How To Tire Out A Kitten – 5 Secrets For Tired Cat Owners

Maybe your kitten is 5 or 6 months old and you were expecting some energy, but you didn’t expect THIS MUCH energy, you need to know how to tire out a kitten fast!

And that’s what we are going to help you with today, giving you tips that work both when you have time to play and when you need to leave your kitten alone.

All of them explore efficient ways that will aid you in your adventure to seek a little bit of peace and calm while rising a loveable but hyper kitten!

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Summary

How To Tire Out A Kitten – 7 Secrets For Tired Cat Owners

1. Play hard -Play vigorously
2. Divide and conquer -Play Throughout the Day
3. Better together – Play Interactive games (with or without cat toys!)
4. Avoid boredom – Mental Stimulation is a must for cats!
5. Underrated Way To Tire Out A Cat!– Walk Your Cat
6. Use the best cat toys to tire them out
7. Kitty-Bonus: Catify your apartment/house

Related content:

• 9 Best Cat Toys To Tire Them Out (Self-Play Options Too!)
• Are Cat Treadmills Worth It? Pros, Cons, And 3 Alternatives You Must Know
• How To Calm A New Kitten Down? The Guide You Need.
• Cat Care 101: How To Take Care Of A Cat For Beginners
• How To Catify Your Apartment [13+ Options For All Budgets]
• 5 Pros And Cons Of Getting Two Kittens [ Will You Regret It?]

1. Play Hard – Play Vigorously

Wait a minute…does this mean I have to let my cat destroy everything, bite and scratch me hard? No, that’s not what we mean!

What we mean is that you should play intense games that involve high physical or mental activity, such as:

• Tag or hide and seek
• Fetch
• Playing with a feather wand
• Teach your cat a trick
• Playing with puzzle feeders

Those kinds of games are not only fun for your cat but demand a decent amount of energy and are a great opportunity to bond with your kitten – a win-win situation! BUT…how much time should each session be? Let’s see:

2. Divide And Conquer – Play Throughout The Day With Your Kitty

This is one of the best cat play tips and secrets on how to tire out a kitten for new owners:

Divide your playtime into 4-6 sessions throughout the day of 20-30 minutes each instead of only 1 or 2 sessions a day.

Why is this important?

Kittens are little balls of fur with TONS of energy, as they grow older they start to calm down (around 1 year and 1 year and a half), but, when they are little they get zoomies quite often and the best way to get rid of this pent up energy is to allow them to exercise and play as often as possible.

This is why a lot of cat owners and cat blogs recommend having two cats instead of one as this is one of the top strategies to let your kitten socialize and get rid of their excess energy while playing with their playmate. However, if you can’t afford a second kitty, don’t worry! Just follow these article’s tips which will help you to finally calm down your kitty.

Pro tip: socializing is very important for your kitty, if your cat still wants to stay with you after playtime (and if you work from home) you can let your kitty roam your room or put them in a comfortable cat crate with toys, food, and a bed so he can spend time with you while you work.

3. Play Interactive Games (With Or Without Cat Toys!)

Playing interactive games such as chasing or tag will not only help your kitty burn out energy but it is also a great opportunity to bond with your kitty!

And we know, some of you may be wondering “Do cats know how do you play tag?”, and the answer is yes! They absolutely can understand how to play tag, hide-and-seek.

Of course, each cat has a personality, which means some of them may love to play tag with you while others may prefer to do it with other kitties or won’t like it at all.

And playing tag is just one example of a cat game that doesn’t require playing with toys.

For example, you check out this video from the cat owner and Youtuber Jess CATicles, where she explains how you can safely play with your kitten (without using your hands) with easy to find home items like card boxes

In the end, remember you don’t need to spend money on cat toys if you don’t want to! There are tons of home items you can use to creatively play with your kitty.

Tip: You can lure your cat to chase you using a wand cat toy, you can buy one for cheap or make one yourself! If you want to make one, check out this amazing article by Petfinder: DIY Cat Toys | How to Make a Feather Wand | Petfinder

How to play tag/chase with your cat- Playing Tips

4. Avoid Boredom – Mental Stimulation Is A Must For Cats!

Cats are very smart creatures, stimulating their brain will not only boost their happiness and health but also avoid boredom AND destructive behavior. But, how to stimulate your cat’s curiosity?

One of the most common ways to make your cat do brain exercise is through letting your kitty solve food puzzles, stimulate their hunting instincts with games like treasure hunt games, or if you have the time to, teach your cat a trick!

