Okay so Lilly has been on steroids for a while and boy don't I know it! Her dosage will be slowly decreased starting at the end of the month but my issue is being able to stimulate her to play. Any toys, balls, track things and da bird, she would rather sit there and fall asleep whilst watching daisy play. The only thing that gets her going is a fly, moth or if I get a laser out which I HATE doing and I've only done twice. They both get so worked up looking for it.

She's not quite 8 months and is weighing 9lb and she's defiantly got wider!!

Does anyone have any suggestions????

Their is nothing wrong with laser play as long as you let her "kill" a toy after play! She doesn't need to be over stimulated with tons of toys! Her weight should come down with the dosage! After all she is only 8 months old and she will soon slim into an adult! Most kittens are chunky with out steroids! Don't worry until she is about a month off the meds and then cut back her meals(if over eating) and start to play! Maybe harness train her so she can take walks! A trick I have learned with BB is there is things she can not resist! Playing da bird, if you take it across the floor slowly and the move it quickly to "hide" behind something! BB can't take that that is how their natural prey would act hence kicking in prey drive! Another thing is , does she have a favorite spot? BB loves the second to tallest shelf on the cat tree and a chair in the living room. If da infamous bird lands on one of those with a loud whhaaapp! She goes nuts! Is she really food motivated now that she is eating like a small horse agility!!!! My go to agility is fun and yes I get down with BB and act like a loon trying to get her to do stuff but it works for us even tho my kids videoed me on their tablets and are already using it for blackmail little monsters

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Now regarding the harness training. I really did wanna do that but since she's not allowed her booster injections as of jan I wouldn't be able to take her outside. We get so many cats walking through our garden that I don't know if they had their injections and if they've got anything, or not.

Plus I wouldn't want to take her out now as a side effect of the steroids is a weakened immune system :/

Tinsel wand. My cat goes CRAZY for it.

I think the hardest thing is finding a toy a cat cannot resist. When Raiden first came into our lives, I tried to engage him in play and he wasn't interested. I didn't give up. I continued to entice him to play with toys. I think he was getting all his exercise outside and he was happy, but after he got into a horrific cat fight and we had an emergency trip to the vet, we decided he had to be indoors or at least on a leash when going outside. That meant we had to entice him into playing more just for the exercise he was no longer getting. Well, he came alive and now lets us know when he wants to play. I bought Da Bird and he does like it, but I find he prefers the wand to the toy at the end of the wand. I also wanted to find toys that he could play with by himself -- bought three and he only seems interested in one of them. I love pushing the balls around and playing with them. LOL. I do engage him in play several times during the day and especially at bed time to tire him out. His favorite thing is to hide under the bed skirt and I poke the wand underneath it and he pounces on it. He'll do two passes following a laser and that's it.

I'd get a cat wheel if I had room for it! I think they are the neatest things, but knowing my Bengal, he wouldn't even look at it.

Da Bird is my boy's favorite! He tries to hide it as if it were real :/) also it works as good on the ground as in the air... try to get really into it and sneak around as if you were prey too... place some objects out for cat cover, use corners so the cat can hide and pounce, and be very persistent in learning to provoke responses.. good luck!

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Best Wishes,
Joe and Rasputin
MN, USA
joseph.tilseth@gmail.com

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The little monsters 3

Hi Brian, you brought up a really good point I think: use the laser to stimulate her interset and then switch to toys like Da Bird etc... with life like action. My bengal starts off really slow if I don't lead the play session with a particular toy. Also try this toy as it simulates insects really well: http://catdancer.com/products.htm

The cat dancer works well on the ground or in the air. It's inexpensive, sturdy, and a staple in our house. I bought one 6 months ago and still it as the original cardboard.

_________________
Best Wishes,
Joe and Rasputin
MN, USA
joseph.tilseth@gmail.com

We have allsorts of bought toys for our two but their favourites seems to be ribbons, cardboard boxes and roses sweet wrappers....
having said that there are a couple of fluffy/feathery wands that they like. I wiggle them along the back of the sofa to encourage them to jump up etc or if they are not participating I flick it under the sofa and that is bound to get at least one of them chasing after it! It's as if playing on the carpet in plain sight is ok but how dare it go under the sofa!

Lucy x

I turned off the lights when we played tonight so just the moonlight and outdoor ambient light crept in, and Raz really went into hunter mode! He was pouncing on da bird so hard against the wall that I jumped a little :-)

_________________
Best Wishes,
Joe and Rasputin
MN, USA
joseph.tilseth@gmail.com