Out in the wild, cats such as Lions and Tigers will often find imaginative and highly creative ways to keep their minds active. Whilst much of this involves finding ingenious ways to catch larger and more tastier meals, their social surroundings and everyday environmental changes help their brains to develop and live a healthy, balanced life.
Just like their wild cousins and us humans, our domesticated feline friends mind health is extremely important to their everyday welfare and longevity. Without mental stimulation and continuous cognitive activity, cats can indeed become depressed and can even develop conditions in later life such as Feline Cognitive Dysfunction (FCD).
Whilst many domesticated cats will get this mental stimulation from playing outside and exploring the local neighbourhood, in modern society, 50% of cats now stay indoors in areas that often lack mental stimulation.
It’s with this in mind that it’s important to consider new and exciting ways to keep all of our Cool Cats (whether kept inside or not) minds active so that they live in enriched and highly interesting conditions.
To ensure your feline friend(s) is top of the class and always looking for their next hit of fun, we’ve created a 10 step ‘to do’ list that you can use for your cat for years to come.
1. Play Daily: Cats thrive on a consistent routine, and so working play into their daily lives at the same time will keep their brains consistently active in later years. Homemade toys such as socks stuffed with catnip and ping pong balls tied to the end of a stick are perfect solutions that they’ll continuously enjoy.
2. Train their Brains Early: Just like in the wild, kittens love to play to explore their mental and social limitations, helping them to develop their cognitive functions. It’s for this reason that it’s important to train you cat’s brain from an early age so that they’re little brainboxes later in life.
3. Create Some Kitty TV: Placing bird feeders or birdbaths outside of your kitchen / bedroom windows (or wherever your cat loves to sit) will enrich your cat’s day and keep them mentally active from within your home. Plus, if your cats are always inside then our feathered friends are always out of harm’s way.
4. Keep their Physique Stable: Heavy or overweight cats will avoid mental or physical exercise so it’s important that your cat maintains their weight with a well-regulated diet. Our Cat Food Subscriptions can help you to achieve this.
5. Build Cat Obstacle Courses: Set up cat trees, empty boxes, paper bags and other hiding spots so your feline can lounge, climb and explore.
6. Train with Treats: Ensure that your kitty reacts to your requests and is mentally rewarded with each activity with a simple treat.
7. Life on a Leash: With advances in cat leashes, you can now take your kitty on a walk with you to keep them active and allow them to play outdoors in comfort (if they’re an indoor cat).
8. Adopt a Younger Pet: Whether you choose to get a smaller, younger cat or another type of pet entirely, having a younger animal in the household will keep your older feline fit and mentally well more than ever before.
9. Make Mealtimes a Puzzle. Toys that dispense treats mimic feline hunting behaviours, keeping your cat(s) entertained and mentally sharp.
10. Make Treasure Hunts Out of Meals. Hide saucers full of small amounts of food all over the house and place them at different levels so your cat must seek out the morsels. Doing this mimics the natural hunting patterns of their big cat ancestors and keeps them thinking where the next meal will be.