If this picked your interest we recommend you check out these amazing articles where you will learn how to tire out a kitten with mental excercise:

• How to Introduce Your Cat to Puzzle Feeders
• Clever Ways to Keep Your Cat Active: Food Scavenger Hunts
• How to Exercise Your Cat’s Predator Instinct Without Letting Her Hunt
• Tips On Teaching Your Cat To Do Tricks

5. Walking Your Cat ( Underrated Way To Tire Out A Cat!)

Walking your cat is not the first exercise cat owners think.

Moreover, some people ask themselves “is walking your cat weird?” – “is it socially acceptable to walk your cat?” and “do cats like being taken for walks?”

And, yes it is true some people will think you are a weirdo, and not every kitty will enjoy taking walks, some of them will hate using a leash!

However, if your indoor kitty is curious about going out, this may be the best exercise to do.

Walking your cat actually has tons of benefits for your kitty like:

• Burns energy
• Makes your cat relaxed
• A bonding experience between you and your kitty
• Helps your kitty feel less bored
• Helps your kitty socialize with other people or friendly pets

If you’re looking how to tire your kitten and this seems like a good fit for you, I recommend you check out these videos that will guide you on leash training and things to consider when walking a cat.

• Is Training Your Cat to Walk On a Leash a Bad Idea?!?
• How to Teach a Cat to Walk on a Leash
• HOW TO WALK YOUR CAT: Our tips on how to train your cat to walk on a leash and harness!

Care-tip: If you decide to walk your indoor kitty, make sure it has all the vaccinations your vet recommends in order to prevent unwanted fleas, worms, or that it gets other infections.

6. Best Cat Toys To Tire Them Out

The best toys to tire out a kitten usually are the simplest toys, cats prefer simplicity over fancy things!

Here are some of the top cat toys that will wear out your kitten and If you want to bond with your kitten we recommend buying the Cat Dancer or Cat Dancer Toy | Hepper, these are safe and interactive, excellent for bonding with your kitten while simultaneously tiring him out!

On the other hand, if you need some alone time and get your kitten to play by itself we recommend the Mechanical Cat Toy | Hepper, is a great toy to exercise and relieve anxiety, an ideal cat toy for the full-time worker that needs to leave their kitten alone at home.

If you want to look at our full list of best cat toys to keep your cat busy check our article: 9 Best Cat Toys To Tire Them Out (Self-Play Options Too!)

Toy	Price Range
Cat Dancer	$
Cat Dancer Toy | Hepper	$$
Mechanical Cat Toy | Hepper	$$

BONUS: Catify Your Home/Apartment

Last but not least, it is crucial to learn how to catify your apartment or house if you want to know how to tire out a kitten. Why? Because by doing so you’re making sure your kitten doesn’t get bored and destructive, instead, they will feel relaxed and happy.

There are lots of tips to catify your apartment but you can summarize them in 3 main points:

1. Check your home is a safe environment for your kitty
2. Stimulating your cat’s mental activity
3. Providing spaces just for your kitty

Check your home is a safe environment for your kitty

Although this does not relate entirely to how to tire out a kitten, this is the first step you should do when catifying your home, after all, you don’t want your kitten to get poisoned with your plants or bite a wire and get electrocuted!

If you want to learn more about household items that are dangerous to cats, check out these valuable articles that will help you learn more about toxic things to cats:

• What Household Items Are Dangerous to Cats? | Alley Cat Allies
• Top Cat Poisons: Plants, Medications, Insecticides, and More (webmd.com)
• 15 Common Household Hazards for Cats – Catster

Stimulating your cat’s mental activity

Stimulating your cat’s mental activity can be done with interactive games, but what if you don’t have time to play with your kitten because of work?

Whatever the reason may be we can’t always be there to play 🙁 that’s why cat toys are a great way to keep your kitty happy and calm while you are away.

Some of the best toys for cats are those that incentive their hunting instinct and cognitive decisions, such as puzzle toys or fish tank toys.

On the other hand, catnip toys could calm their mood, however, truth be told, when it comes to cats it is hard to predict!

Just make sure to analyze the personality of your kittens, as they may love to chase, hide, hunt, or just jump through walls, based on what you see you can start guessing which toys may be the best fit for them.

Providing spaces just for your kitty

Last but not least providing a space just for your kitty will help them calm down, relax and play in a safe area.

These spaces can be indoor or outdoors the important thing is that your cat identifies those plays are just for their joy and can quickly relax.

If you want to learn more about how to catifiy your apartment for different budgets I recommend you to check out this article How To Catify Your Apartment With Space Saving Furniture [13+ Options For All Budgets]

And for the outdoors in this video, we found a great guide on how to build a catio for your cat from start to finish from Youtuber Kitten Lady!

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