Is Your Indoors-Only Cat Bored? Here’s What to Do About It |
If your cat knocks items off furniture, keeps you awake at night, or chases your feet, they might be bored.
Adding enrichment to your cat's daily routine is an easy way to give them more to do.
Food puzzle toys, active play with toys, and improved sleeping spots are all ways to make your cat happier.
It seems like an easy life for pampered house cats: opportunities to snooze all day because meals are provided on schedule, and human companionship whenever they want. But what if your cat is actually bored? Behaviour issues like keeping you awake at night, pushing items off your shelves, and attacking your feet when you walk around the room could all be signs that your kitty cat needs more to do. Here are some suggestions to rethink your cat’s routine and give them more to do during the day.
1. Space out meals throughout the day. Instead of always leaving a big bowl of kibble out, it’s better to give cats multiple small meals. This is closer to how they would feed themselves if they were having to catch lots of mice to eat. If you’re out all day, you can use an automatic feeder to provide lunch, for example. Make one of their meals a supper before bedtime to reduce the likelihood of them waking you up because they get hungry in the night.
2. Feed in different locations. This means they can forage for their food instead of always going to the same place. Use height as well, putting some meals on a shelf or table so that your cat is using vertical space when they search for their food. You can also make a point of hiding treats in different locations, like on a cat tree, chair, or table, so that they can search for treats. Or you can use little bowls or cupcake holders to hide small portions of wet food for them to find.
3. Change food taste and textures to give them some variety in what they eat (unless they are the kind of cat who likes only one particular food).
4. If you have more than one cat, make sure their food bowls (or puzzle toys) are separated from each other. They will feel more comfortable eating if they don’t have to share the space.
5. Use food puzzle toys to make them work for their food. Make the puzzle toys very easy when you first start to use them and include plenty of treats to get your cat interested. Over time, you can make the food puzzles harder. Also, think about the kind of thing your cat likes to do and try to get food puzzle toys that will involve that behaviour, such as pushing a ball around or dipping their paw into a container to fish something out. You can easily make your own food puzzle toys with a cardboard tube.
6. Make time to play with your cat. Get a wand toy and move it around as if it’s a prey item. Let them stalk, chase, and leap after it as they wish. Pay attention to which movements of the toy are of most interest to your cat, as doing so will help you to improve your play skills over time. Many people need a bit of practice!
7. Offer toys that are scented with catnip, silvervine, valerian, or Tatarian honeysuckle. You might need to experiment to find which your cat prefers, because not all cats respond to catnip, but that doesn’t mean they won’t respond to one of these other substances.
8. Have toys with sounds and lights, and that mimic different prey items. Introduce variety into the toys that you offer and pay attention to what your cat seems to like best. Do they prefer something with feathers, a toy mouse, or a long, thin toy that curls up like a snake? You can also make the toys seem new again by marinating them in catnip (or a similar substance) or simply putting them away for a few weeks. If you keep the toys in a box, you can open it from time to time to give your cat a choice of toys to pick out—or maybe they will even learn to open the box for themselves, especially if you leave the lid slightly up to make it easier.
9. Do some training with positive reinforcement. You can teach cats to do things like high-five, spin, or sit pretty if you like. Make it super-easy for your cat to earn small food rewards at each stage of training to keep them interested in it. Keep training sessions short. If you’re not sure where to start, train them to like their cat carrier, because it makes vet visits so much easier. (There’s a plan to teach this in my book Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy.)
10. Improve their beds. While it’s important for cats to have plenty to do, they do also like to sleep a lot. Make sure they have multiple cozy beds to choose from, including some spaces high up where they can perch, and some spaces where they can hide from view if they want to. The top of a cat tree, a bed on your desk near where you work, or a little hiding place in the back of the wardrobe can all make good places for cats to snooze.
It’s easier to remember to do things when you make them part of a routine, so try to find ways to make more enrichment for your cat at regular times in your day. Providing enrichment for your cat is an important way to help prevent (and sometimes resolve) behavior issues. If you ever notice a sudden change in your cat’s behavior, make an appointment with your vet in case there is a medical cause.
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