Are modern wooden floors cat unfriendly? If they are, rugs are certainly the opposite. Cats love ’em.
In Britain a lot of people have ripped up their carpets and put down artificial wood flooring. You have that sheer, spacious, modern look. It can also be a cold look and I say that cats don’t like it because cats have an affinity towards the humble rug. Especially a rug that is near a fire and well used by your cat or cats and a dog. Rugs are going to retain a cat’s scent and hair. When hard floors are hoovered and cleaned all remnants of a cat’s presence are removed.
I realise that wooden floors are more hygienic and also, incidentally, much better with respect to the dreaded flea. Fleas love carpets. They sit at the bottom of them and wait for a cat to walk on by at which point they jump on. But you have got to have that rug if you have a cat.
If you had a fitted carpet and put down wooden flooring, I’d be fairly sure that your cat would be upset! This is mainly because cats are very sensitive to a change in the appearance of a home and, of course, they love rugs, carpets etc.
Perhaps the best combination is a hard floor with some judiciously placed rugs for your cat to lounge on. Rugs can be cleaned more easily than fitted carpets to remove fleas etc.
Smallish rugs are probably best because cats can also play in, under and around a small rug. Underneath a rug is a nice place to hide and cats like that.
There are lots of cat toys around. The rug is a nice, instant cat toy, a place for a cat to migrate to and sleep on and it is useful for humans too. Cats aren’t fussy either. It doesn’t have to be anything special. In fact the more used and beat up it is the better.
Update: This is a little video of Lilly who lives with Marc in Switzerland playing with a cat mat. It just backs ups what the post says. Cats think rugs and mats are toys, places to play around and on, and places to sleep on:
We’ve got wood with carpets/rugs – a big one in the living room, then smaller ones that the cats love to play with. Chatri especially has a thing about the one by the front door. He likes to roll around with it, wrestle with it and grab it and kick it. So it is often crumpled up after yet again being defeated in “battle”.
Here too it gets hot in summer and then they like to lie right on the wood floors.
Cats on light rugs in Bedouin tent http://www.mobypicture.com/user/tartqueen1/view/9999653
That’s a cool photo – very relevant too. Sounds like your Chatri is like my Lilly when it comes to mats. I love to see them having fun with things and I always encourage them. Sometimes I find my mats completely flipped upside down. 🙂