Living with cats · 5 min read
Five Things the Best Cat Moms and Dads Do
By feline behaviourist Mitali Parekh
You probably suspected this and it's true: cats speak to each other and vote on who the best parent is. Here's how to win, every time.
1. Don't make your cat switch activities
Cats are very focused, and like giving one activity their sole attention. Don't make them switch activities by initiating play or cuddles when they are eating, sleeping or grooming. Respect the mood.
2. Play
Technically, cats don't play; they practise the predatory sequence: stalk, pounce, catch, kill and eat. This activity needs to be mimicked for the mental and physical development of a kitten, and the well-being of a grown cat.
Play with your cat for at least 15 minutes, three times a day — especially in the morning and at dusk — and watch most behavioural problems dissipate.
3. Make their food interesting
Cats eat small portions, many times a day. By making food interesting to find, you keep them alert and happy. Spread dry food pellets out in a slow-feeder maze, sprinkle it over fake grass, or just spread it over a wide plate. The act of having to find each pellet will enrich their lives.
4. Enrich their environment
The best thing you can do for your cat is give safe access to the outdoors so that they can climb, jump about, pounce, smell, hunt, sunbathe, and do everything that makes them happy. If that's not possible, enrich the indoors as much as you can.
Cat trees, interconnecting shelves, slopes and ramps to run up and down, hiding cave-like places, catnip and lemongrass plants, pieces of turf near windows they can sunbathe on, scratching posts, basins of water with floating toys they can swat — all of these will make your cat very, very happy, and keep the brain and the body young.
5. Practise litter box etiquette
This is a very basic need, but a crucial one. Cats loathe a dirty litter box. Use non-fragrant litter — fragrances react unpleasantly with cat urine — of the kind that clumps and can be removed. Ensure it is cleaned twice a day.
The litter should be three to five centimetres deep, so that they can dig, eliminate and cover up. Have one litter box per cat, plus one (felines hate to share), and the tray must be large enough for them to turn around in — some experts say twice the length of the cat.
