When the Human's away, will the Cat play?

Guest Blogger Janet Gray, DVM, provides cat parenting tips for enriching your cat's indoor world.

When you are gone from the house all day, what is your indoor cat doing?

If you can tell what your cat is doing, it is probably not a good thing.  When cats leave clues to what they been up to they are often what we consider “bad” things, such as litter box messes, torn up draperies, clean laundry urinated on, and foot prints on the kitchen cabinets.  By the time you get home, you can not “punish” the cat for what he has done.  The cat will not understand the relationship between what you found and his behavior 4 hours ago.

So, how do you keep a house cat from getting into trouble?

Prevention is the key.  Cats may not be “in your face” as much as dogs are, but they need things to do.  They need physical activity and mental stimulation.

Getting a cat exercise is not as hard as it sounds.  Most cats will respond to interactive toys, such as laser pointers and “fishing pole” style toys.  It can be quite entertaining to see your cat chase a dot on the floor, doing crazy acrobatics as the laser light flies up a wall.  Engaging your cat when you are home will release some of the cats energy so they won’t be looking for trouble when you are absent (I have heard lots of trainers say “a good dog is a tired dog”, and I would extend that to cats as well).  Fishing style toys also require time and effort on your part, but giving your cat a chance to practice his predation skills will go a long way to a satisfied cat.

Providing hiding places in different spaces will encourage activity.  An overturned laundry basket in the bedroom is a good hide-away.  A perch in the living room, or several at various heights, will give your cat options for places to explore.  Occasionally offering new hiding spaces, as cheep and simple as an empty box with a hold cut in it, will keep your cat interested.

Especially important to cats is vertical space.  Cats love to be up high, where they can survey their vast kingdom.  Jumping and climbing provides them with physical activity, and height provides a sense of safety and security to them.  Most people are familiar with cat trees with high perches, but many cat enthusiasts also provide elevated ramps around the house for their cat’s entertainment.

Some of the activity that provides physical stimulation is also produces mental stimulation, such as interactive play and hiding places.  But other things can be done to stimulate your cats mind.  There are wildlife videos made just for cats.  But you don’t have to be that high-tech.  Simply provide a perch in front of a window that has a lot of activity outside of it.  Bird and squirrel feeders, butterfly gardens, and bird baths can provide hours of entertainment for a cat.

Treat dispensing toys are a great way to provide mental and physical stimulation for cats...as long as the treats are healthy-ish (or at least not terrible for the cat), and don't make up a huge part of the diet.  For super playful cats, treat dispensers might be used to feed kibble for meals.  That would be a great way to provide activity for a kitty.

Not all cats will respond to catnip, but some will go pretty crazy with it.  Again, I think if it is used as a "treat", and the cat seems to like it, it is OK to give.

Cat grass is another good treat, in moderation, but make sure it's safe, with no pesticides used (It'd be nice to think that someone growing cat grass wouldn't use pesticides, but I wouldn't assume anything).  Cats seem to like to "graze" on grass, even though they are true carnivores.  One word: don't make grass available at all times as some cats will eat too much and vomit as a result of the stomach irritation.

In summary, you think your cat is happy “doing nothing”, think again!  Try some of these simple things to keep your cat happy and out of trouble.

Dr. Janet Gray is the Lead Veterinarian for the Feral Cat Spay Neuter Project a local organization whose mission is to save the lives of homeless cats by providing access to high volume spay/neuter surgery in a safe and humane environment, collaborating with others and mentoring like-minded organizations to increase spay/neuter in their regions.