Exercise is crucial to your cat’s general well-being. Movement, particularly, the type that utilizes their hunting ability can assist them to maintain a healthy size and burn extra fat.
For their mental health, playtime is important. It can assist to prevent cats from having low morale or being bored-which can result in adverse health and behavior problems.
Luring your dog to be energetic by moving around the block or playing a fetching game is a sensible and pet-health routine that is frequently used. But are you aware of the worth of exercise when it comes to your feline friend?
Keeping your cat healthy till the latter part of life is highly advised by many veterinarians and animal scientists. Although, a cat won’t work out as willingly as a dog will, nevertheless some techniques can assist you to maintain your cat’s activeness and mobility.
This article will walk you through 9 simple yet effective ways to have your cat exercise.
Pair up exercise partners
Knowing well that a cat won’t act in return to your demand as readily as a dog will, we recommend a straightforward solution to make sure that your cat gets their required exercises: Begin with two cats, that is, a couple of cats that are familiar with each other. Cats that can relate well will wrestle and chase each other, thereby working out together.
You may also pair up an older cat with a younger one, especially if they have a cat-kitten relationship. However, familiarizing two cats at an equal period is easier than introducing a second one later on. Cats that are familiar with each other will both respond well to your exercise training.
Try a cat tower
The cat towers sold online, which are multi-leveled and in pet dispensaries are a beneficial method to make sure that your cat will have numerous areas to have fun and places to mount for better exercise.
To use a cat tower, we suggest putting small treats in diverse sections of the tower to foster exercise. This makes your cat climb and jumps from one section of the tower to another attempting to reach the treats.
Keep toys around your cat
Cats tend to stay more isolated than dogs, therefore, it is important to keep abundant toys around. This is a good technique to give them enough choices for their workouts in form of toys.
These toys do not have to be expensive ones from pet stores. Some worn-out household materials can be used as toys to motivate cats to exercise. Consider balled-up pipe cleaners or Ping-Pong balls.
However, avoid keeping scary toys that can make your cat show fear-induced aggression around them. Doing so will simply make them avoid the exercise you’re trying to make them perform.
With toys, you may engage your cat in a throw-and-fetch game. This causes them to run back and forth fetching the toy you threw and bringing them back to you.
Create a hockey rink
In order to make things much more interesting and interactive, we suggest placing a ball in a big cardboard container or the bathtub to produce an immediate “hockey rink” for your cat. When the ball goes soaring off the wall (with the cat going after the ball), you will giggle and your cat will be able to get the required exercise.
However, ensure this exercise is performed in an environment that is not slippery in order to avoid your cat from getting injured by slipping while running after the ball.
Have fun with lasers
Talking of giggles, some things will interest you more. You can have your cat accelerate quickly to catch the laser dot of your laser pointer on a wall. In addition, you may switch the laser beam from the left wall to the right wall, causing your cat to run from left to right across the room.
However, while laser toys are often entertaining, it’s best to follow it up with something the cat can actually catch to prevent fixation of the beam of light in the cat’s eye and disappointment over failing to catch the laser beam.
Give your cat a wand
This is an excellent activity for a cat and a good laser follow-up. Acquire one of the flexible wand toys with a feather, mouse, or other distractions at the other end.
Interactive play with a wand or a fishing pole is a fantastic exercise that is usually quite amusing and satisfying for your little cat who loves to hunt.
Running the toy up and over the sofa or up and down the stairs can create a high-impact exercise and this raises the intensity of the workout.
Use catnip wisely
A helpful tool is a catnip, which is used to encourage your cat to work out, but we advise using it only in the appropriate circumstances. Keep in mind that not all cats respond to catnips and for those that do, many of them develop aggressive behavior after responding to Catnip.
Additionally, avoid giving Catnip before tiring events like a visit to the veterinarian. Your veterinary doctor will appreciate it.
Get your cat on a treadmill or a wheel
You can train your cat to work out on a treadmill. The best time to start is when they are young, full of energy, and when it requires little effort to lure them with a toy. Also while the cat is on the treadmill, it is important to keep an eye on them.
Usually, cats can run up to 30 miles per hour, but make them tread at a lower speed initially, then gradually increase the speed of the treadmill.
However, don’t attempt to force your cat on a treadmill when they’re unwilling because it may result in slipping, causing severe injuries or joint dislocations in your feline.
Go outside
Using the right discipline and the proper tools, you can get your cat to work with a rope and a restraint outside. A particular type of restraint with a texture similar to an item of soft clothing for the higher part of the cat’s back with the straps built in is preferable.
Ensure that the restraint is secured properly and cannot be removed by struggling. Kittens are much easier to train but training adult cats requires patience and persistence.
Firstly, allow your cat to get accustomed to the restraint before attaching the rope and allow them to drag it. Next, pick the leash up and apply light pressure on it. Although some cats get used to it right away, it might actually take a week or two to say they are truly comfortable with it.
Conclusion
Some cats tend to be lazy and prefer to sleep in their litter box for long hours, waiting for mealtime to come so that they can eat and go back to sleep.
Such behavior can be dangerous to the feline health and if your cat is like this, you may need to take some steps to make them exercise.
Usually, cats tend to be more active when paired with a friend, so you can pair up your cats and train them in some low-impact workouts. This helps them to stay healthy, fit, and active.
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