How do I keep my cat from going crazy??

Now that we've moved, Clicquot doesn't have access to the outdoors to hunt, hide and frolic like she used to. She's ten years old now, and starting to slow down a bit anyway, but I don't want her to get the indoor-cat-cabin-fever-crazy-sickness. She's not much of one for toys or lasers or anything, but she's already started chasing imaginary things! I'm worried that before long she'll start talking to herself.

Comments

[randofo]

Get a hamster and a hamster ball. Place the hamster in the hamster ball. Introduce them to each other. Hours of fun all around.

[scoochmaroo]

Then how do I keep the hamster from going crazy?

[randofo]

Prozac

[ChrysN]

Get a second cat, they will keep each other company or put a bird feeder outside a window so she can watch the birds. My cat spends a lot of time at the window watching birds, squirrels, or even leaves fall.

[scoochmaroo]

She ate the other cat. But birds she can see and not get to might be a good idea. Maybe a tv channel with birds flying around on it in case real birds won't come near the house. . .

[Bot1398]

You cat ate the other cat ?!?!

[bassclarinet23]

Oh boy. Do you really want your kitty attacking the TV?

[Mirime]

Our cat watches tv. its mostly waterfalls or nascar but hey it works

[hishealer]

0.0

[watermelonhead]

She ate it??!!?!?

[macninja]

Your cat ate another cat? It sounds like your cat is just crazy.

[pcorbett]

My oldest daughter keeps 3 Leopard Geckos. These things are extremely boring but the live crickets she feeds them are very busy. The cat sometimes in the middle of the night will be staring quitely at them next to the night light. The cat loves to watch them but I only get about two minutes tops.

[tnt.thomas]

I got a "Feliway" diffuser. Sends a scent signal to the cat that all is well. Lowered new kitty's stress in a couple of hours. Still same personality, just less whacked.

[oilpaint2]

Get a fishtank and some fish, ie goldfish. Ctas love watching the fish swim around, but they don't like the water.

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

our cat drank our whole fishtank

R.I.P. jojo

[bwpatton1]

Haha My cat does this with my fish, at first when I held her up next to the fish tank the tried to claw me to death, then she became interested.

[DJ Radio]

hmm, I can think of 2 solutions: 1. use a small remote control car on a regular basis. 2. use a mouse (not so humane)

[scoochmaroo]

Hey! Maybe I could make a remote control mouse! Any suggestions on this? Maybe I'll post another question. . .

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

just do the mouse-mouse ib;e but instead of a computor mouse use an rc car!

[watermelonhead]

Get a roomba!

[daniel2008]

or one of those wall avoiding mini robots, so you don't have to spend all your time controlling the RC mouse.

[Goodhart]

Laser pointers are good for a bit of entertainment. :-)

[Plasmana]

They make remote controlled mice nowdays, I don't know who make them, but my brother and sisters have one...

[Wafflicious]

Dear helper of crazy cats, There are cool little remote control cars you can get at radio shack for around 10 American dollars. If you buy that and a rubber mouse you can hollow the mouse and fit it on the car if you feed the wire out the side. Good luck

[DJ Radio]

hmm, Get a rubber mouse and hollow it out, and then put a motor in the hollowed out body.

[Jawa888]

 HAHAHAHAHAHA this question made me think of the cat I used to have it was blind deaf walked with a limp and was a complete spaz it would roll around the floor having fits. If you want to cure crazy cats kill them it worked for me

[man ray]

my cat does this to we bought him this odd ball with a tail on it it ran off of two AA batteries the thing just random rolled around the house he loved the thing until I stepped on it one day.

[bassclarinet23]

Prevent any unnecessary stress for your kitty, this only makes things worse. Perhaps you could take her to a psychiatrist if she started talking to herself.

