cat and 2/3 of the cat population react not to the taste as much as to the smell of this I got to have more and now. The 1/3 of cats that are not  affected are kitten not three month of age and older very mature cats and most any Australian cats are not affected by is magical weed or if your are growing it, herb for your cat. This plant Nepeta cataria is native to Europe and has been imported to the United State and other countries and is now a wide spread weed here in North America. If you are going to grow this perennial herb of the mint family of plants, bury a five gallon bucket in the ground of your garden where you want the Catnip to grow to keep this herb from taking over the rest of your herb or flower garden. Note if the plant has been bruised or transplanted well have every cat in the neighborhood stopping by to take a nibble or roll in your garden.

Picking the Catnip to be harvested in middle or late summer just before the plant starts to flower. Pick the plant when it is driest no dew or rain on the plant wait for a dry day. Strip the leaves from the plant and dry as fast as you can but do not leave in direct sun light you can dry them in your oven at 150 degrees to dry and lock in the oil of the plant that you want.

 Catnip is a perennial plant  (describes a plant that lasts for more than two growing seasons, either dying back after each season, as some herbaceous plants do, or growing continuously, as some bushes do) with a  hardy hairy stem with heart shaped leaves and flower from lilac, blue or white at the top tip of the plant in clusters.

Nepetalactone is the magic component to trigger the classic response to catnip cause cat to react differently but reacting in some manner be it sniffing, licking, chewing not to eat but to release more of the scent of the plant, shaking not only the head but the entire body, rubbing their head and body , rolling and then repeating this process backing them go GAGA for five to fifteen minute  after that the cat seems to become acclimated to the scent but if the cat is away from the catnip for over an hour or longer and Catnip is re-introduced  it will trigger a reaction or response again and again.

That is why that when the catnip inserted toy that once was so popular with Zak does not get a second glance the scent of the catnip is gone. It is a good time that these toy are so inexpensive can be replaced frequently.

Another note about Nepetalactone a student from Iowa State University to study the effect of catnip oil to repel mosquitoes and it took ten times the amount of DEET to repel mosquitoes as it did a single amount of Catnip oil.

But the most important note of all is that if you are not prepared for a humorous encounter of catnip and your cat sprinkle a little catnip onto a rug and after a few sniff from mild mannered furry friend will probably show you some moves that you have never seen before. No gymnast can master the move Zak make when he is performing for us.

Using treats help stop behavior problems like scratching your living room furniture. You cannot stop your cats natural instincts like scratching to mark their territory or just exercising. You can channel that energy to teach them to scratch on their own scratching post or tree and they will think that it is their personal piece of furniture being territorial as they are and a little catnip added to so incentive cannot hurt. Cats are more independent than other pets and are happy to be left alone but, they are very affectionate and it is at these times is when you want to start you training section. Be patient, consistent and with each quality time you spend with each other. Remember sometime being consistent means stopping what you are doing to stop the bad scratching habit with a stern NO!!  Then take them over to their scratching post or tree and praise them and give them a treat for doing a good job.   Before you know it you and your cat will train on how to play catch.

Treats are used to help administer medication from the veterinarian treat call hide a pill in Salmon and Chicken favor. There are Hairball remedy treats to help correct or eliminate hairball in your cat or kitten.

There are some games that you can play with your cat that use treats as part of the game. The one that I like this time of year because Zak and I are watching a lot of football is catch or pass the treat. It started with Zak at one end of the couch and me at the other. I would give the treat an easy pass through the air toward him and he caught it. Complete the pass was completed by Zak first down. I give him another treat just for catching it. We had a lot of drop pass after that. If he missed it I wouldn’t say much, if he touched it but did not make the catch I would give him a lot of positive comments and attention. Whenever Zak made the catch you thought it was the winning touchdown pass completion at the Super Bowl.  Pretty soon he was making more catches than the Browns receivers were this year.

Making your own homemade treats is a great way to show how much you care about them. The next time you have the oven going to make your husband or family that hot chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, do not forget the rest of the family and make a batch of homemade treats for your cat. Here a favorite of Zak’s.  After we pull our cookies out of the oven my wife will mix   6oz. of Tuna do not drained tuna,    1 cup of cornmeal,     1 cup of Flour and     1/3 cup of water.    Mix all together into one bowl.  Take wax paper place on the counter and flour wax paper lightly and then dump mix onto wax paper and roll out to 1 / 4 inch thickness or less and cut out treats into shapes that you want but make then small in size. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees or I our case reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees Place your treats onto a greased cookie sheet and Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool and treats for everyone.      Note we cut our treats into small footballs better to pass with, TouchDown!

We all want to give our pets a toy or treat not only to keep them happy and health but, to keep them occupied while we are at work or away from home and cannot take them with us. Or in my wife’s case after that cup of coffee I always hear “Zak, I can’t play with you any more right now. I have to get ready for work you will have to wait until then.” So off he goes like WELL I don’t need you any more anyway and down the hall he goes swatting and batting that bright purple ball with the bell inside up and down the hall in and out of the kitchen then living room. Out the front door we go off to work thinking how many toys and treats he will play with today and which ones will he have scattered all over the floor out of his toy basket today.

Playing with a toy will help develop your cat’s instincts like, stalking, hunting and pouncing onto their pray. That prey being a small ball or a sock and yes a ball of yarn is very effective train toy to sharpen their skills. Play with your cat or kitten for ten or fifteen minutes every day, I know that we all get very busy sometimes but, by doing this you well help develop a healthy and Happy Cat.

Cats and Kittens are a lot like our children. Some new toys or presents that you bring home they might only play with five minutes or less and never touch it again. They spend more time on the bag or box that it came in. Other toys will give them hours of enjoyment and joy to you knowing that they have something to while you try to do the thing that you need to get done.  You can hear him or her in the other room they are imagining they are on an African Safari stalking that one gazelle that wonder a little too far from the rest of the herd and then pouncing onto his pray. He catches and then forcibly restrains the prey, in one swift pounce no escape for the prey. What do you think your cat or kitten has going on in their furry little mind of theirs, when they think no one else is watching?

It is great watching cats and kittens. They never seem to tire of playing. Some great toys or presents for you special someone can be the simplest gifts. We do have a small ball yarn and a rainbow of colored balls that he has.  Balls with bells, balls with feathers to be batted, swatted, tossed aimlessly into the air to be chased and pounced on. One of my old socks with a knot tied at both end is one of Zak’s favorite.