You have probably heard the term environmental enrichment on occasion, but you are not entirely sure what it means or how it can benefit your cat. Although many felines are incredibly lucky to be fostered in a comfortable home, felines' innate curiosity can lead to boredom and mood swings over time.
In this article on our site, in collaboration with FELIWAY, we help you understand the importance of environmental enrichment for cats and share the keys to achieve a properly enriched environment, reducing stress as much as possible and favoring your happiness.
What is feline environmental enrichment?
Environmental enrichment refers to all those factors that provide the cat with a better quality of life, that is, that promote its well-being. For this reason, if we adopt a cat, it is essential to offer it a correct environmental enrichment, which begins by providing a safe home for it and with all the basic resources to cover its needs, such as a suitable litter box, quality food, water always at your disposal, a comfortable bed and assorted toys. Likewise, it is part of enrichment to separate these resources correctly, since cats do not like to eat where they do their business, for example.
Having said the above, the relationships established with the different members who live in the home, physical and mental stimulation also enter into environmental enrichment. For these reasons, we will talk about two types of enrichment in order to offer our cat everything he needs to be happy:
- Environmental enrichment with inanimate objects: toys, structures and everything related to the physical space available to our cat.
- Environmental enrichment at the sensory level: visual stimuli, smells…
How to enrich the environment for cats with inanimate objects?
As we said, the physical space where the cat lives must be properly enriched so that he can cover all his needs without any problem: rest, play, socialize and eat. Next, we will see how we can enrich a cat's environment through objects:
Environmental enrichment for cats with toys
It seems more than obvious that a cat needs hours of play, but sometimes we don't give it too much importance or we spend many hours away from home and take for granted that they play alone with whatever they have at hand. However, toys that allow us to interact with our cat provide us with much appreciated time to evaluate possible locomotor alterations or detect early signs of illness, in addition to the satisfaction mutual generated by the company.
Some toys that we can recommend to enrich the environment are:
- The rods (imitating fishing rods) that we can handle with a toy on the end, or with feathers, are an example game for everyone, to which cats are usually very receptive. Balls, stuffed mice and the like don't move on their own, so our cats often lose interest after a while.
- Canvas tunnels like those used in playgrounds provide a mix between a den and a toy that attract our cats.
- A prize in the form of a tasty treat, like a m alt candy, or some of your favorite wet food at the end of a game It will allow him to relate that moment with very positive stimuli. This is especially recommended for more sedentary or overweight cats, as it encourages them to want to play with their humans if they know they will get a reward.
- In cats highly motivated by food, a simple cylinder of hard cardboard, or the cardboard left over after finishing a roll of paper Hygienic, it can be a perfect toy to hide pieces of food inside and cover both ends. Then, we can make some holes in the cardboard so that when you turn it when you smell the food, you can take it out through them. On the market there is a wide variety of food dispenser toys for cats, as well as authentic labyrinths to get the treat, which stimulate the cat mentally and physically, although they are not so cheap.
We encourage you to buy a variety of toys to get to know your feline and see which toys he likes the most. Also, keep in mind that cats tend to get bored of toys easily, so it is also good to have a box with many and provide them with different toys every week.
At this point, we may be wondering if using the laser pointer to play with our cat is a way to enrich their ambient. It makes us laugh to see our cat chasing a light on the wall, but the truth is that generates frustration and causes the opposite effect to that desired. The cat cannot catch anything, as happens with the stuffed mouse, the feather… It spends an hour chasing something that cannot be touched and, suddenly, it disappears. These types of games are not recommended at all if what we want is to provide our cat with a suitable environment for a balanced and stress-free life. Don't miss this article where we talk about it: "Is the laser good for playing with cats?".
Other ideas to improve the cat's environmental enrichment
Toys are not the only objects that a cat should have to enjoy a well-enriched environment, it is also important to consider the following:
- Cat Structures: By structure we mean constructions of all kinds, from a simple cardboard box to three-story scratching posts, with hiding place included and hammock to sleep. An economical and simple option is a cardboard box in which a hole is made so that it can enter. If it is installed in a high place, it will be the perfect hiding place to escape unwanted visitors or when you want to escape from the hustle and bustle at home. Likewise, distributing different boxes, scratching posts or structures around the home is more than recommended because it offers the cat the possibility of choosing and changing.
