Keeping cats emotionally and intellectually stimulated: A recipe for contented kitties
Most feline enthusiasts already know that our domestic housecats – those smaller, cuddlier versions of the big wild cats – are predators by nature. Show a cat a catnip mouse, a feather toy dangling from a wand, or shine a laser beam on a wall and within a few seconds most kitties will be positioning themselves for the hunt; shaking their rear ends, getting to ready to pounce on any moving object that catches their attention.
Kittens are born with an instinctual drive to hunt. Play helps them to hone their skills, develop coordination and timing, and in order to become successful predators, learn to adjust their speed to match that of their potential prey.
Hush Puppy observes lizard. Click to enlarge the photo. Photo by Jo Singer
It isn’t morally befitting to provide our cats with live prey for hunting, since it is both cruel and inhumane. Therefore it’s incumbent on guardians to come up with creative substitutes that are far more appropriate. When we give our cats plenty of exercise and playtime through the use of a variety of appealing, interactive toys, it gets their instinctual drives stimulated and met; which results in contented and emotionally fulfilled happier kitties.
It’s crucial to keep our cats emotionally and intellectually stimulated. Recently the term “catified” has become a buzz-word within the domestic feline community. “Catified” is the art of providing our kitties with an enriched environment consisting of cat trees, scratching posts, interesting object such as cardboard boxes in which they can hide. Strategically placed levels of wall shelves are great for them to traverse from place to place. Cats really seem to be attracted to them and they use them freely; especially if there are ever any inter-cat disputes occurring. Jackson Galaxy calls them “feline super-highways”.
If we live with indoor-only cats it’s especially important to give them an opportunity for a “taste” of the great outdoors. There are a wide variety of enclosures for sale at many pet stores and on the Internet. But it’s relatively easy and far less expensive to build one yourself. These enclosures keep cats safe and also give them a chance watch birds, bugs and small mammals scampering through our yards.
Lizard. Cat prey! Photo by Jo Singer. Click to enlarge.
Dr. Hush Puppy and Sir Hubble Pinkerton spend a huge amount of time looking out of the windows, checking out all that is going on in the neighborhood. So I built a simple window using a sturdy cardboard carton that was the perfect height to fit right under the window. The moment I put their favorite pillow on top of the box, they both immediately jumped up on it and it has become their favorite hangout for taking naps in the warmth of the sun.
Early in the morning a group of squirrels, a few moles and some armadillos show up in our backyard hunting for their breakfast. Our cats are fascinated with their morning “kitty TV” show. They press their noses against the windowpane, making little chirping noises, waving the tips of their tails furiously.
But their favorite “wild” visitors are a group of tiny lizards who are seeking the morning sun to get warm. I get such a kick out of watching Dr. Hush Puppy watching the lizards. His ears go forward, and he gets an intense expression on his face. From his behavior I can feel how much he yearns to get his paws on the diminutive amphibians. But what totally amazes me one particular lizard’s reaction to being watched so intensely. As soon as he discovered a cat on the other side of the glass the lizard started flashing warning messages to him; puffing out his brilliantly colored red throat.
Since this lizard takes his sunbath at our window every morning around the same time, I wonder if the lizard is interested in making friends with Hush Puppy or does he just enjoying taunting him?
How do you enrich your kitties’ environment? Do you Catify your home? Tell us about it in a comment.
Our cats have been over stimulated since their move to this apartment complex. They are just getting used to the constant hubbub around here. Before they lived on top of a small hill far from the road and isolated from our neighbors by rows of trees. We are back to playing with toys and other little things to keep them happy. They miss their outside enclosure a lot and that is one of the things planned for the rebuild of the house. The cats are more centered on family now that they are used to this place and they love to play.
It’s available from Amazon and EBay, but check prices; they do vary.
ABO Gear Happy Habitat Pop Up Mesh Tent Outdoor Cat Pet Small Animal Enclosure
There’s such a variety of outdoor “playpens” for cats, but most are way out of my price range. But fun to see what’s been designed for our kitty pals.
My 5 year old kitty, Mitzy, was born to a stray, in my old neighborhood. I used to feed them, but couldn’t take them in because my landlord had two territorial cats.
After taking Mitzy and her mom to a shelter. The mom was adopted in two weeks, but Mitzy was kept in the “intake cage” for a month. She was very frightened, and they told me that they’d have to euthanize her, so I adopted her.
