Cats
See how it takes much more time to get a single biscuit compared to being fed with an ordinary food bowl?
- 'why Is My Cat Making That Noise?' And Other Behaviour Faqs
In the most recent Facebook Q and A, Behaviour Manager Nicky Trevorrow tackled your questions on feeding habits, bedtime routines and grooming. Read some of her answers here. Question: My cat always sleeps in my bed, but recently she’s been using bed...
- ‘why Won’t My Cat Sleep In His Bed?’ And Other Behaviour Faqs
In the most recent Facebook Q&A, Behaviour Manager Nicky Trevorrow answered questions about feline sleeping places, kitten socialisation, feeding habits and more. Read some of her answers here: Question: Do you have any tips on getting my cat to sleep...
- ‘how Do I Teach My Cat To Use The Cat Flap?’ And Other Behaviour Faqs
Last week feline behaviour specialist Nicky Trevorrow returned to our national Facebook page to answer questions on cat behaviour. Here are some of the queries she answered: Question: How do I get my Billy to come in through the cat flap? We've had...
- ‘how Much Food Should I Give My Kitten?’ And Other Feline Diet Questions
Are you concerned about your cat’s weight? Do you have a question about your cat’s diet? You’re in the right place! Yesterday Cats Protection vet Vanessa Howie hosted a live Q&A with our Facebook supporters, taking questions about cats and their...
- Feeding Enrichment Puzzles For Your Cat
Like their ancestors, the African Wildcat, domestic cats are programmed to hunt. Each part of the hunting activity – the stalk, pounce, play and kill – releases feel-good hormones called endorphins. Cats need to have frequent successful ‘kills’...
Cats
Boredom busters for your cat
This post has been written by our Behaviour Manager, Nicky Trevorrow
Spring is upon us, although there’s still a bit of chill in the air. Cats that have been mostly ‘hibernating’ indoors for the winter will be thinking of venturing outside as the weather warms up. In the meantime while the temperatures are still quite low, we've got some boredom busters for your cat to keep them occupied. Preventing boredom can help in avoiding the development of unwanted behaviours such as scratching furniture or tensions between cats in the household. Boredom busters are also great to get your cat some much needed exercise, which helps to keep obesity at bay.
As you've seen from our previous blog post about feeding enrichment puzzles, cats love different ways to make feeding time more interesting. Feeding enrichment can be through either commercially bought items or homemade but all cats are different so it’s a case of experimenting to see what inspires your cat. We recommend ‘showing’ your cat how to use the enrichment, which as well as being fun for you, helps your cat to understand the toy and hopefully prevents them getting bored or frustrated. With a commercially available food ball, we recommend placing it on the easiest setting (the one with the largest holes for the biscuits to fall out) and then batting around on the floor using your fingers. Just a word of caution though, don’t be fooled into doing it for a few hours thinking that the cat hasn’t got the hang of it when in fact they are perfectly happy for you to do all the hard work! Instead try playing with it for a couple of minutes in front of your cat and then step back and let your cat have a go.
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| Photo courtesy of Cats Protection Mansfield Adoption Centre |
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| Photo courtesy of Cats Protection Mansfield Adoption Centre |
For a homemade variation on the food ball, you could try suspending a pot with some holes cut into it to allow the biscuits to fall out. Ice cream tubs, large yogurt pots or instant noodle pots are ideal. It follows the same principles as a food ball but from a different angle. Simply pop in some of your cat's daily food allowance, suspend the pot just above your cat's head height and watch them work to get the food out! Check out this video of one of our gorgeous CP cats enjoying this boredom buster.
See how it takes much more time to get a single biscuit compared to being fed with an ordinary food bowl?
Do have a look at our boredom busters videos on the Cats Protection YouTube channel too.
If you fancy seeing your cat on our YouTube channel, please send us your videos of your cats showing off their skills with toys and enrichment items to [email protected]
If you fancy seeing your cat on our YouTube channel, please send us your videos of your cats showing off their skills with toys and enrichment items to [email protected]
- 'why Is My Cat Making That Noise?' And Other Behaviour Faqs
In the most recent Facebook Q and A, Behaviour Manager Nicky Trevorrow tackled your questions on feeding habits, bedtime routines and grooming. Read some of her answers here. Question: My cat always sleeps in my bed, but recently she’s been using bed...
- ‘why Won’t My Cat Sleep In His Bed?’ And Other Behaviour Faqs
In the most recent Facebook Q&A, Behaviour Manager Nicky Trevorrow answered questions about feline sleeping places, kitten socialisation, feeding habits and more. Read some of her answers here: Question: Do you have any tips on getting my cat to sleep...
- ‘how Do I Teach My Cat To Use The Cat Flap?’ And Other Behaviour Faqs
Last week feline behaviour specialist Nicky Trevorrow returned to our national Facebook page to answer questions on cat behaviour. Here are some of the queries she answered: Question: How do I get my Billy to come in through the cat flap? We've had...
- ‘how Much Food Should I Give My Kitten?’ And Other Feline Diet Questions
Are you concerned about your cat’s weight? Do you have a question about your cat’s diet? You’re in the right place! Yesterday Cats Protection vet Vanessa Howie hosted a live Q&A with our Facebook supporters, taking questions about cats and their...
- Feeding Enrichment Puzzles For Your Cat
Like their ancestors, the African Wildcat, domestic cats are programmed to hunt. Each part of the hunting activity – the stalk, pounce, play and kill – releases feel-good hormones called endorphins. Cats need to have frequent successful ‘kills’...