Guest Blogger: Suzanne Denk, Animal Enrichment Specialist
A cat’s quality of life can be easily improved with a variety of toys and activities which provide mental stimulation.
Try the following easy activities with your cat:
- Blow bubbles
- Let your cat drink from the bathroom faucet
- Read a story to your cat
- Put a bird feeder outside a window
- Hide treats in a cardboard egg carton
- Play with a feather teaser
- Provide a scratching board or post
- Grow cat grass
- Hide toys and treats throughout the house to provide a chance for hunting while your cat is alone.
- Feed dry food in a puzzle ball.
Create a Cat Activity Center:
Throwaway items can be made into entertaining play stations for cats. The activity center can include scratchers, candy trays, toilet paper tubes, pipe cleaners, clean medicine cups, ribbon spools, or egg cartons. The only limit is your imagination. Once the items have been securely glued in place, add pinches of catnip, balls, toy mice, or treats. Let the cat explore on his own. The textures, smells, and nooks will get your cat thinking! Once the cat has lost interest, refill with the goodies, wait a couple of days, and move the activity center to another location. Your cat will think they have made a brand new discovery!
Make a toy from things around the house:
- Plastic Bottle caps
- Milk jug rings
- Toilet paper tubes – fringed edges are fun!
- Pipe cleaner twists
- Origami balls or Origami lucky stars
- Drinking straws
- ½ of a plastic Easter egg with wet food spread inside
- Plastic Easter egg with a pinch of catnip
- Empty spool of thread
- Tea bag envelope pinched open for unique scent
- A pinch of catnip in an old sock
- Ping pong ball in a tissue box or in the bathtub (no water)
Rotate toys regularly to keep them new and interesting.