Wild InsideReal prey games for cats

A hunting game for your cat.

Lay an iPad on the floor and a lifelike goldfish, feather, beetle, mouse or laser dot moves across it. They hunt it, catch it, and you give them a real treat.

$0.99 on iPad No ads Coming to the App Store

Plate I. A goldfish, lily pond

Fig. 1. A real hunt, recorded from the app.

Real prey, drawn from life.

Mice, bugs, feathers, fish and laser dots.

Plate II. The prey

1An engraved house mouse seen from above, brown-grey with pink ears and a long tail.
1. Mice house, wood, deer, field vole, shrew
2An engraved violet-black ground beetle, ridged wing cases, long antennae.
2. Bugs beetle, fly, cricket, moth, centipede, spider
3A brown, barred sparrow’s wing feather.
3. Feathers sparrow, blackbird, robin, tit, dunnock
4An engraved orange goldfish seen from above, fins spread.
4. Fish goldfish, comet, orfe, rudd, minnow
5A pin and a dotted trail ending in a small red dot: the laser.
5. Laser dots spark, drift, loop, skitter, wiggle, classic

How it works.

  1. 1.

    Pick the prey.

    Or tap Guided Play and let the app choose.

  2. 2.

    Lay the iPad down.

    Flat on the floor, where they like to rest.

  3. 3.

    Give them a treat.

    They make the last catch; you bring dinner, kibbles or their kicker toy.

Made for how they hunt.

  • Their eyes

    Pale prey on a dark ground, because cats find prey by its brightness.

  • The catch

    Every hunt ends with their catch, so they’re never left with nothing.

  • Any age

    Slow, short and easy to win, for older cats too.

The science

Plate III. Gina

An engraved, hand-coloured portrait of Gina, a grey-and-white cat with green eyes and the tip of her left ear cut straight across.
Gina is our sweet rescue. She loves her window and a cuddle, but she’s reluctant to play, so we made Wild Inside for her. The feather was a hit.

Questions.

Which iPads?

Any iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. There’s no iPhone version.

Isn’t a laser dot frustrating?

Not here. Every hunt, laser dots included, ends with their catch, then a real treat from you.

My cat is older, or not very playful.

Try Guided Play just before a meal: it’s slow, short and easy to win. If they used to play and have stopped, see your vet first.

How do I set it up?

Lay the iPad flat where they rest, turn the brightness up, and add a glass screen protector. To keep them in the app, turn on Guided Access in Settings, then Accessibility, and press the top button (or the Home button) three times once Wild Inside is open.