Instituting a kitteh exercise plan

On our return from holiday, we began to think that there's now a bit more Haggis to love than there was a few months ago.

In part, it's because the street kitties we found in Spain were so slender and trim (with some ranging into the skinny and somewhat careworn). Even mom-cats or mom-to-be cats were not very big, making their bellies swing even more than on a 'normal' cat.

So coming home to our classic stocky cobby tabby made her change all the more evident.

In part, we suspect she's not getting all the exercise she used to in our previous maisonette, which had 2x as many stairs to run up and down.

Any trip outside required stairs, as did the return journey. Any trip from outdoors to food to litterbox to bed needed stairs.

Now she spends most of her time on one level and, since encountering the thuggish local tomcat, not very far from the patio.

We kept the patio door open as late into the year as we could on fine days, which encouraged more Out, but it's no longer feasible.

English flats have neither screen doors nor vestibules. You're either In or Out, and if the door is open in winter, You're Letting in the Draught(tm).

SO: I'm embarking on a feline exercise plan with the entertainment classics of a broken arrow, some butcher cord and a few short pencils (Haggis' favourite toy on hard floors).

One of the neighbours brought in a range of cat toys while we were away, but Haggis does seem to prefer the old standbys: string on a stick, a pencil, OR whatever she can knock off the dining room table.

So far so good: I can distract her into 5 mins of chasing round the flat and up the stairs in the morning, and upon arrival home.