Do Cats Get Bored of Their Toys? How to Rotate Them

One of the joys of being a cat parent is playing with your feline friend. Watching their hunting instincts kick into high gear, guiding them around obstacles and enticing them to pounce on a toy you flip around is great fun. Whether they're chasing a feather back and forth, a streamer around in circles, a ball you toss for fetch, or a laser dot you send them careening after, it seems like an endless wellspring of energy and enjoyment.

You might have noticed, though, that sometimes your cat just doesn't seem into it. Maybe they're no-selling the feather you're flicking around, or they're ignoring the toy in favor of shouting at you for a treat, or they're just more interested in napping than hunting.

It really makes you think: are you doing something wrong? Are they sick? Are they just bored of their toys? Can they even get bored of their toys?

Can Cats Get Bored of Their Toys?

The answer is yes, but it's actually not quite as simple as that.

In fact, many of my cats never get bored of their toys, because it's not entirely just about the toys themselves. It's about the combination of toy and activity.

What cats get bored of is predictability and the lack of novelty.

This is why some of the more stationary toys, things like a dangly bit from a cat tree, one of those wiggly spring boppers, or the ring with the ball trapped in it, only hold their attention for a few weeks or months. On the other hand, a good feather teaser or flirt pole can provide endless fun, because the way you handle it makes it a unique experience every time.

Even if the toy itself is the same, if you're flipping it around and dragging it in different ways, in different places, and in different patterns, it can be novel and interesting enough for your cat to be engaged with it.

Cats can also get bored of their toys if you only have a couple of them and use the same ones all the time. Now, I'm going to be honest here; I don't think I've met a cat parent that has "only a couple of toys" in my life. Most of us love nothing more than to buy new things to pamper our fur babies, after all. But if you happen to be on a limited budget or have a strangely picky feline, maybe you have a small collection of toys.

What Are the Signs of Boredom in Cats?

How can you tell if your cat is bored of their toys? There are a lot of possible behavioral cues to watch for.

They ignore certain toys, even during playtime. If you pull out a toy and toss it for them and they ignore it, if you're flipping a teaser around and they don't care, if you're pointing a laser on the ground in front of them and they refuse to move, it could be a sign that they're bored of the toy.

The best way to test this is to try a different toy, preferably something new. If they don't care about chasing the little mouse stuffy you've been tossing for them for years, but they're more than happy to chase a milk ring or bread clip across the kitchen, they're probably just tired of the same old toy.

They're restless and pace a lot. If you've ever seen a video of a big cat at a zoo, pacing restlessly in what seems like a too-small enclosure, that can be a sign of a bored cat. The same is true of the tiny one you have in your home. If they're obviously restless and searching for something to do, but they don't engage with the toys you have for them, they might be bored of those toys.

They engage in destructive behavior. Destructive behavior in this case means things like chewing on cables and cords, clawing at the furniture or fixtures, or biting at things (especially you) when they pass by.

These are all signs that your cat is seeking any kind of stimulation, even things they know are prohibited, because at least being scolded is a new experience.

These can also all be signs that your cat is stressed, so if you have stressors like a new pet or child, a new arrangement of furniture, a new home, or a new schedule, your cat can become more restless and destructive until they settle down.

They over-groom themselves. When your cat is bored and they can't find stimulation from external sources, they'll take matters into their own paws. Grooming is at least a form of stimulation, and it can feel quite good, right up until it doesn't.

One of my followers told me about their cat, who had a problem with boredom. She would over-groom herself to the point that she licked a big bald patch in her side, and then would keep licking until she rubbed her skin raw. A combination of anti-anxiety medications and a more varied play routine helped her out, but it's still distressing to see.

They meow and beg for attention constantly. Your cat knows you're the primary source of stimulus in the house, so when they're bored, they know to go to you to seek attention. If your cat is spending a lot of time close to you, whining incessantly but never satisfied with things like food or a bit of petting, then they might be bored of their toys and in need of something new.

Fun fact: the personality trait of seeking novelty and new things to play with all the time is called "neophilia"; philia being Greek for an attraction towards or a liking of something, and neo being Greek for new. Thus, the attraction towards new things.

How to Handle a Cat Getting Bored of Their Toys

So, if your cat is getting bored of their toys, what can you do? Fortunately, you have a lot of options.

Play With Their Toys in a New Way

If you don't really want to buy new toys, one of the best things you can do is make some kind of change that brings new life to old toys.

Some of the ideas I've seen put to good use over the years include:

• Toying a string to a ball or mouse toy to drag it around, so it behaves differently from what they're used to.

• Building a cardboard obstacle course to drag a teaser toy around and through.

• Taking a more stationary toy and placing it in some new position they aren't used to seeing it.

