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What your cat needs series

DVM. NGUYEN THI HONG TUOI|1/7/2025|5 min read
relaxed cats lounging on soft beds in a cozy, well-decorated room at Petcial hotel.

BEHAVIOUR SERIES - WHAT YOUR CAT NEEDS

A thorough understanding of normal behaviour and how to meet the cat’s requirements is a prerequisite

Cats staying at Petcial Hotel
Cat trees are highly suitable for cats

 for ensuring good behavioural health and welfare in cats. Based on this sound knowledge, inventive and effective ways of enriching a cat’s environment can be devised so as to minimize stress, promote good behavioural health and welfare and strengthen the relationship between owners and their cats.

1. Space

• There should be enough space for your cat, at least two rooms. 

• More important than the amount of space is its quality. This means making sure your cat can make use of the space, especially the vertical dimension. 

• Cats like to climb and spent a lot of time off the floor, on raised surfaces such as shelves placed at different heights, window sills, cat activity centres or even on the tops of wardrobes and cupboards if they can be reached easily.

2. Food and water

• Your cat should receive a balanced diet that is correct for its lifestage (kitten, adult, senior). 

• It is better to feed your cat several small meals during the day, rather than two larger meals. 

• If your cat is overweight or easily bored, try stimulating ‘hunting’ behaviour by hiding pieces of dry food for your cat to discover, or 

• Offer clean water next to the food bowl and also in a place away from the feeding area

 

 

3. Litter tray (box)

• If your cats are kept indoors, there should be one litter tray per cat, plus one extra one. These should be in multiple locations to allow all cats easy access to them. 

• Make sure the trays are kept clean and free of smells, by scooping out soiled litter once or twice a day. 

• Clean the trays and replace litter as often as is necessary to keep them clean and odour-free. 

• Place the trays in quiet but easily accessible areas; avoid busy areas or very remote locations. 

• In multi-level houses, make sure there is a litter tray on each floor. 

• Make sure the litter trays are big enough: at least 1.5 times the length of the cat, and that the cat can get in and out easily. 

• Most cats prefer uncovered boxes and unscented, clumping fine-grained litter. 

• Size of tray, placement and cleaning frequency may be different for kittens and senior cats

4. Resting and Sleeping areas

• Cats spend a lot of their time resting and sleeping, so there should be plenty of comfortable areas for

 them throughout the home.

• Some of these areas should be raised off the floor on higher surfaces such as chairs, beds and shelves

5. Hiding places

• Being able to hide helps cats cope with challenges, changes and stress in their environment. 

• Hiding places can be boxes, crates, baskets, wardrobes or cupboards with the door left open. 

• A comfortable hiding place can also serve as a rest or sleep area, especially if it is raised off the floor and is a good look-out (vantage) point

 

6. Claw scratching

• Claw scratching is a normal behaviour that cats do to stretch their muscles, keep their claws in good condition and also to leave scent that marks their territory. 

• Good surfaces for scratching include scratch posts, sisal rope, hessian, rush matting, cardboard and pieces of carpet and wood. 

• Scratching surfaces should be put at places of entry and exit into the home where new smells are brought in (for example, by the front door or the door to the garden/ yard). 

• Scratching surfaces should also be placed next to resting or sleeping areas, as cats often stretch and sharpen their claws after waking. 

• Prominent surfaces such as corners of furniture are often used, so these can be covered with a suitable material for scratching, or scratch posts placed next to them. 

• Cats often like vertical scratching surfaces that are high enough for them to stretch fully and with a vertical thread to pull the claws through, though horizontal scratching surfaces may also be used.

7. Human Contact

• Most cats enjoy having contact with their owner, so owners should spend time every day with their cats, preferably for at least 10 to 15 minutes a session, several times a day. 

• Some cats will enjoy being petted and groomed and handled, while others will like to play. 

• Try to identify the kind of toy your cat prefers to play with. 

• Toys that mimic small prey are often best, if they flutter or squeak when touched, move rapidly or suddenly, or have feathers or are covered in soft fur so much the better. 

• Other toys include ‘fishing’ rods, ping-pong balls, bouncy or self-propelling toys. 

• Cats will get bored with playing with the same toys so there should be a variety and they should be replaced frequently

 

8. Activity and exploration

• It is important for cats to be active, as this helps prevent obesity and boredom, especially if your cat is kept indoors all the time. 

