Playing Hide and Seek with Your Cat

hide and seek cat

Playing hide and seek with your cat. Cats love to play, and they like to hide.  Everyone remembers the game “playing hide-and-seek.” As a child, you have certainly played that once. However, you can also play the game with your cat, and you do not have to be a child for this. Almost every cat owner plays with his or her cat. However, would you actively play? Then play hide-and-seek with your cat.

Cats love to playing hide and seek. In a tunnel or behind the door, every spot is welcome. Feel free to find a creative place, because that way you keep your cat entertained for a long time. Also, boxes are favorite hiding places where cats like to get in. Cats are good inventors in finding hiding places.

In this post, you can read more about why a cat is hiding and its reasons. You will find a list of the most common hiding spots. I answer about whether a cat likes to playing hide and seek, and of course, I explain the game of playing hide and seek.

The Game

The game connects with their natural hunting instinct. Cats tend to use three different strategies for hunting their prey. These are the ambush, Stalk and pounce, and fishing. The strategy begins with crouching and intently focusing on their prey. The cat is waiting patiently somewhere it can’t be seen, then leap and claim the prey at the perfect moment.

Please take advantage of this chance of having fun because it is a simple possibility to connect games with excitement and intellectual stimulation.
By regularly playing with your cat, you strengthen the bond you have with your cat. Cats playing with their owners from an early age will like to continue doing this when they are older.

Playing with your cat helps you to bond and increases self-confidence and affection. Playing with your cat has many benefits. It provides mental stimulation and physical exercises that need the cat as well as the cat owner. Also, keeping your cat active can prevent undesirable behavior.

Why Does a Cat Hide?

As a cat owner, you’ve probably noticed that your cat is hiding in the strangest places. Many cats like to hide in small areas. Such as in a closet, tunnel, duvet, or under the sofa. Cats also like it when they feel they are hidden, but actually, you still see them.

For example, my cats are sitting very quietly in the middle of the play tunnel. They feel they are hiding, but of course, I see them in the tunnel. The big eyes follow me through the room. If I pretend I am looking for them, I know that they like the game.

Cats can also hide to feel safe and to protect themselves. These can be things cats perceive as dangerous or stressful. As a cat owner, it is important to find out why your cat is hiding.

Do you want to know more about why cats like to hide? Then read my post about Why Do Cats Sleep in Unusual Places?

playing hide seek cat

Cat, Where Are You?

You hear a strange sound. It looks like the sound is coming of your cat. But where does the meowing come from? You follow the sound through the house, the bedroom and arrives at the bed. You pull the blankets away and do not see a cat. But the meow is now louder and comes out of bed. You start laughing when you notice that your cat is really under the mattress. However, how, or more importantly, why does your cat hide?

Cats are hiding for a variety of reasons. Understanding this behavior gets it no less funny or strange when you find your cat under your mattress, but you finally know why your cat will lie down in bed and hide.

Hide in High Places

Cats choose places where they are isolated and sitting high; they also like it when the place is difficult to reach, and the cat feels safe. Cats love a view to the outside or when they can take a look at the entire room. You can see it as a castle built on a high mountain.

A cat is a predator. It doesn’t have the body size to avoid being prey itself. For this reason, a cat needs to feel secure when it rests, so it chooses inaccessible locations to go to sleep.

Enough Reasons to Hide

Put simply; hiding is a cat’s instinct. Here are a few more reasons why cats wants to become invisible.

  • I see, I see. Cats love to keep an eye on you and the rest of their domain. They like to find a nice, remote place at a great height, where they can see everything but a person can’t see them.
  • Hunting. Cats start their hunting of prey first to hiding. If you see a cat coming out of nowhere, the cat would have hidden somewhere to be smarter than the prey.
  • Play hide and seek. Hiding can also be a fun game. The unexpected attacks and a quick tap with the paw on your feet as you walk by. Or finding your cat while it is secretly hiding somewhere. It’s all about a good hiding place.
  • Blow off steam for a moment. Sometimes just being alone is just a way to relax. In a separate place, your cat can enjoy being alone for as long as possible.

Hiding is merely the nature of your cat. So the next time you find your cat in the dryer or carton box, you can be sure that it is not weird or strange behavior of your cat. It is just healthy cats’ behavior.

Playing hide seek cat

What Is Playing Hide and Seek?

Playing hide and seek can also be called hide and seek. It is a popular child’s play in which any number of players hide in the area. One or more seekers must find the people.

The game can be playing by one player (the person that is counting), selected by the other players. This person closes the eyes and counts to a predetermined number (for example, count to 100) while the other players hide.

After counting, the player calls “ready or not, here I am. It’s a pretty basic game, but different variations have also evolved throughout the years.

Does a Cat like to Playing Hide and Seek?

Cats like to play, hide, and seek. Only you cannot play this game like you would with children. Because you can’t tell your cat, count to 20 and then you have to find me. Of course, you cannot count to 20 and hope that your cat will hide.

A cat understands the hide and seeks the owner, but the cat does not know that you can only start searching after count till ten or at an agreed time. A cat often determines when it wants to play.

You can hide behind a bed, door, couch, anything. Your cat will stalk you as if you are the prey. When you run away, the cat comes after you. However, you have to be careful because cats can be very crafty.

Before you know it, they are sitting in front of your feet or standing on a cupboard with their legs stretched out. On the internet, you can find a lot of funny movies about cats who play hide and seek.

