Do cats get bored?

Do cats get bored?
It seems to me that some cats will sleep all day. Even if they are awake, they would stay at one spot for a long time doing nothing.

Do they ever get bored?
How do you know if cat is bored?

Oh yes, they will get bored! They do sleep a lot to conserve energy for hunting, but They would do a certain amount of prowling and hunting during the day. This is why cat behaviorists recommend environmental enrichment for cats, especially in shelters. Rotate toys; put some away and bring out others the cat hasn't seen for a while. A small simple fish tank or a bird feeder outside a good viewing window gives them something to watch. Hiding dry food around the house or in puzzle toys allows them to have something to hunt. This breaks up the monotony of their day. Otherwise they will sleep too much (and want to keep you up all night) or they will eat out of boredom and end up fat.

Its seems like when my cat gets bored he follows me around more. If he does not want to be bothered he will go away into his own space. Besides, I think that is the reason why pet toys are made in the first place so they can have something fun to do. Otherwise, they will just tear up things like the toilet paper in the bathroom or try and eat your gold fishes out of their bowls.

Yeah, just like any animal they will get bored. Just has been mentioned above, rotating out toys or mixing up the routine when you get home will shake things up a bit to get them interested. Maybe try to play with them before getting dinner ready as this mix up the routine but it'll make them happy.

That's one thing none of my cats have done ... touched the toilet paper ... thank gawd! LOL

Funny about hiding their dry food kibbles ... Dot likes to take a few out of the bowl and bat them around and then "kill them". Then later on, I find them under furniture. She buries the dead I suppose. *rolls eyes* hehehe

Overall, the most favorite toy is not store bought. It's a long piece of rawhide leather string (1/4 inch thick). It's the bees knees to them. We gave up on buying feathered toys ... they just tear them up the first day. Soft plushies also get ripped up the first day.

Our one cat, Max, doesn't. He just wants to be left alone and if he feels like playing he will show us by kicking a ball to us.

Our other one, Batman, does get bored. When he gets bored, he goes and bothers Max or he sits on our laps when we're watching a movie or when I'm working.

I think cats do get bored. Why else is there stuff scattered all over when a person gets home, or in the morning? I used to have a cat that would knock ornaments off of the Christmas tree and play with them half the night. She also liked to get into my yarn bag; we left her and her kittens in the house one weekend we were gone (about 23 years ago now) and got home to find they had been playing with the yarn. It took hours to roll it all up and clean up the mess!

I don't think my cat is bored, I think she is lazy! She sleeps at least 22 hours a day, on the bed, behind doors, under furniture, in the closet, on hardwood floors, in boxes anywhere her little heart desires. She strolls out to eat or drink or go to the bathroom. She does her...what I call....the squirrely dance (where she runs around the house without any provocation), every day at 9pm, then looks at me with a curious look as though she has never met me and hurries out of the room to lay down, she is sooo weird! So I think she is content to be the Guiness World record holder for laziest cat ever!

I believe older cats are less active and less playful when compare to their younger selves. How old are your cats?
Lets see if it is related to their age or not.

When you see cats sleeping, most of the time they are not. They are just napping. And napping is not the same as sleeping. Their eyes are closed but they know what's going on around them. It's their way of conserving energy.

Cats are just like other animals if they don't get enough stimulation and enrichment they can get bored. However I've read that it's normal for cats to nap most of the day away. I just make sure my cat has toys and things to climb on and lots of attention.

(06-15-2012 05:32 AM)andrew320 Wrote:  Our one cat, Max, doesn't. He just wants to be left alone and if he feels like playing he will show us by kicking a ball to us.

Our other one, Batman, does get bored. When he gets bored, he goes and bothers Max or he sits on our laps when we're watching a movie or when I'm working.

I used to have a cat named Batman too. Anyway, my car Dolores likes to chase my daughter's remote controlled Sonic the Hedgehog race car, watch TV or stare at my goldfish in the tank , so when she gets bored my daughter will drive the race car around for her or turn on Animal Planet.

Cats do get bored but they are very easily entertained.

I have found my cat passing his ball back and forth between his paws as if he were bored. Usually he would chase it all around the house like a maniac

When I first saw the title of this thread, my immediate thought was "This reminds me of the Purina Friskies "End Cat Boredom" PSA."

It's pretty funny. In case anyone missed it, here it is. You're welcome.

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By the way, if you have an Ipad and a bored cat, here are some iPad games that were specifically designed for cats to play based on research of cat senses. Now THAT'S a good use for an iPad.

I always wondered that, if they were sleeping all day because they were depressed or something. I've never had cats before, only dogs - which were much more "needy" in terms of attention I suppose lol.

Our older cat, Tabitha, sleeps a lot because she is getting old and has kidney disease. However, our young Bengal, Phoebe gets bored all the time. However, she usually knows that when we cannot play with her, she needs to run off some of her pent up energy. She will do that for several minutes, and then settle down. Sometimes she will sit in the bathtub and meow until one of us comes in and plays with her.

My cat drives me insane when she's bored. She's an old lady (approaching 17) and more than a bit senile. It's like having a two-year old child demanding you entertain her. And she's crotchety. She wants attention and petting, but then gets irritated that you're doing it wrong. She even wants me to lie down with her at nap times. Her meowing gets strident and it reminds me of a kid saying mommy, mommy, Mommy, Mommy, MOMMY, MOMMY until you snap!