• Offer your cat things to explore, such as large boxes, large paper bags and other structures. 

• Access to the outdoors will provide your cat with a wide range of stimuli and opportunities for exercise but may be associated with certain dangers. 

• If your cat is unable to go out freely, consider making a secure pen or other type of enclosure outdoors, or training your cat to go out on a harness and lead. 

• Using techniques to stimulate feeding behaviour will also encourage activity.

 

9. Stimulation of the senses

• Even if your cat is confined indoors, he/she can enjoy outdoor stimuli (sounds, sights and smells) by using window sills, viewing platforms near windows, or using secure balconies or other enclosures. 

• Audiovisual products are available for cats, which contain images and sounds of nature that may be of interest to them. 

• Catnip is a well-known stimulant that some cats enjoy. 

• Some cats like to chew certain types of grass that can be grown in containers or pots. 

• Surfaces that cats have used for scent marking (such as corners of tables and doors that cats have rubbed against) should not be cleaned too often. 

• Many cats do not like household sprays containing citrus scents

 

Further reading:

  1. Horwitz, D. F., & Mills, D. S. (Eds.). (2009). BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Behavioural Medicine (2nd ed.). British Small Animal Veterinary Association.

  2. American Association of Feline Practitioners (2004) Feline Behaviour Guidelines (see www.aafponline.org/index.htm)
  3. Bernstein P (2005) The human-cat relationship. In: The Welfare of Cats, ed. I Rochlitz, pp. 47-9. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands
  4. Bowen J and Heath S (2005) Behaviour Problems in Small Animals: Practical Advice for the Veterinary Team. Elsevier Saunders, Edinburgh 
  5. Bradshaw JWS and Cameron-Beaumont C (2000) The signaling repertoire of the domestic cat and its undomesticated relatives. In: The Domestic Cat: the Biology of its Behaviour, 2nd edn, ed. D Turner and P Bateson, pp. 68-93. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  6. Buffington CAT (2002) External and internal influences on disease risk in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 220, 994-1002
  7. Casey R (2007) Do I look like I'm bothered! Recognition of stress in cats. In: Scientific Proceedings of the ESFM Feline Congress 2007, pp. 95-97. European Society of Feline Medicine, Tisbury, Wiltshire
  8. Crowell-Davis SL (2005) Cat behaviour: social organization, communication and development. In: The Welfare of Cats, ed. I Rochlitz, pp. 1-22. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands
  9. Feaver J, Mendl M and Bateson P (1986) A method for rating the individual distinctiveness of domestic cats. Animal Behaviour 34, 1016-1025
  10. Fitzgerald BM and Turner DC (2000) Hunting behaviour of domestic cats and their impact on prey populations In: The Domestic Cat: the Biology of its Behaviour, 2nd edn, ed. D Turner and P Bateson, pp. 152-175. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  11. Heath S (2005) Behaviour problems and welfare. In: The Welfare of Cats, ed. I Rochlitz, pp. 91-118. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands
  12. Horwitz DF and Neilson JC (2007) Blackwell's Five Minute Veterinary Consult: Canine and Feline Behavior. Blackwell Publishing, Ames, iowa
  13. Hunthausen W and Seksel K (2002) Preventive behavioural medicine. In: BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Behavioural Medicine, ed. D Horwitz et al., pp. 49-60. BSAVA Publications, Gloucester
  14. McCune S (1995) The impact of paternity and early socialization on the development of cats' behaviour to people and novel objects. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 45, 109-124
  15. Macdonald DW, Yamaguchi N and Kerby G (2000) Group-living in the domestic cat: its sociobiology and epidemiology. In: The Domestic Cat: the Biology of its Behaviour, 2nd edn, ed. D Turner and P Bateson, pp. 95-118. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  16. Rochlitz | (2005) Housing and Welfare. In: The Welfare of Cats, ed. I Rochlitz, pp. 177-203. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands
  17. UK Cat Behaviour Working Group (1995) An Ethogram for Behavioural Studies of the Domestic Cat (Felis silvestris catus L.). UFAW Animal Welfare Research Report No 8. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Wheathampstead
  18. Wooding B and Mills DS (2007) Drinking water preferences in the cat. Proceedings, 6th International Veterinary Behaviour Meeting and European College of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine - Companion Animals and European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology, p. 120.