So, she lived a feral life for over a year, and though I’ve had her 3 years, she still longs to be free. She has a second best arrangement with a fenced in porch. I have bird feeder and a bird bath which provides daily entertainment for her.
Yet, I still buy feather toys on wands, and mice that light up when thrown. We play in the early morning about 5am, and in the early evening.
I’m always on the lookout for new toys, so she doesn’t get bored. One of my favorites is a remote mouse, but it doesn’t work well on carpet, so we’re confined to the kitchen.
Yesterday I got a “catnip ball”. It’s hard and about 1.5″ in diameter, like a jaw breaker. She likes it, but I’m concerned that when it gets smaller, it could be a choking hazard. So, I’ll watch that closely.
The light up mouse is a favorite. I throw it and it blinks for a few seconds, while she pounces and tosses it in the air. All the movement keeps the blinking going.
I’ve also arranged my room, so she can jump from my computer desk to my dresser to the blanketed space above my closet with various boxes, and further on to a “boardwalk” with comfy blankets for napping.
Recently I got something called a “Beauty Channel” which is a small tunnel/chute to crawl in. It says it grooms cats and removes loose fur but that’s BS. It’s just a place to hide, and so far she hasn’t been that interested, unless I put catnip in there.
The porch is right off my bedroom, so she has plenty of space to call her own. Although she does love to look out of every window in the house, especially if she sees another cat out there.
Yesterday I saw a large net tent of some kind that could be put in a yard for safe kitty play. It’s about $60, and out of my budget now, but if I didn’t have the porch, I’d get this for her.
I think she’s very lucky to have a “catified” home, and a loving guardian with her all day.
I enjoyed your story. Sweet and tender. Is that cat tent available on Amazon.com?
Drew and Brittney’s 3 kitties, Ellie (Eleanor Rigby), Esper, and Fluffer (-nutter) all love window-watching. Buster likes feather wands and laser pointers. Rao, our senior citizen, a former indoor/outdoor rescue, would just rather snooze, his hunting days behind him. He likes a little laser-chase now and then, as long as one of the pushy young’uns won’t butt in, LOL
We envy you your wonderful variety of fauna there in Florida, Jo! Over here in drought-stricken CATifornia, we also enjoy seeing lizards, a variety of birds, oppossums, squirrels, skunks, wood rats, field mice, insects and the very occasional cat from the safe and comfortable vantage points of our window perches, cat and all-purpose furniture, and window ledges, thoughtfully provided by the servant. 😉
I live in an apartment so I’m limited to what I can do (outside) to keep my indoor kitties stimulated. So a friend of mine came over one day with squirrel and bird feed, sprinkled them liberally outside both my living room and kitchen windows–the two windows my kitties love the most. Now my kitties LOVE their kitty shows all day long!! They are so intrigued and it’s hilarious to watch their tails sway back and forth! Everyone wins!
I like the idea of a kitty show at the window. Nice idea.
My cats would LOVE the lizards!! We don’t have them here in NJ. We do have snakes though and a garter snake got in the kitchen once and that was a kitty hunting fiasco! But our cats do very much enjoy watching birds, squirrels, chipmunks, bees, etc. out the windows. And we have lazer pointers, “fishing” poles, and catnip toys that we share with them regularly. They ALL love to play….even our 19 year old girl. 🙂
We have two Border Collies who are well loved by our cat. The cat uses our younger dog as prey. He loves to “herd” her around the back yard, which she absolutely despises being. The old dog, he just tries to rub against. There is too much respect for her to even pop her when she plays too rough.
Rex also has several toys, his favorite is a catnip mouse. He also enjoys his scratching post tree.
When he was younger, I kept hearing something rolling around on the kitchen floor. When I walked into the kitchen, he was playing with a 4.5 mm BB. I couldn’t intervene fast enough and was horrified when he picked it up in his mouth. I just knew he was going to eat it. He never did, instead he tossed it into the air and chased after it, smacking it around the room. As far as I know, he has never eaten anything that would harm him.
One morning last summer, when we were sitting on the front porch, Rex was hunting a tiny skink. When he caught it, it was facing him. He tried to put it down to get a better hold on it, but never got the chance. The skink crawled right down his throat. He looked quite confused for a while after that. 😀