Is your cat bouncing off the walls, scratching furniture, vocalizing throughout the night, counter surfing or door dashing? Chances are, your cat is just bored!
In the wild, cats have a natural cycle of hunt, eat, groom and sleep. They aren’t always successful when capturing prey which means they spend a lot of time hunting for food. As a companion animal, cats don’t require the hunting behaviour to get a meal which can sometimes lead to less than desirable behaviours and boredom.
So how can we offer some excitement in their lives and curb unwanted behaviours?
While some cats enjoy playing on their own with a toy mouse or ball that rattles, other cats may enjoy the hunting side of play that is better offered using interactive toys like long wands with string or feathers on the end. These toys will allow you to move it as though it’s prey – like a mouse on the floor or a bird flying through the air!
Rather than just waving the wand in the cat’s face or aggressively whipping it in the air, move the wand like prey would move. This could include:
These are all ideas on how to pique your cat’s interest in the toy. Once they are interested, make it challenging for them to catch it, but also give them the satisfaction of catching the toy periodically so they don’t lose interest. You may be surprised at how good of a hunter your cat is, and how enthusiastic they become during playtime! Try playing with your cat once or twice a day to the point of exhaustion or loss of interest and rewarding them with their favourite treat or affection afterwards. You can also schedule playtime before they are scheduled to get their food.
Puzzle feeders require the cat to work to get the food. This can help with cats that are overweight or cats that devour their food quickly. There are a variety of puzzle feeders available, including balls that your cat must bat to get the kibble out of or that they have to reach in and scoop food out of.
There are also several DIY ideas for making mealtime exciting, including hiding treats or kibble in paper bags or egg cartons. For cats that have never used these before, you may want to start out with just using their favourite or a very strong-smelling treat to increase the incentive of working towards getting the food. Once they’ve gotten used to the concept you can begin feeding them strictly through these methods.
Sunlight, birds, squirrels…what’s not to love about having a nice cozy seat next to the window? Just by placing a shelf, bed or cat tree near a window, you can give the cat its own live entertainment while they get some Vitamin D! You can even hang a bird feeder right outside to guarantee some action.
Scratching behaviour serves multiple purposes for cats, including visual marking, stretching, maintaining the claws, and scent marking through glands on their paws. Offer plenty of places for your cat to scratch to help alleviate stress and tension.
Clicker training is more often associated with dogs. However, any animal can learn quickly through this method of reward-based training. Teach your cat to sit, shake a paw, high five or even some agility work. www.clickertraining.com has all the information you need to get started. Clicker training has multiple benefits, including providing mental stimulation for your cat, strengthening your bond, and helping you and your cat perfect some potentially entertaining tricks for you to show off to guests.
