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INDOOR CATS
 

A lot of behavioural problems are due to boredom and a lot of weight problems are due to lack of exercise. Owners of indoor cats often experience one or even both problems with their cats and some choose to let their cat(s) run free to change the situation, but I believe that it is also possible to make the indoor life more challenging for cats and exercise them at the same time.
 

You don't necessarily have to decorate your home as I have described here, but it may be used as inspiration and can be made on a smaller scale. The most important part is that cats like to view the world from above and by encouraging them to climb a scratch post to get to something exciting high up, they get to use their muscles. The shelving system can be used for naps, for running/jumping/playfighting and I often serve kibble - a little on each shelf - there instead of in a bowl. That way they have to work a little for their food.
 

 

Kibble may also be served using treat balls or actual activity boards, which provide cats with an opportunity to use their brains to get to the food.

When choosing toys for my cats I try to imitate the cat's natural prey and sometimes I even succeed in getting the real thing as in this picture where a young Galliano has "caught" a pheasant wing.

At many shows and in some internet shops you can also buy various types of fur toys made from e.g. rabbit, mink or raccoon and also pheasant feathers. All products are from animals who have been treated well and are not impregnated with toxic substances.

A very popular way to entertain your indoor cats is to feed the birds outside the windows. However, you need to remember that neither birds nor cats know the time and you therefore risk being woken up early during weekend, because one or more birds have settled in expectation of breakfast.
 

When I order food and cat litter on the internet, it usually arrives in large cardboard boxes. This is by far the cheapest form of entertainment for the cats, but works best if you have more than one cat (if not, you need to participate in the game yourself). I close the box completely and cut out holes of different sizes, so one cat can be in the box and one or more cats on the outside who can push their paws through the holes and fight the almost invisible "enemy" in the box.

This is a smaller box which has only had holes cut out on the sides, but Galliano still did his best to defend it against Sander's attack.

 

My cats have also had a lot of pleasure from small nylon tents, which are found cheap in e.g. IKEA and can be used indoor during the winter season and in the yard during the summer season. You can not only hide in them, they can also be used to hide toys - and then you can defend the toys from the others cats' attack through the canvas. If the cats lose interest for a while, they are foldable and may be stored away for later use.

With regard to their food I try to avoid too high a level of carbohydrates as cats are not very good at translating them into energy and they therefore turn into fat instead. Cats were originally predators whose fluid needs were satisfied through their food and they haven't changed dramatically over time.

 

I have therefore chosen to feed my cats dry foods with a high level of meat protein, canned food without sugar and with either a low level of carbohydrates or no carbohydrates for extra fluids (particularly since Galliano had severe problems with cystitis) and some raw food for their teeth and gums. Despite the fact that both Sander and Galliano were neutered at 14 weeks, they have only little or no fat on them so I'm sure it's been beneficial.
Mette Lambert | 3550 Slangerup  | Phone: + 45 29 26 96 61 | mette@dk-templebar.dk