Learning that their environment is a safe place…

Cats that grow up in hiding, without experiencing positive contact with humans during their developmental years, may learn to view the world through a survival lens. A human moving a cat toy, even gently, can trigger a fear response rather than a play session to look forward to.

Play in adult cats is tied to hunting behaviors. If a human is nearby, an unsocialized cat may be busy monitoring that human’s movements to stay safe, overriding any urge to chase a toy.

In addition, unfamiliar objects can be threatening, confusing, or at least uninteresting—not a treat.

Once Totti and Wallace were comfortable leaving their sanctuary at night, after we went to bed, it was playtime. We would wake up to tunnels and other objects scattered here and there throughout the living room. (Next week’s blog post: Cameras for the Win!)

During the day, it was different. There were plenty of toys available, but they were suspicious of them—and still not trusting of us.

It’s not that they haven’t played during these 20 months. In addition to the “Wild Rumpus” at night while we were asleep, Totti and Wallace each developed their own ways of playing.

Playing Together…

Wrasslin’!

They love to wrestle with each other. Wallace, the older one, will lie on his back while Totti swats at him—no claws out—hits him on the head, and basically taps him asking for more.

Solo Play…

Totti

Totti learned early that if soft balls were tossed toward her tunnel—the only place she would hang out in the living room when we were awake—she could run out, chase or grab a ball, and then run right back to her safe place.

Where were the balls coming from? She didn’t know. She didn’t care. And she seemed to be having a blast.

Wallace

Wallace, the survivalist and more guarded of the two, would play when we were “asleep.” After bedtime, we would hear:

Bounce, bounce, bounce.

Thump, thump, thump.

And then thump, thump, thump again.

It took a few days to figure out that Wallace was bouncing the soft balls down the stairs, running after them, and sometimes even retrieving them. I caught him coming up the stairs one night with a ball in his mouth.

So, they were getting exercise. They were playing. They just weren’t ready to play with us—or even in our presence.

And Then… There Was Us

Time passes. Almost twenty-two months and counting.

They are more comfortable being with us, and they are finally ready to play in our presence, even letting us join in occasionally.

Feather toys. Wand toys. Balls and more.

They are finally engaging.

They still wrassle. They are still guarded. They still have their moments when a little too much human involvement is, well… a little too much.

But they are playing with us in the room.

That may not sound like a big deal for most cats.

For Totti and Wallace, it is.

They haven’t quite figured out puzzle feeders yet—but maybe soon.

There is a helpful article from My Cat Journal about teaching feral (or traumatized) cats how to play. Check it out here: How to Teach a Feral Cat to Play.

And finally, check out the YouTube video of Penny, another cat from the Sanctuary, giving Wallace a few taps on the head. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2D03frfgZDs?feature=share

Either he loves to be picked on—or he’s just too much of a gentleman to make the girls stop.