by Nomi Berger

Although your senior cat may now spend more time lounging and less time playing, she still needs activities to keep her both mentally and physically fit. Could YOU be missing her cue that she’s simply waiting for YOU to take the lead? If so, consider the following to help her release her remembered inner kitten.

If your favorite feline recognizes the images of various animals on TV, she may truly enjoy watching videos of birds, squirrels and other wildlife that have been created expressly for cats. Alternatively, place her cat tree close to a window where she can watch the world or set up a bird feeder outside and place her cat tree near the window facing it.

Because she’s less athletic and agile now than when she was young, ensure that the toys you use to keep her active don’t aggravate such common conditions in the aging as arthritis. Among the best “lower-activity toys” are:
• Cardboard boxes: Cut numerous openings into the sides of several cardboard boxes and place half of them right side up and the other half upside down, creating “cubbies” for her to enter and exit with ease.
• Climbing toys: If she doesn’t already have a cat tree, get her an especially sturdy one with several shelves that will allow her to climb up and down safely without having to leap any appreciable distance.
• Fleece pulls and toys: From something as simple as a soft, thick bathrobe pull to a wide assortment of fleece toys, they not only provide your kitty with something to chase and “capture”, they’re too large to be swallowed.
• Food-dispensing toys: Fill one of a variety of round, plastic food puzzles with high-value treats or kibble, and watch her roll it around and around in an effort to get out and eat her tasty “rewards.”
• Paper bags: Select a safe space in your home, open one or two large bags (grocery bags are best) and provide her with an inexpensive and instant hiding place or “cat cave.”

When interacting personally with your kitty using toys with a long ribbon or string, yarn or rubber band attached, remember that such long, tempting “tails” can be all too easily swallowed -- even by a senior – wreaking havoc with her stomach and intestines. Always store those toys safely out of sight as soon as playtime is done.

While catnip toys appeal to a majority of cats, some cats aren’t affected by it at all. If yours is one of them, keep your finicky senior feline on her toes by enticing her with toys filled with silver vine (the most popular), Tatarian honeysuckle or Valerian root instead.

Practice golf balls with the holes and ping pong balls make ideal toys -- both size and weight-wise -- for senior cats. Place several balls in an enclosed, safe space such as a bathtub and let your kitty have her way with them. You can also put a ball into an empty tissue box and allow her to fish around for it with her paws.

In short, while your senior kitty may not play as long or as hard as she did in her youth, it’s essential that you not only interact with her at least once a day but that you provide her with ample opportunities to stay engaged and amused on her own. What more paws-itive way could there be to keep her inner kitten alive and out there for all to see?

Curious as to whether or not YOUR favorite feline can be taught to lie down on cue?

According to pet trainers, it’s, paws down, one of the easiest behaviors a cat can learn. As a matter of fact, the more relaxed YOU are, the more relaxed your kitty will be, thereby affording you the optimum opportunity to positively reinforce this behavior.

Choose a location where your cat’s already comfortable curling up or sprawling out, whether it’s a couch, your bed or her own preferred perch. To make the spot even more appealing, cover it with an especially soft rug or fleecy blanket. Each training session should be brief – from one to five minutes – and to hold her attention and keep her engaged, always offer her ample rewards throughout.

Begin by marking and rewarding her instinctive tendency to lie down. As soon as she starts moving into a resting position, say “down” and mark it either with a word, such as “good”, or with the click of a training clicker, followed promptly by a reward, i.e. a high-value treat. Not only does the marker help your kitty learn what the desired behavior is, the reward teaches her to associate good things with that behavior.

If she seems confused by receiving a reward for a behavior that’s natural to her, don’t be discouraged. The key is repetition and consistency, building on her ability to learn the connection between the desired behavior and the resulting reward. By coupling the word “down” with the action of lying down, you’re teaching her to associate one with the other, followed, of course, by that all-important treat. The more you repeat this sequence, the sooner your kitty will learn that lying down in response to the word “down” is more than worth her while!

Up for a greater challenge? Use a “lure” as a way of teaching your kitty to lie down. Whether it’s a treat held in your closed hand, a tiny ball or a small crinkle toy, hold it in front of and slightly below her when she’s perched higher up on a chair or a cat tree, for example. As she moves to investigate, say “down” and mark it either with a word, such as “good” or with the click of a training clicker, and reward her with a treat whether she only bends slightly or actually lowers her chest to the surface of the cat tree or chair. Repeat the process until she’s fully resting in the desired down position.

Once she’s mastered this, switch from holding the “lure” where she can see it to holding it in your closed palm. This will teach her to follow your hand and not the “lure.” Continue rewarding her with a treat each time she successfully lies down, but remember to give her the treat with your other hand!

Your ultimate goal is to use only the hand signal preceded a second or two earlier by the word “down.” Remember the old axiom: practice makes perfect or, in this case, purr-fect? With ongoing practice – and paw-lenty of patience on your part -- your kitty should soon start anticipating the verbal cue “down” and move into the down position as soon as she hears it.

Whichever training strategy you choose, increase the time your cat remains in the down position by intermittently rewarding her with a treat. Then, at the end of each session, use a release word such as “free” as a signal to her that she is literally being freed from lying down.