My cats especially like it when I hide behind a door. I run away quickly, hide behind a door, and after a few seconds, the cats found me. Sometimes they immediately run away and hide. Then I have to find them.

Hide Toys

The cat that is running after the mouse likes it to hiding in holes or rustles through a layer of leaves in the garden. You can achieve the same effect by using toys that your cat often plays with, or you can use household items.

For example, you can hide a piece of string, a toy, or a plastick stick under an old towel, a pillow, or around the corner of the door. Your cat loves to follow this and tries to catch it.

Alternatively, you can use a fishing rod with a mouse. Walk through the house with this rod, and your cat will run after you. Occasionally you hide the mouse behind a door, in a cupboard or around a corner.

My cat follows the mouse as real prey and wants to grab it as quickly as possible. Success in this kind of hidden game is guaranteed, especially if you don’t do it too fast.

Most Common Hiding Spots

It’s not a secret that when it gets busy in the house, cats will are searching for a quiet, most secluded place to escape the chaos. It is all part of your cat instinctive behavior. But cats also like to hide somewhere, so you start looking for them. So basically, the hide and seek game. Even though it is quiet at home, my cat still likes to hide, like in a bag, room, or box.

Here are some of the most common hiding spots. Maybe your cat is already hiding here, or you find in this list ideas to expand the hidden places.

  • box
  • in a shopping crate
  • shopper
  • in a laundry basket
  • under the couch
  • on a chair
  • behind the door
  • under the mattress
  • in the bedding
  • behind the pillows
  • under a fleece plaid
  • in a closet
  • in a reed basket
  • on the windowsill
  • in a play tunnel
  • plastic bag
  • in a magazine basket
  • under a bed

My cat has been hiding at almost all of these hiding places. My cat likes to hide and is always looking for new places.

Why You Should Never Playing Hide and Seek with Your Cat

Some people say it’s better not to test a cat with these kinds of games. We would then communicate like a human being that we are potential prey. Performing sudden ambushes can cause fear in the cat and reduce the excellent relationship between cat and owner.

While playing, you should pay attention to the body language of your cat. Dilated pupils, ears carried close to the head, a tail that moves jerkily or bristling fur says it all: the cat is not enjoying and doesn’t like the hide and seek game.

However, as a cat owner, you know the best of what your cat thinks of the hide and seek game. As long as you do not overdo the game and keep an eye on the behavior of your cat, you can play with your cat.

Playing hide seek cat

Conclusion

Cats need to hide and isolate themselves from the rest of the world and relax. Playing with your cat has many benefits. It provides mental stimulation and exercises that need the cat as well as the cat owner. Play hide and seek with your cat is a good option. Cats also like to hide somewhere, so you start looking for them.

There are a lot of most common hiding spots, for example, under the couch or in a plastic bag. Some people say it’s better not to play hide and seek with your cat. But do not overdo the game and keep an eye on the behavior of your cat.

Maybe if your cat likes to play with cat toys? I have made a post about Best Cheap Free Cat Toys for Indoor Cats.

I hope your cat likes to play hide and seek. If you know someone with a cat that maybe wants to play hide and seek with a cat, feel free to share this post. Additionally, does your cat like to hide?

By Marleen

Marleen is a truly madly deeply cat lover and founder of That Is for My Cat. She wants to share her knowledge about cats with other people who like to know more about cats.

7 comments

  1. My Flamepoint Siamese loves to play hide n’ seek. I throw a ball and he chases it into another room. While he is out of that room I hide behind something like the bed, couch, in the closet, etc and then he comes back to find me. He will do it almost endlessly. And, now I’ve taught my wife and he plays it with her too. It seems to provide almost endless fun and stimulation for him.

  2. My himalayan started hiding behind the curtain one day. He would peek out to see if we were noticing him hiding. Like the article said, he would get very excited if we walked around “searching” for him and calling his name while he hid. We miss him terribly.

    1. My kitten did the exact thing behind my curtain in my room! And I got the hint and we play hide snd seek almost everywhere in the house now.

  3. My cat loves to hide behind my closet door. I would walk around the apartment (it’s a studio apartment so it’s not big and not multiple rooms), call his name and pretend like I’m looking for him. I’d purposely not checking his hiding spot, and keep looking for him. When he sees me walking further away, he would jumps out/runs in front of me like “im right here you idiot!” ^^ and sometimes, when I’m petting him, i’d stand up and run away to initiate a hide-and-seek game. He usually lays there for few seconds and starts running toward me or at least where he thinks I am. One time, I hid under my blanket on my bed (completely covered), he checked all the places that i used to hide, didn’t find me, and he jumped on the chair/desk and bed to look for me. He ended up laying right next to me on my bed without knowing i was under the blanket. I came out and he jumped on me. It was fun! I only had him for a little over a week

    1. My cat and I play a version of “Marco Polo”:
      I hide and quietly say “meaha” and wait a few seconds and repeat if he doesn’t also make the sound until sure he’s on track. When he finds me we race to my bed and he nearly always beats me…often he runs so fast that he can’t stop on the bed and lands on the window sill. After some petting I run away and do it again. 3 or 4 times and I’m exhausted.
      We started this when he was very young and the only other member of the household. His sister joined us 2 years later and wasn’t played with much (ie left in peace lol). We get her attention but shows no interest in participating.

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