Cat Behavior

What is Environmental Enrichment for Stressed Cats?

What does your cat do all day while you are at work? Most likely the answer is sleep. But is there a way that we can improve life indoors? I believe that there is.

Some of my clients worry that by not allowing their cats the freedom of the outdoors that we are keeping them from the normal activities of being a cat. My answer is that although it would be more exciting to live in Iraq, I feel safer living in the United States. I think that with a little ingenuity we can make indoor life just as exciting as outdoor life but safer.

The Life of a Cat

Think of what cats do outside. They hunt, they climb, they scratch, they problem solve and they move! So how can we help them do this in the safety of their homes? Providing an enriched environment can prevent many behavior problems.

A Checklist for Relieving Stress

• Vertical Space increases overall space available to the cat and allows them the opportunity to climb. Provide cat trees, cat perches and shelves.
• Appropriate scratching materials allow the cat to exhibit normal cat behavior to mark territory, stretch and keep claws healthy. Each cat has a preference for scratching material. See my blog regarding how to train your cat to scratch appropriately. https://catclinicplymouth.com/blog/
• Interactive Toys and Hunting Games provide both mental and physical stimulation. Play with your cat several times a day allowing them to stalk and catch!
• Keeping the home predictable without being rigid keeps cats from being bored. Making small changes that provide novelty like rotating toys or purchasing new toys. Cats play the most with interactive toys that involve their human.
• Make feeding more natural for your cat. Cats in the wild forage for food and eat 10-20 small meals daily. Although I recommend a majority of the diet be canned, dental kibble can be fed in small amounts using interactive food toys or balls, food puzzles or hiding it around the house for the cat to hunt.
• Provide cover to hide in. Boxes, bags and carriers left out can provide these coveted spots.
• Provide interaction outside. Cats can be trained to walk on a leash. There are also companies that can design a cat safe outdoor enclosure. Simply having some bird feeders in window near their perch can help.
• Clicker training or training for food can teach your cat to sit, come or do a variety of other “tricks.”

Finally, cats are social animals. So even if you are tired after work. Try to carve out some time to groom, pet or play with your feline furbaby. You will both benefit from it!

By Cassandra Kelley DVM, veterinarian and owner Cat Clinic of Plymouth

Natural Cat Behavior

Have you been there? You are walking down the hallway with shorts on and your cat suddenly without warning or provocation jumps out from a doorway launching themselves at your bare legs with claws and sometimes even teeth! As a veterinarian, I often get these stories at the veterinary hospital and recommend training.

Think about a cat’s idea of fun. It usually involves stalking, chasing, attacking and killing things. From a very young age kittens begin to learn this hunting behavior by practicing on their litter mates. The game begins when one kitten jumps and bites their sibling. Let the games begin! When the game becomes too rough the sibling responds with body position, vocalization or hissing, or finally a well-placed claw until they are taught what is acceptable among the litter. However this cat behavior is also training to protect territory from predators including other cats.

Cat Instincts

Furthermore, other games include hunting training. Momma cat usually brings home some fresh carcasses with which the kittens can play. Gradually as the litter gains more expertise, mom will start to bring mortally wounded prey as a play item. Then gradually less wounded prey will be introduced until the kittens hunting prowess progresses to being able to capture and kill fully living prey. My point is that cats are true carnivores and there idea of play does not included coloring.

Training Your Cat

So once these hunting, clawing but cute as can be felines start living with us, how can we make play more tolerable to the human household? The absolute first rule of thumb is to never reward biting, clawing, and scratching of humans no matter how big or small that human may be. Even if there is one person in the house is willing to put up with this play, the rest of the household will continue to be targets. This is the training phase of both the humans and the cat of what is not acceptable. Animal hospitals around the country get many requests to euthanize “aggressive” cats because they scare the grandchildren, the neighbors or even the husband just because they are play aggressive and have never been trained.

What does this mean? NO playing with hands, feet, toes or hair as toys. Not under a blanket or under a box, with socks on, hand tucked into a sleeve…..never. There are plenty of toys out there for cats, some we can even make at home. We will talk about that later. And if or when, a cat attempts to use these items as toys, they must be distracted with an appropriate toy. A food reward can be used if the cat plays with the appropriate toy.  Remember unless there is an underlying cat behavior issue, this is for fun! You know what else is fun? When the human playmate screams, squeals, runs, sprays the cat with a squirt bottle, wags a finger sternly yelling “NO!” and all of these things will reward this initiation of play. If the cat cannot be distracted, I recommend that they be gently, calmly and safely be placed into a quiet place for a minute or two, because that is no fun. Then continue to choose appropriate toys to continue the play and training.

Cat Play

Here’s the fun part! Playing with your cat should be fun! Of course, cats are inclined to play with a stuffed mouse, ball, pillow, empty bag or box etc. however cats adore social interaction from you! Finding interactive toys that they enjoy bring you into the action in a safe way. Laser pointers, mice on the end of a cat safe string, feathers on the end of a stick are great choices that allow you to play at an arm’s length from hunting teeth and claws. Just remember to put all strings out of reach of cats when they are not supervised.  Another option is tossing treats or dental diets down the hall or through the kitchen can provide entertainment as well. Different cat personalities will have different preferences. Some cats are bug hunters so a laser pointer is purrfect. Others prefer to hunt mice or birds so mice on a string or feathers on a stick are more appropriate. And make those things move up onto perches, across the bed and around the dining room table. Don’t forget about vertical spaces! Remember that the idea is that sometimes they catch their prey and that is part of the reward. It may take some time to get to know what your cat likes but once you find out… just give it to them!

The key to success in training any cat behavior is commitment, patience, and consistency. And as always your favorite cat veterinarian should always be a source of information if issues arise or especially if you think that there is a cat behavior issue.

For more information check out Cat Clinic Blog