The Importance of Exercise for Kittens
Max was just 4 months old when I adopted him from Saving Grace Animal Shelter. When we met, the little guy with a tuxedo coat appeared healthy and alert, and he got along well with the other adoptables in his temporary kitty condo.
He gazed at me with those golden eyes, and I simply had to add him to my family. I brought him home, took him into the spare bedroom, opened his carrier, and allowed him to cautiously explore.
Once he felt comfortable in the new space, his real personality — and activity level — came out. Curious, energetic, and fearless, Max dashed about like a madcat. Pouncing on his cat toys, attacking them with his needle teeth, and clawing up the curtains, Max had some serious spunk!
Though my instinct was to tamp down that Tasmanian devil–like behavior, Ernie Ward, DVM, founder of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, says that kind of playful spirit should be encouraged in kittens. “When they’re young, kitty cats are going to be much more active and playful, just like people,” he says. “So when you see your kitten doing that, encourage it — don’t discourage it — and then try to maintain that activity as lifelong habits.”
Learning How to Be a Cat
A cat is considered a kitten until she’s 7 months old, when she reaches sexual maturity. During that time, her body is growing, her senses are developing, and her instinctual behaviors are forming. She’s learning how to be a cat.
Most of her waking hours will be spent playing and interacting with her companions — both two- and four-legged, says animal behaviorist Sharon Crowell-Davis, DVM. “Play behavior with companions peaks in the third and fourth months,” she says. “And at 5 months old, you’ll see more solitary hunting and stalking prey.”
As your kitten engages in these innate hunting and stalking behaviors, she’s also developing physical skills that she’ll need as a teenage and adult cat. She’s learning how to jump, balance, and climb, Ward says. She’s unleashing what he calls her “inner kitty predator.”
“Kittens have a built-in predatory drive,” he explains. “It’s instinctive — and this is why you see them hiding in boxes or chasing a wad of paper on the floor. This is stuff that really excites them.” It’s your job as a pet owner to encourage your kitten to tap into her wild side. “If your kitten says, ‘Let’s play, play, play, play, play,’ make it happen — and think: this is setting her up for a lifetime of health,” he says.
Channeling Your Kitten’s Energy
Your little panther may want to play nearly all day — but her body is actually designed for short bursts of intense activity, just like a wildcat, Ward says.
“A good starting point is three 5-minute play periods a day, because we want to tap into this predatory instinct,” he advises. “This can be with a laser pointer, remote-control cars, or feather dancers that you dangle while she chases around. There are many motion- and sound-sensitive automated toys now — like those offered by FurPetVo — that mimic a mouse or ball rolling across the floor.”
Remember those developmental milestones Crowell-Davis mentioned? Here’s how you can support them while helping your kitten build panther-like coordination:
- At 3–4 months: Focus on interactive activities — like playing hide-and-seek or teasing with a feather wand or mouse-on-a-string.
- At 5 months and older: Encourage individual prey drive by shining a laser pointer across the room, offering a crackle ball to bat around, or releasing a battery-operated mouse for her to chase.
Stock Up on Playtime Essentials
“Learning to play is essential for the development of kittens because it teaches them important skills that they will need as adults,” says Andrew Edney, DVM, author of the ASPCA Complete Cat Care Manual. Edney recommends stocking your kitten’s toy box with these essentials — all available through FurPetVo at furpetvo.com:
- Stuffed mice: Like the FurPetVo Refillable Feather Mouse Catnip Toy — perfect for solitary play. Your kitten will bat these mice around and chase them just like the real thing. As she matures, try offering a mouse or pouch stuffed with catnip for purr-inducing delight.
- Bouncy or crackle balls: Small, bouncy, or noisemaking balls are ideal for batting and pawing. Just be ready to retrieve them from behind doors and under couches.
- Cardboard boxes: Cats of all ages love boxes — especially those with a hole in the lid, which are perfect for hide-and-seek games with you or your other pets.
- Feather wands: Like the FurPetVo Triple-Feather Dual-Rod Wand — when waved erratically, it mimics a troubled bird or butterfly and triggers your kitten’s natural predatory instinct.
- Toys on a string or dangling treats: Cats are fascinated by objects pulled or dangled in front of their nose. A feather or stuffed mouse tied to string, a fishing-wand toy, or even a treat-shaped string (like FurPetVo’s Pull ‘n Play Tuna & Crab Treats) keeps them engaged — if only for a few minutes at a time!
Cat toys and activities like these help grow your kitten’s pouncing and chasing abilities, improve agility and nimbleness, and sharpen coordination. Plus, they strengthen the bond between you and your tiny companion.
“For their entire lives, cats are going to be really good at sprinting, pouncing, and leaping,” Ward says. “We want to make sure our kitty cat is moving.”
My tuxedo-clad Max recently celebrated his first birthday. He’s still a little spaz — but he turned out to be a fierce rodent hunter. (So long, mouse population!) I credit his sharp hunting instincts to hours of playtime with a mouse-on-a-string toy — and some tasty rewards, like FurPetVo Mixups Catnip Fever Treats, for a job well done. Now if only he’d stop attacking my ankles…
