The Purr-suit of Happiness: Enrichment for Cats
Enriching Your Cat’s Life
Enrichment is an essential part of a cat’s life, especially for our indoor feline friends. By providing cats with opportunities to practice their natural behaviors, we can help keep them healthy, stimulated, and prevent potential unwanted behaviors. Plus, it’s fun and can be a great bonding activity! Letting cats just be cats is a win-win for everyone.
Most enrichment can be broken down into three main categories. Providing enrichment opportunities doesn’t have to be hard – you may even be doing without knowing. Read on for more ideas to let your cat’s natural behaviors shine!
Play
Play is perhaps the most obvious (and fun) form of enrichment. From wand toys to crinkle toys to ping pong balls, there are so many options for getting your cat to play and use those hunting instincts. Try a variety of ways to make the “prey” move to see what your cat is interested in – wave a wand toy in the air, slowly move a toy around a corner, or try hiding a toy under a blanket or newspaper. Finding your cat’s play style is a great way to provide them with the exercise and brain stimulation they need.
Food
Food toys and puzzles are another great way to engage that hunting instinct. From lick mats and snuffle mats to wobble toys to puzzle trays, there are so many ways to hide your cat’s favorite food or treats. Food enrichment doesn’t have to break the bank, either! Try hiding pieces of food or treats inside a cardboard box or crinkled up newspaper and watch your cat’s foraging instincts kick in.
Environment
Cats are naturally prone to prowling, leaping, stalking, and climbing. You can help your cat express those natural behaviors by making just a few alterations to their environment. Create plenty of vertical spaces (especially near windows, when possible!) through options like cat trees, window ledges, bookshelves, and other furniture. Cats love a hiding spot too, so make sure their space is equipped with lots of space for your cat to relax and feel safe.
Learning with East Bay SPCA’s Behavior & Training Team
While enrichment is a useful tool to help prevent some undesirable behaviors (think scratching, door darting, rough play, etc) some of our feline friends need a little extra help to feel confident or manage tough behaviors. Our Behavior Team is here to help! For one-on-one support, check out our private training sessions, which are offered virtually and can help address a myriad of issues. Our expert team has also put together recorded webinars on a variety of cat behavior topics to help cat owners understand and address topics at home. Finally, our Behavior & Training Library has tons of resources to help you understand your cat’s behavior and set them up for success. Get access to all these resources and more at eastbayspca.org/training