How can I encourage multiple cats to bond and play together?

Question

Often two or even all three of my cats will want to play at the same time but they usually come to me for the fun and games. I try to start them off getting them excited but ultimately it boils down to only one ever really getting the attention at a time while the others watch and I'm the one getting all the exercise running around getting toys and the like (still fun and I still plan to do it but..)

I know they like to play together and while it's usually just one on one (I've never seen all three chasing/wrestling at once) and they have lots of fun and get good exercise running all over.

I have observed an interactive dynamic:

• cat 1 will play with cat 3 and will want to play with cat 2 but cat 2 almost never plays back (ends poorly)
• cat 2 will play with cat 3 but not cat 1
• cat 3 will play with cat 1 and cat 2

cat 1 and 3 are males, 2 a female.

Now with a dog, encouraging play is laughably simple in most cases. With cats, I'm at a loss as to how to nudge them into wanting to run around and let some steam off.

Are there any methods to increase the occurrences of cat on cat bonding/play?

Answer 1

Cat on cat play cannot be forced. Some cats live together their entire lives but never play with each other. That your cats do play together is great!

One way to encourage their relationship is to play with them together. String toys on a stick, like the Bird or similar toys are easy to use with one or more cats and lets you direct the toy very precisely so that you can focus on the cat that you want to focus on.

So really, there's no clear cut way to make cats play more with each other. They don't work like dogs and the only thing you can do is continue to try and play with them together.