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Addressing your cat’s physical and emotional needs enhances their health and quality of life.

A cat’s environment includes:

• Their physical surroundings
  • Your house, cat run and garden
  • All the objects in your house both those specifically for your cat such as their bowls, beds and litter trays and those not specifically for your cat such as furniture and appliances.
  • Their social interactions
    • Human family members and visitors, other family pets, neighbourhood animals (may just be through scent)
    • Sounds and smells

Understand the Needs of Your Cat

The needs of today’s cats are very similar to those of their wild ancestors.

• Cats are social animals but their social structure differs from ours. Cats may be content as a single cat or living with other cats.  
• Cats are solitary hunters spending much of their day (or night) searching the environment for hunting opportunities. Being both a predator and prey, cats also feel the need to protect themselves from any perceived danger.
• Cats are territorial animals. They feel threatened if their territory is disturbed either by an animal or physically.
• Cats use scent, posturing and vocalisations to communicate when they feel threatened.
• Cats have a superior sense of smell and hearing. Stress can occur due to strong or strange smells or sounds which may be undetectable to us.

The Five Pillars of a Healthy Environment for Your Cat

The ISFM and the AAFP are two of the largest feline veterinary organisations in the world and they share the vision of helping improve the lives of cats all around the world. These organisations will frequently collaborate together to publish specific Feline Practice Guidelines on a variety of cat-specific topics. The guidelines are generally formed by a panel of feline experts and help provide recommendations to both vets and cat owners on the optimum standard for feline care. The 2013 Environmental Needs Guidelines identified five primary concepts that are needed to provide a healthy environment for your cat. These five pillars can be applied regardless of what sort of lifestyle your cat has, whether they are indoors or outdoors. By incorporating the Five Pillars into your cat’s environment, you will see a lower incidence of illness, improve their behaviour and increase their general well-being.

Pillar 1: Provide a safe place

Every cat needs a safe and secure place to retreat to so that they feel protected. There should be the ability to exit and enter the safe space from at least two sides if they feel threatened. Most cats prefer that the safe space is big enough to fit only themselves, has sides around it, and is raised off the ground.

Cats are vertical animals! Providing more vertical space where your cat can get above ground level is highly desirable and increases the overall space available to your cat. Provide “cat trees”, preferably with hiding spots and cat perches, and clear away any clutter from book shelves so they can jump up in them. Other good examples of safe places are a cardboard box or a cat carrier. There should be at least one safe place per household cat located away from each other so that cats can choose to be on their own.

Pillar 2: Provide multiple and separated key environmental resources: food, water, toileting areas, scratching areas, play areas and resting or sleeping areas.

A cat’s key environmental resources include food, water, toileting areas, scratching areas, play areas and resting or sleeping areas. There needs to be multiples of each and every one of these resources, and they should be separated from each other so that cats can have free access without being challenged by other cats or other threats. Separation of resources reduces risk of competition, stress and stress associated diseases.

Encourage a more natural way of feeding. Cats in the wild will eat 10-20 small meals a day. If you make all food available in a bowl that is in the same location every day, foraging time for indoor cats has been reduced to a few minutes per day, compared with the hours needed for natural foraging. This contributes to obesity problems in cats, which can lead to various serious health disorders.

Tips to make feeding more natural for your cat:

• Food puzzles, interactive food toys, food/treat balls
• Make your own homemade food puzzles using a cardboard box, egg carton or plastic beverage bottle with holes cut into it
• Hide food in different places around the house and in or around new objects so that your cats can “hunt” for their food

Having multiple litter tray areas is very important for multiple cat households, set up several stations with litter resources available at more than one site, a cat can choose which path to take and which cat to greet or avoid. (For more information read our Litter Box Care page)

Remember scratching is normal cat behaviour. Provide acceptable scratching materials such as a scratching posts for your cat to use. To train your cat to use the post, reward with treats and praise. Also put catnip, treats and toys on or near the post. Scratching posts should be sturdy and made of materials that cats prefer such as wood, sisal rope or rough fabric including carpet. Locate the scratching post next to a window, sleeping area or another favourite area. Many cats prefer vertical scratching posts, some prefer horizontal ones.

Outdoor enclosures or cat runs protect them from injury and exposure to infectious diseases whilst still allowing them to have outdoor exposure. There are a number of specialised companies in Perth that specifically build cat runs such as Catmax or Secureakat.

Pillar 3: Provide opportunity for play and predatory behaviour

Play and predatory behaviour allow cats to fulfil their natural need to hunt. Play can be stimulated with the use of interactive toys that mimic prey such as a toy mouse or feathers on a wand. Cats need to be able to capture the “prey” at least intermittently to prevent frustration. Do not let your kitten or cat bite your hands or feet. If your kitten is doing this, substitute a toy for them to bite on instead. Using food puzzle or food balls can also mimic the hunting action and provides more natural feeding behaviour. Studies indicate cats play best and most often with toys that require human interaction. Rotate toys to avoid boredom and reward appropriate play with treats for positive reinforcement. If you have more than one cat, play with them individually as cats are solitary hunters. For more information on how to choose the right toys for your cat, click here.

Pillar 4: Provide positive, consistent and predictable human-cat interaction

Cats are social animals. They need companionship and mental stimulation. Social companionship can be in the form of gentle patting and stroking, feeding, grooming and play.

Each cat has their own individual preference on how much they like human interactions such as petting, grooming, playing, being picked up and sitting on their owners lap. This is largely determined by both their genetics and their exposure to humans in their early socialisation period of 2-7 weeks of age. Remember that every cat interacts differently and respect their individual preferences. Do not force interaction and let the cat initiate, choose and control their human interaction.

Cats can be trained and enjoy the associated attention

• Reward cats with treats or positive attention to encourage desired behaviour
• Redirect undesired behaviour
• Do not punish, do not swat, slap or yell at your cat
• Train under calm, fun conditions using positive reinforcement such as toys, treats, massage, praise
• Cats can learn to “sit”, “come” and do a variety of other tricks. Start with things your cat already likes to do.
• You can also train your cat to allow teeth brushing, nail trimming and grooming.

For anticipated changes in the family, such as adding a new pet or baby, prepare the environment and introduce your cat gradually to these changes. For example, when moving house start off by first introducing your cat to a small, comfortable space in the new house which has been previously stocked with favourite items such as toys or your clothing. When your cat has adjusted to this new environment, gradually increase the new space available to her or him.

Pillar 5: Provide an environment that respects the importance of the cat’s sense of smell

Unlike us humans, cats use their sense of smell to evaluate their surroundings. Cats mark their scent by rubbing their face and body depositing natural pheromones within the boundaries of their safe, secure territory. Avoid cleaning the scent off these areas, especially when introducing a new cat into the home or if there is other changes with pets, people or the environment. Feliway is a synthetic feline facial pheromone that can mimic the cat’s natural pheromones and provide a calming effect in stressful or unfamiliar situations. Some smells can be threatening to cats such as the smell of unfamiliar animals, or the use of scented products, cleaners or detergents.

But my cat doesn’t seem stressed, how does this help my cat?

Providing an enriched environment makes your cat happier, reduces stress and helps prevent many behavioural and medical problems. Your cat will be easier to handle at home and at the vets and you will have a strengthened bond together.