Cats and kittens love to play. Kittens especially love to play and sharing your life with them is so much more rewarding if you play with your cat. It's really great fun even if you do pick up the occasional scratch and it's important for your cat's fitness and well being too.

How do you keep your cat entertained? After all it's not the same as a dog; you can't play catch or fetch with a cat, or can you? To keep your cat enthralled and interested in playing with you, you need to have a challenging and ever changing environment. Now before you go off the deep end, it's not as bad as you think. All you really need to do is to have a few cat toys out at a time and rotate them to keep your cat interested. It doesn't have to be expensive toys either. String, paper, balls and boxes are all great cat toys. Kittens use play as a way of learning.

Its fun to watch your kitten carefully stalk a ball, pause, then pounce on it, which causes the ball to quickly scoot off. Your kitten will then chase it all over the house for hours! Even better is having two kittens and watch them play with each other, the toys, and pretty much anything that moves, including your toes!! As with dogs, you need to take care that the toys you give your cat are safe. Even though a cat is not as destructive, (generally), as a dog, cats can and do pull toys apart. Then they eat the bits :-( .

Make sure that the components of the toy are non toxic and have no sharp parts that can cut your cat. Technology innovation is being applied to cat toys. There are toys are being introduced such as laser pointers and even remote controlled mice. The problem with these is that most cats and kittens dislike the noise of the motor so remote control toys are not a big hit. On the other hand a laser pointer is a huge hit, your cat will chase that elusive red dot all over the house for as long as you can stand it.

Beware, this can be frustrating for the cat though, as it can't get its claws into anything so it can have an affect on your cat's behavior over time. To relax, what better than to put on a special cat video. Now your cat can sit and watch TV.

These videos and DVD's are supposed to be very effective, but do you really want to turn your cat into a TV addict? The secret to keeping your cats happy and healthy is to continually challenge them physically and mentally. Don't forget that cats like to jump and climb too. Some of the best toys are designed to be played with in 3 dimensions and you'll be amazed by the acrobatics that your cat can perform. Use your imagination too.

Try putting two toys together to make a new toy. Become creative and play with your cat on a regular basis. This helps strengthen the bond between your cat and you, keeps her mentally stimulated, and physically fit.

Your Reward will be hours of fun and pleasure and a fit, healthy cat.

Steve Dolan is a cat lover and long time cat owner. Find more articles and resources about cat toys and cat play by clicking on Cat Toys and Cat Play, and for cat furniture visit Cat Furniture on the Web.