Snow, cold, cold, snow, … We go out less, and there is not much to do : nature and small tiny creatures are in slow motion.
For an inside only cat, the wintry weather doesn’t change his everyday life a lot, but for cats who can go out in the garden as us, it has a big influence : we have fewer things to watch, and fewer preys to hunt. We sleep more to spend time, and Claire pays attention to play more often with us : indeed, we tend to get into mischiefs or to play fight slightly too often to occupy us !
How do your cats react to the wintry slowing down ? Do they tend also a little to be bored, and to show themselves creative to keep busy ?
Tag Archives: Behavior
How to occupy your cat and improve his well-being : how to increase the available space to your cat ?
Here is the last part of what we want to share with you after the training followed by Claire two weeks ago (part 1 : how to put food available in a way which increases the cat’s level of activity ? ; part 2 : which games and activities offer to your cat ?).
Reminder : according to a study of Bonnie Beaver (Feline Behavior, 2003), the approximate time dedicated to various activities by a free cat is the following one : sleeping 9 hours, resting 4-5 hours, bathing 3-4 hours, hunting 4 à 9 hours, moving and feeding 1 hour, other activities (game, marking, elimination) 1 hour. Numerous indoor cats are sub-occupied and spend their days sleeping to pass the time.
How to increase the available space to your cat ?
In an apartment, the available space is 10 to 50 times as small as the space that a cat would occupy in nature. Thus it’s necessary to increase it at the most by using the vertical space in various places of the house, by multiplying the accessible locations in height for the cat as well as the observation posts on the outside.
You can do it by adapting your existing furniture : summits of shelves or cupboard cleared, furnish near windows, wall shelves reserved for your cat, …
You can also invest in one or several cat trees placed in places where there is something interesting to observe.
An old or overweight cat will need additional landings, a banister, or a staircase to reach the various points in height, but will be very happy being able to do it thanks to these arrangements.
A free access to an edge of window, or even better, to a terrace or a balcony, is also ideal, provided that the window or the balcony is secured.
- No, a cat doesn’t have a perfect sense of balance.
- Yes, he risks to have a fall, even if he is skillful.
- No, a cat doesn’t always come out from a fall unscathed : he is in a state of shock, he can break itself the members, but he can especially suffer from sometimes fatal internal injuries: bleeding, fracture of the palate (palatine crack), pneumothorax, bladder break, diaphragm break, heart and lungs compression, …
Thus it is strongly recommended to install or to make install a anti-falls net.
We live in paradise : we have a home designed for us, and a secured garden. If you want ideas, “Catification” from Jackson Galaxy is Claire’s favorite book : he is abundantly illustrated, and presents many easily practicable ideas for catifying your home.
You can also find other ideas here if you like Ikea.
How to occupy your cat and improve his well-being : which games and activities can you offer to your cat ?
Here is the continuation of what we want to share with you after the training followed by Claire ten days ago (part 1 : how to put food available in a way which increases the cat’s level of activity ?).
Reminder : according to a study of Bonnie Beaver (Feline Behavior, 2003), the approximate time dedicated to various activities by a free cat is the following one : sleeping 9 hours, resting 4-5 hours, bathing 3-4 hours, hunting 4 à 9 hours, moving and feeding 1 hour, other activities (game, marking, elimination) 1 hour. Numerous indoor cats are sub-occupied and spend their days sleeping to pass the time.
Which games and activities can you offer to your cat ?
Learning activities
Contrary to a preconceived idea, cats can learn many things : patience and encouragements will make miracles (and treats also !). Our best example is our friend Summer : in this video, she shows that she knows how to stay, shake hands, high, sit up, and wave her paw to say goodbye.
Games and toys which mime hunting
Toys which make a noise of prey (squeak, little sharp sound, …) are more interesting for us than the silent toys. If they move, it’s still better, because the movement makes us react. The movement given to the toy must be choppy, and go away from the cat, stand still from time to time, as a prey would do it.
But with what toys to play ? Small balls, corks, plushy mice, crumpled paper, … can be thrown or shaken at the end of a string ; a feather toy which moves within reach of paw is irresistible ; a simple string to be pursued entertains us.
A word on bright points (laser or reflection of watch for example) : first, warning for our eyes ! Then, this little point makes us often totally mad, to the point that we can injure ourselves by jumping everywhere to try to catch it. Finally, this game is extremely frustrating, because we never catch anything. Use it with moderation in a clear space, and don’t forget to give us treats as compensation at the end of the session of game.
No toy is unbreakable, and the risk of ingestion is real : check regularly the state of our toys. Ribbons or strings must be never used unattended, and must be carefully tidied up out of our reach after every play session.
Claire plays every day with us ; she has decided now to teach us small tricks, like Summer. We’ll tell you more about it when we’ll have learnt a trick !