All animals need mental as well as physical stimulation according to Dr Kersti Seksel‘s book: Train Your Cat. She says if pets are confined all day such as an indoor cat, with their food provided in a bowl so that they don’t need even to think about where the next meal is coming from, they might ‘get bored’ and become destructive.
The indoor cat can live a happy, long life provided she has a stimulating environment comparable to that which they would experience outside in the wild. Here are six simple tips to keep your indoor cat happy and entertained.
6 Tips to keep your indoor cat entertained
- Get your indoor cat to hunt for its food by hiding it around the house
- Create an indoor garden just for your cat – sow a tray filled with potting mix with grass, catnip and other safe plants. A grass patch doesn’t have to be large, for an apartment balcony a very successful grass patch could be made by filling an old kitty litter tray.
- Cats need vertical space to climb up, feel safe and watch what’s happening from a height. Provide vertical space with a climbing post which has platforms at different levels. Allow your indoor cat to sit on the window sill to look out a window.
- All cats need a scratching pole, particularly if your cat is indoors all the time. More about scratching poles.
- Obedience training can be a fun way to interact with your indoor cat and she also learns good manners!
- Try toys such as a carrot toy filled with catnip to rejuvenate playful behaviour in your indoor cat
- Give your indoor cat cardboard boxes or bags to play with
Keep your indoor cat entertained source:
Train Your Cat by Kersti Seksel (contact SABS)
‘Cat behaviour & handling’, Delta Society Australia