• Use pet-safe dyes to change the colors and designs of existing toys.

• Combining toys into larger toys with more interactivity.

Sometimes, something as simple as changing the patterns and areas you play with certain toys can be enough to bring an old toy into new focus. If you usually flip a feather toy around an open living room, taking it to a doorway and playing around a corner, or sending it up and down a hallway, can be a fun variation.

Refresh Their Toys with New Scents

Cats familiarize themselves with their toys in a few different ways, going beyond just the sight and appearance of the toy. Scent plays a big role, and you can bring new life to an old toy by infusing it with a new scent that makes it interesting for them.

The usual go-to is, of course, catnip. Infusing a toy with catnip, either by putting some inside it, rubbing some on it, or leaving it sitting in a container of it for a while, can make it a very attractive toy, at least for a little while.

But did you know that not all cats are affected by catnip? Something like 30% of cats don't actually react to catnip, so it might not work for them.

Some simple scents that can "spice up" your playtime with your cat, without being toxic or dangerous to them, include things like valerian root, rosemary, frankincense, chamomile, ginger, and cedarwood.

You can also use something your cat loves, like a cat treat. Take a tiny bit of a treat and rub it into a toy to make it smell very enticing. Just make sure to 1) make sure your cat doesn't try to eat the toy, and 2) wash the toy afterward so it doesn't spoil and stink.

Buy New Toys to Play with Them

Obviously, one of the things you can do to spice up playtime with your cat is buy new toys. You can generally categorize toys into about three groups, depending on how you look at it.

First, you have collaborative toys. These are things you use to play with your cat, and include things like flirt poles and feather teasers. These toys don't do much without you to wiggle them around, so cats lose interest if you aren't playing with them.

Second are the independent play toys. These are usually things like balls, milk rings, small stuffies, and kicker toys. Your cat can play with them without you, though they can get bored of doing the same thing with the same toys over and over. These are where cats tend to get bored the most, so keep your roster limited and rotating.

Third are team toys. These are the kinds of toys that your cat might play with if you have another cat also playing at the same time. A lot of the independent toys that wiggle when a cat bats at it, for example, work best when two cats are both going after it. It's predictable if it's responding to the things your cat does, but if one cat is hitting it while the other watches, it's more like you're playing with them. Obviously, these only work if you have more than one cat in the home.

Make sure you have at least a couple of toys of each category, so there's always some option available to your feline friend.

Rotate Toys In and Out Over Time

Rotating toys in and out of activity is a big way to keep them interesting. One of my followers was telling me about some cardboard gingerbread house play boxes they got for their cats. Since they're seasonal, they only come out around the holidays, and the cats go absolutely wild over them. They're the kind of thing that would get boring pretty quickly, but also break down if they were available all the time. But, by storing them away most of the year, the useful life of the toy is much, much longer.

For more common toys, you can just keep a toy box somewhere and put some away when they get less use. Store away toys that are being ignored, pull out toys that haven't seen play in a while, and try to keep at least 1-2 months in between toys.

I recommend keeping maybe 2-3 toys per category available at any given time, and rotate them every month or two. That way you don't need a huge stash of toys, but you have enough that there's always something to play with.

I know some people rotate toys more quickly, but I don't find it super necessary. But every cat is different, so if your cat is even more neophilic than average, you may need a faster rotation.

More Questions About Rotating Cat Toys

What else is worth bringing up that I haven't mentioned yet?

How should you store cat toys properly?

First, make sure to clean them before you put them away. Cat toys can harbor all kinds of nastiness, and while it's rare, you really don't want to open up a toy box and find mold or other grossness.

Second, store them somewhere your cat doesn't get into. If they can access the toy box, it's not really a rotation anymore.

Third, don't be afraid to throw away toys that are no longer interesting. If you store a toy away, bring it out later, and your cat still doesn't care, just ditch it. Cat toys really aren't so expensive as to be that precious.

Should you stick to a toy rotation schedule?

That's up to you and your cat. I've never personally found a strict schedule to be useful for this, but maybe you will.

Just watch your cat's behavior and if they aren't engaging with a toy, pull it out of rotation and replace it. That's usually good enough.

Are there other categories of toys?

Cat toys are cat toys, and the categories we give them depend on how much we want to break them down. I know some people who just use two buckets, one for toys they use with their cat and one for toys the cat uses on their own.

On the other hand, I know some people who come up with all sorts of categories. Interactive toys, self-play toys, puzzle toys, snack toys, scent toys, soft plush toys, ball and bounce toys, electronic toys… the list goes on.

Just divide them however you find useful.

Do you have any other questions, or want to send me a story of your own? Feel free to leave me a comment or drop me a line on social media. I always love hearing from you all!