Cat Agility Suggestions Please!! VIDEO WORKS NOW :0)

[Emeraldgreen]

In a response to Snowshoe2's post in Cat Health, I mentioned that I too had an overweight cat and was looking for ways to help him shed a few pounds. Paddy is now 18 pounds and he is an overeater. He's always hungry and when he eats, he takes HUGE mouthfuls of food as if he may never receive food again. It almost looks like he un-hinges his jaws so he can fit the maximum amount of crunchies into this mouth.
I'm going to try and supervise his feedings from now on and possibly try a weight control food but I'd also like to set up a cat agility thing inside to get him moving. I already have two 5 foot long collapsable tubes. I have a few cat trees that I can work into the course. Does anyone have any fun ideas on what I could add to the course that wouldn't be expensive? Any and all thoughts would be appreciated. :)
Here is a short clip of Paddy eating his kibbles a few minutes ago. You'll see what I mean about his big mouthfuls! I had to use a flashlight on him because our little camera makes everything so dark.

Paddy's BIG bites! (http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/emeraldcreek/?action=view&current=22ca1486.pbr)

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd102/emeraldcreek/IMG_2999.jpg

[krazyaboutkatz]

First I wanted to let you know that your video won't work for me. It's uploads but it won't play.:(

I've been to a few cat shows where they had cat agility and here are 2 pictures of what they used.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v176/krazyaboutkatz/InternationalCatShow-SanMateoCAN-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v176/krazyaboutkatz/InternationalCatShow-SanMateoCANov2.jpg

You can see that they used hoops to jump through, gates to jump over, some stairs to run up and down, and tunnels to run through. Most of the cats didn't cooperate very well though. They'd use toys to try to entice the cat so it would go through the course.

Here's a good link about cat agility (http://www.catagility.org/). There are also several pictures of it. Good luck.:)

[jackie]

with the tube, could you angle it like a ramp, so you could roll a ball down it?

I never knew there was such a thing as cat agility, I don't think my cats would take to it unless you had prime rib hanging from a string, lol. :p

[Medusa]

I couldn't view the video either. As for an agility course, I've bought every kind of hoop and tunnel and toy, etc. to no avail. But my fur posse races up and down the stairs like it's a race way and they bat around catnip toys as though they're fresh kill, so I guess that'll have to do. I wish I could come up w/a suggestion but I'm fresh out! :confused:

[Laura's Babies]

Video didn't work for me either.

[catmandu]

I Am At The Library On Thier Best Computer , And No Movie Here Either. I Would Try An Interactive Toy With Paddy As They Will Play With That When They May Not Be Interested In The Other Toys!!
Good Luck With Slimming Paddy Down!!!

[Emeraldgreen]

Sorry about the video, I was tired last night and not paying attention to what I was doing. It's working now.
Thanks for the pics of cat agility Krazyaboutkats. I'm really hoping that the motivating factor for Paddy will be his obsession with food and that he will follow me around and through whatever I set up if I have some food in my hand (just a small treat of course!).
Jackie, the tubes are collapsable and made of lightweight fabric so they couldn't be angled upwards. But I might be able to come up with another kind of tube where I could try that. A tube made of large pvc piping or something.

[Laura's Babies]

He cracked me up eating.. That was so darn CUTE!! Do you always feed him out of such a big bowl? Maybe he thinks he has to eat like that to eat all he is given? That was sooooooo cute!!!!

[Catty1]

As was mentioned elsewhere...(Medusa?)...a medium size rock in the middle of the bowl. And a dollar store laser pointer. Cheap and easy! :)

Also, with Oscar I would give catnip on one or two occasions when he wanted treats or more food in his dish.

[Emeraldgreen]

Laura, you're right, that is a big bowl. I had been leaving the one bowl out day and night for the 4 cats that share a room and topping it up as needed. I've always done this with my cats and everyone stays in good shape and doesn't overeat but now that Paddy has joined us and doesn't know when to quit, I have to change the way I feed everybody. I'm going to start feeding the cats a handful of dry food in small bowls, one for each in the morning and the same at night with their nightly teaspoon treat of wetfood. Hopefully that along with Catty1's suggestion of laser activity and Snowshoe2's idea of walking him on a leash and some indoor cat agility we can get him to shed some pounds.
I think he is so cute when he eats too. He just has this funny look on his face. I just love him. He has a strange way of drinking water too. He's just a quirky guy! :D

[Medusa]

The way he eats reminds me of every feral cat I've ever dealth with; it's as though it's their last meal so they take as big a bite as possible. For exercise try the Cat Dancer. It's a toy on the end of a curved wire. When you wiggle it, it jumps all around crazily and my fur posse goes nuts over it. I have to buy a new one, though, cuz Yodie Yodie is fast and she catches it and tears it off the wire. It gives them a lot of exercise.