# What do you do to give your cat attention?



## Wallaby (Sep 9, 2010)

Booth has developed a "lovely" behavior of when he's not getting attention and I'm near him, he'll start doing everything he knows is "bad." He'll start small and work his way up to really crazy feats of "badness" all seemingly in an attempt to get my attention.

I was telling my dad about this and he told me that little kids will behave like that when they aren't getting enough attention, they'll start doing every bad thing they can think of because even negative attention is better than no attention. So I'm wondering if this might be the case with Booth...

My only issue with giving him more attention is that I don't know what he'll think of as attention... Personally, when I think of giving a cat attention, I think of cuddling them and playing with them. Well, Booth gets 2-3 play sessions a day (wrestling with a towel, chasing my version of "Da Bird," and chasing each other, generally) of about 5-10 minutes each. Then, he likes to choose to cuddle with me for about an hour every evening and then generally during the day I'll give him some love when he's all settled and sleepy. Also, every morning as I get ready for the day, we hang out in the bathroom together. He watches what I'm doing and most of the time I turn on the faucet so that he can play/drink the sink water. But after all that, I'm basically at a loss as to what else to do with him... 

What else can I do to give him attention? He loves to watch me do projects and build things but I don't do that often... He also LOVES to "help" me change my sheets but sheets only need to be changed so often.

Ideas?  Thanks in advance!


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## iunipera (Nov 7, 2010)

When I'm near my cat and she is doing something she shouldn't, I dangle my fingers and wiggle them. Whatever she is doing, she gives up on it and comes for a head scratch. 

This strategy works well with human toddlers as well. Distract from the naughties!


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Well, aside from playing with him, cuddling with him and letting him "help" you with chores, there's really no other way that I can think of for you to give him attention. When he starts to act up, you could give him something simple to keep himself occupied, such as an empty bag, a box, a rolled up piece of paper that he can bat around, a small ball of wool (supervised play only). Those sorts of things will usually amuse my girls for a good 20 minutes at a time.


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## Greenport ferals (Oct 30, 2010)

My cats love to be combed. I started when they were kittens. It is very bonding. They are DSHs. In spring it really helped them get rid of their winter coats, but they love it any tme. 
I will get the comb out and show it to them and they will all hang around until they get their turn.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Good point, Greenport. Abby also loves to be brushed. She relaxes and stretches out, as if to say "Groom me, slave"! :? Muffs is starting to take to grooming a little bit better than she once did.


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## raecarrow (Oct 27, 2009)

My Teddy used to do these "feats of badness" to get my attention. He would knock things off shelves, knock over the trash and grab the nastiest thing in there and bat it around the house, toss a toy at my feet and if I wasn't quick enough to throw it for him he would "accidently" miss the toy and get my foot". He would literally play fetch with me for HOURS.

I could tell he was lonely when I worked. So when I moved to a place where I could get another cat, I got his littermate, Leo, from the breeder. Now, neither of the boys do the "feats of badness" to get my attention. Of course they still do things they aren't supposed to(Leo will knock over the trash to get at chicken fat and skin if I don't bag it, Teddy counter surfs, they both like playing in the toilet, as well as getting into other things) but they don't do things bad to expressly to get my attention. If I'm not giving them enough attention, they go harrass the other cat (in the nicest possible... usually).

If you are in a position to get another cat, it may be something to consider.

Actually, now that I think about it, they will do "feats of badness" if they think I'm delaying feeding time too long. But I usually get sick of their "I'm starving" howls before that happens


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