enrichment

Environmental enrichment means adding things to the living space of an animal that will help or allow the animal to display natural behavior such as climbing, hiding, running, scratching, hunting, sleeping, etc. for cats.

For the cat's own wellbeing, it is better to keep non-feral domestic cats indoors only. Dogs, other domestic cats, wildlife, parasites, cars and humans pose serious threats to domestic cats. On top of this, birds, small mammals and reptiles suffer greatly from hunting domestic cats, even when fed enough and wearing a collar with bell.

When restricting the living space of domestic cats to the house only, we need to make sure all basic needs of our cats are met indoors. Their urge to hunt can be met by offering our cats a variety of toys and playing with them. In addition to play, we also need to make sure their indoor environment meets their needs needs.  If our cats cannot go outdoors, we have to "bring the outdoors inside" and make it interesting and exciting enough for them. Are they mentally stimulated? Can they hide? Do they have safe spots to sleep? 

Important note. We will never benefit, in any way, from any purchase you make via this website. We will never accept money, free products or discounts from any commercial business. Period. We have one goal and that goal is to help cats. We believe all scientists must be completely objective.

Click the links below to learn more about various types of environmental enrichment for cats. We will soon add a page about cat grass and cat-attracting plants as well as other types of enrichments (e.g., water fountains, heating pads and cat beds).