Feline Enrichment
Many indoor cats are bored with their life! When bored, many cats get into trouble as they try to entertain themselves with your furniture, plants, and belongings. In addition, bored cats often get fat and lazy because they simply have nothing to do. Providing them with enrichment is critical to ensure a healthy cat (behaviorally and medically).
The following strategies can help your indoor cat lead a more fulfilled life.
Food Gathering
Cats are hunters, remember. Hiding food around the house for the cat to forage for instead of giving it in a bowl is an excellent form of mental and physical stimulation. You can hide individual kibbles or small piles. The cat’s acute sense of smell will allow them to find the food.
Vary your hiding places daily.
Place kibble in feeder balls so your cat has to work for her food. There are commercially available cat feeder balls on the market, but any small ball with a hole cut out can be used.
Water Gathering
Cats like running water, so instead of a bowl of water, purchase a cat water fountain to stimulate drinking.
Visual Stimulation
Provide a room with a view – provide your cat with a couple of window seats to observe the outside world.
Place bird feeders outside the windows so the cat has something interesting to watch.
Auditory Stimulation
Purchase a bird song CD and play it occasionally for a few minutes. The sound of birds is biologically significant, and your cat will surely be interested.
Catnip & Silvervine
Only about 60% of cats respond to catnip, but if yours is one of them, provide a small pile of catnip several times each week. Silvervine is another stimulant that you can provide to your cat.
Play Stimulation
Provide your cat with a rigorous play session twice daily at roughly the same time (cats like routine). The sessions only have to be about 10 minutes long (longer is okay if both of you are having fun), so you should be able to squeeze it into your day.
Some suggestions for play include:
Laser pointers (make sure to end the game by placing the laser beam onto a toy that your cat can “capture”).
Fishing-pole type toys
Feather dancer-type toys
Balls
Pipe cleaners, bottle caps, soda bottle caps, wooden clothes pins, etc.
Puzzle toys are great for self-play (Example: Peek-a-price toy box)
Scratching Posts
Scratching is a normal cat behavior that serves many functions for your cat. Providing a variety of interesting scratching posts around the house will allow your cat to perform this natural behavior without ruining your furniture.
Provide both vertical and horizontal scratching posts.
Provide posts with a variety of substrates – corrugated cardboard, sisal rope, natural wood, and loop-less carpet (their claws get stuck in the looped carpet, and they will stop using it).
Encourage your cat to use her post with catnip or toys.
Reward use with verbal praise of a treat after use.
Cat Grass
You can grow containers of cat grass for your cat to gnaw on.
Rawhide
If your cat is a chewer - provide her with rawhide sticks to chew and carry around.
Clicker Training
Yes, you can train your cat!!! Cats can be trained to do anything a dog can do.
Clicker training is a training technique that is based on the science of how animals learn.
First - pair the sound of the clicker with a food treat. Once you have done this Pavlovian Conditioning, you can use the sound of the clicker to “mark” the behavior you want to reward.
You can purchase a book entitled “Clicker Training for Cats” through this website, where there is plenty of great information on clicker training your cat. There are also YouTube videos showing clicker training for cats.
Outside Time
The outside world is very stimulating for cats, but there is a risk just letting your cat outside (traffic, dogs, wild animal bites, etc.). You can provide your cat with safe outdoor time by building a screened-in enclosure or by teaching her to walk on a harness and leash and taking her for walks. The Purrfect Cat Fence is a great option.
