Treat balls are a good idea as you can fill them with some of the normal daily food allowance and then let the cat work for its food by chasing the ball until the treats fall out – this fulfils the natural hunting instinct as well as making the cat exercise and work off some calories. Feeding dry food is best for puzzle feeders that are enclosed, as these can be more difficult to clean, but wet food can be given in feeders with open tops. You can feed all your cat’s meals in a puzzle feeder. They may be bowls with grooves or raised areas so the cat needs to use their paws or tongue to get to the food, or a ball or box with holes in. They are more complex than giving a cat their food in a simple bowl. Puzzle feeders are a brilliant way of keeping your cat mentally stimulated. Cats can become stressed if they don’t have a clean and quiet place to go to the loo. Litter trays should be kept clean for all cats and in a quiet part of the home, but this is particularly important for indoor cats as they don’t have an alternative place to go. Radiator beds are ideal, particularly for cats who are getting on a bit and for whom the days of reaching a spot close to the ceiling are in the past. You could clear a top shelf, put a cosy bed or blanket on top of your wardrobes, or put up new shelves for your cat to climb. It’s especially important for indoor cats to have a number of safe spaces high up that they can access without the risk of falling. Climbing and restingĬlimbing is brilliant physical exercise for cats and getting up high means they can find a quiet spot to watch the world go by, and relax. A good place to keep them is near their bed/a favourite sleeping spot. Indoor cats ideally need more than one scratching post in different locations in the home. The post needs to be high enough for your cat to reach up fully. Scratching also helps to strengthen your cat’s muscles. Scratching trees are even better for indoor cats as they have different levels for your cat to explore, and encourage climbing. Scratching posts give your cat something to scratch that isn’t your furniture. Scratch posts or trees encourage cats' natural behaviours Sharpening their claws If you’re houseproud, an indoor cat probably isn’t the pet for you. Cats like exploring, scratching, and tearing about sometimes, and if your home is the only place they can do this then your soft furnishings are likely to take a hit. Be realisticĬats who live indoors have only your home as their day and nighttime environment. International Cat Care estimates the number of pets kept indoors is 10 per cent. The majority of pet cats in the UK do have access to the outside world. Living in an area with a high cat population.On average, cats who are kept inside do live longer than cats who go outside, and this is largely due to the number of cats killed in road accidents.Ĭommon reasons why people choose to keep their cat indoors include: Cats become easily stressed when they don’t have their own space, and you are likely to see problem behaviour such as spraying and scratching, and aggression towards each other becomes more likely.įind out more about multi-cat households here.
Where multiple cats live in the small area of a house or flat, the space available to each cat is limited, and that’s when conflict can occur. Thinking of getting another indoor cat?Īdding another indoor cat to a household where you already have one or more indoor cats is likely to cause problems.Ĭats like to have their own territory in which to live their daily lives of both exploring and relaxing, and they tend to want to do these activities on their own.
We do rehome cats to indoor-only homes where the cat has a health problem which prevents them from going outside.
Blue Cross does not rehome healthy cats to homes where they must live indoors, even if they have lived as indoor-only cats in the past, unless we feel an inside lifestyle is right for that particular cat. There are lots of things you can do to keep indoor cats entertained (see below) but this may not be enough to satisfy the mind of a cat who is used to being able to do all the things that are in their nature outdoors, and will likely result in problem behaviours including clawing at and urinating on furniture and carpets. Choose the right indoor catĬats who have previously lived outside will not cope well with a change of lifestyle where they go from having the freedom to explore a wide area to their surroundings only being inside. If you’re hoping to add a new cat to your family and you specifically want a cat who will live indoors, it’s really important to choose a cat for whom living indoors is the right situation for that individual cat.
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