[charine13]

well hampster might b fun for the cat but not the hamster if your cat has never seen one theres an 80% chance she Will figuree out how to get the hampster out. I would say (I knw this sounds crazy but has worked for me many times) Get a Male Kitten (neutered of course, 2 cats are no more work than one and if your little girl(cat) is social and playful the kitten will be a companion.(DO NOT GET A FEMALE) I would suggest the humane society and bring your cat with you so she can approve(but make sure shes up on her shots, after youve found on. good luck Charine

[hishealer]

I will attest the little boy calmed my neurotic girl. A little. She is very neurotic tho

[MissChiff]

Well, I had to relocate the male cat that we did have because they did not get along. And it turned out to be much more work and cost taking care of the two of them. She seems much happier being on her own. I don't plan to get a hamster. I just thought it was a funny image. I'm pretty sure she'd lose interest in it in about half an hour. Then I'd have a hamster to take care of too. . . .

[greenoakdoc]

• Bird TV. Put a bird feeder outside the window.
• Toys. Balls--small one of crumpled tin foil (many cats will retrieve this); larger ones out of crumpled newspaper, softball sized is good. The ring from orange juice or milk jugs is a freebie and often highly prized.
• Hide food, small amounts of cat crystals/kibbles, in places that it is OK for the cat to go/be in or on; helps with weight control and mimics normal hunting behavior.
• Catnip. Some cats really bliss out; others get to be more like mean drunks and that isn't much fun for the owner.
• Your time and attention. Cats have complicated social structures and don't take change gracefully.
• Prozac won't be much help. Wrong drug anyhow. Amitriptyline would be a better choice.

[hishealer]

Pipe cleaners in coil shape seem to be irresistable.

[hishealer]

Ferret? Or maybe a little kitten friend? Worked wonders on my mom's aging dog, she loved kittens. I had a cat and a ferret that would play like kittens for hours too. Ferrets may be small, but they can hold their own!

[ardog]

if you have a vhs tape player. have a friend record you talking to. petting, brushing your cat's fur or whatever your cat normally sees/feels you do for them. record the view outside their favorite window. just about anything that they see themselves or see you do seems to work.. have seen this work when a cat needs rest, but still wired up a bit. perhaps if their brain sees action, it may be easier to let their bodies get into calm mode. include a scene of your cat sleeping. no idea if that works but just thought of it. i've seen this in action with a store bought tape featureing other cats, but seems that might have potential for getting the fur up.

[platypusymphony]

Like Catnip, Valerian root can also calm or excite your cat. It's pretty strong, so you don't even have to give it to them to eat, just to smell. It's used by humans to help with anxiety and sleep so you can just buy a small jar of Valerian pills at the drugstore or a health food store. I have found that if my cats even smell it on my hands after having handled one pill, there is a visible effect.

[Yerboogieman]

Randofo, That is dangerous, my mom's cat likes to sit and spin the hamster ball around for hours.

[charine13]

Thank you for responding, I was pretty sure you were kidding but in this day and age ya never know:) sorry it didnt work out but im sure what you did was the right thing because i could tell you cared and thats what counts ;) Take care C13

[sgsidekick]

I would suggest a kiddie fishing rod. I use a Micky Mouse rod only about a foot and half to 2 feet long. I tie a couple pieces of leather thong to the end, and cast it out. My cat loves it! She gets to chase it all over the place. I change it up by sticking a few feathers into it once in a while. She thinks she's chasing birds (she's an inside kitty). I've seen this kiddie rods at KayBee's, but you should be able to find it fairly easily. Good luck!

[fungus amungus]

Crumble up a Prozac pill and mix it in with the food. Mmm... Prozac

[scoochmaroo]

I'm not wasting precious Prozac on my cat. As much as I love her. I need it all.

[fungus amungus]

No! you only need to use a tiny bit! Use your microplane to shave off a teensy bit of happiness. Then, the next time you make some pasta and grate some parmesan it's a world of flavor and serotonin!

[netbuddy]

Cats have these episoded because it is part of their make up and if they didn't have these releases then they would go nuts or get cabin fever and such like.

[Doctor What]

Get a small dog. It'll keep it company, but at the same time, give it competition.

[scoochmaroo]

I've been looking for a reason to get a little dog. She doesn't recognize them as a threat. Or as dogs really. I would want to train it to use a litter box too. . .

[scoochmaroo]

According to this, all I need is olive wood. Anyone had any experience with this?