- Various litter boxes: especially if several cats live in the home, having one litter box per cat and one extra is the most recommended to avoid fights over this resource or that one of them decides to relieve himself where he shouldn't. Likewise, it is essential to keep them clean, so that, even if only one cat lives, it is also good to have more than one in case we have not been able to collect the feces yet.
- Shelves, cushions and beds: Placing several shelves with cushions at different heights on the walls of our home is a way of enriching the cat environment because these animals love heights. In addition, we can place several beds per house, especially if we prefer that they do not climb on the sofa. Bunk beds can also be built from the leftover drawers of an old bedside table, leaving cushions on them, to provide a bed and a watchtower. Igloo-type beds are a commercial option that are not as expensive as multi-module scratching posts and are often very popular.
Although there are many objects that we recommend, it is important not to overload the environment, because sometimes we put too many ideas into practice, all at once, and inadvertently limit the area in which the cat can wander. In addition, it is necessary to respect the right distance between the toilet area, rest area and eating area, which is not easy in small flats. Therefore, it is interesting to take advantage of the vertical space for your recreation or rest area, if it includes sleeping surfaces or hammocks.
Environmental enrichment for cats at a sensory level
Besides toys and other inanimate objects, there are other ways to enrich the cat's day-to-day life to improve its well-being, and we explain them below:
Visual stimuli
They are very important for our cat to be balanced and comfortable. The ideal is to allow him to see out the window, but you have to be very careful for two reasons: the most obvious is that he can fall or get caught when we leave the window partially open, the other is that, sometimes, there is too much external stimulation (birds constantly in the area, for example) and our cat can end up frustrated by spending a lot of time watching without being able to do anything. Allowing it access to views towards a place traveled by people and occasionally by other animals is positive, but without too much presence of possible prey it would be ideal.
Cats have good visual acuity and distinguish various colors, which is why many people choose to put nature videos on the television. However, practice indicates that they do not capture your attention as much as live life through a window.
On the other hand, there is the possibility of teaching the cat to walk on a leashso that he can actively participate in the environment, and not just see it through the window
Olfactory stimuli
Odors are very important in the lives of cats, as some magically attract them. Enriching their environment with herbs that they find pleasant, such as catnip, encourages them to take an interest in their surroundings. Not everyone responds with the same intensity to the same odors, but they are easily found and for little money we can try it.
Also, in older cats who develop something akin to senile dementia, olfactory therapy often helps them recognize different places: of toilet, food… When they are disoriented and do not remember where to go to urinate, the smell of lavender, for example (if we use it routinely in that place), will "remind" them that this is the place where they have to go to locate the sandbox.
On the other hand, if more than one cat lives in the home, we have the possibility of using pheromones for cats Cats emit certain pheromones in a natural way for specific purposes, such as marking a territory as safe, delimiting its area to warn other cats or for reproductive purposes. Synthetic pheromones can help convey that message of calm and security that will allow us to enrich the cat's environment and make it happier by feeling better. For this, we have FELIWAY Optimum Difusor, a state-of-the-art complex of feline pheromones that favors the reduction of stress in these animals and helps in situations such as moving, introducing of a new cat, significant changes in the home or in your cat's routine.
In the moments of stress mentioned, pheromones emit messages of tranquility and harmony and help cats to stay relaxed. It's as simple as plugging in the diffuser and turning it on.
On the other hand, we must also remember that facial marking and by sharpening nails or rubbing is essential in the lives of cats. Not allowing them to do it because it leaves hair in the places of passage or because their nails can damage some furniture is a mistake that we usually make. Instead, we can choose to put coconut fiber strips in the corners that they visit frequently to mark. They can be arranged as corners, covering sofas and door frames to which the cat has a special predilection. Our furniture will be protected and our cats relaxed. Likewise, we have pheromones that help us redirect this behavior towards scratchers and structures allowed for it, such as FELIWAY Classic Spray.
