Question
Our indoor kitten, like any, is very playful. Either he's playing or he's sleeping. Whenever we go into bedroom and close the door, he scratches and meows to let him in, and after letting in, just plays in front of us, so he's lonely without attention.
There are some problems in his behaviour, and some of the answers on different resources are "he's seeking attention". I think we play a lot with him, several times a day for about 10 minutes each, and if we're home, like on a weekend, more. Apart from actual playing, we talk to him, pet him, look at how he's playing by himself, so I wouldn't count him at lacking attention.
Still, it is the first kitten in my life, so we don't know, how much games and attention should be enough?
Answer
It depends on the kitten, but a good guideline I've found with kittens is to have a mix of toys they can play with on their own, and at least one session a day when I play with the kitten until it's ready to sleep. This is more important if you don't have any other cats because you're the kitten's sole source of companionship.
The sorts of toys that tend to work well for solo play in my experience are the ball-in-track toys (at least one of my cats figured out that if he batted it just right he could speed the ball up a ridiculous amount), anything dangly with feathers (although with one cat, the feathers rarely lasted more than a week), anything that rolls around the floor and makes noises/flashes light when it moves (be prepared to fish this out of inaccessible locations regularly - but every cat I've had who's been introduced to this loved it. Including in the middle of the night...).
To wear the kitten out, I'd suggest the old standby of the red dot - just make sure you've got something in reserve for the kitten to kill when he's tired out, so he doesn't get too frustrated. He gets a long (for kittens) chase and hunt game, you get the fun of watching him bounce all around the room after that danged red dot, and he gets the satisfaction of catching something afterwards. Then you can have a nice long snuggle with the sleepy kitten.
Another thing to consider is giving him a lot of attention when you get home from work, since he'll have been alone for what, to a kitten, is a very long time. When you get home is a good time to feed the kitten, then talk to him and pet him once he's eaten.
If you haven't had him long, there's a good chance he's still missing his littermates and mother, so he needs to be reassured that you're going to be around for him. Once he figures out that he's got everything he needs and plenty to play with when you're not home, and that you're there for him if he needs you, he'll settle down and not be so needy (although it could take a few months...)
Answered By - Kate Paulk