Originally published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, “Meeting the Physical and Emotional Needs of Indoor Cats” outlines a comprehensive framework to support the wellbeing of cats living exclusively indoors.

While indoor living reduces exposure to many physical dangers, the statement emphasises that safety alone is not enough — emotional and behavioral needs must be prioritised equally.

Meeting the essential environmental needs of each cat will reduce their distress and the likelihood of behavioural disorders and stress-related medical issues. Central to a cat’s needs are five essential pillars:

The Position Statement serves as a resource for veterinarians to guide client conversations, behaviour consultations, and environmental enrichment plans. For cat caregivers, it offers an accessible way to evaluate whether their indoor cat’s needs are truly being met.

“Indoor-only cats are often assumed to be the safest, but it is more challenging to meet their needs, impacting their physical and emotional health and resulting in more caregiver concerns about behaviour,” said Ilona Rodan, DVM, DABVP (Feline), AdvCertFB, Chair of the FelineVMA Feline Welfare Committee. “This Position Statement helps caregivers and veterinary practices recognise the essential daily needs of cats who are often physically and emotionally underserved.”

– Source: FelineVMA

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And now we’ve created it!

Introducing Big&Strong cat pads.

You can use them loose on the floor or on furniture.

It’s a cat magnet!

Or attach them vertically to a wall or door.

Or how about using them as a platform, step or bridge? We have this one over our ranch slider as a bridge so the cats can get from the climbing post to their special hideaway above the kitchen cabinets!

53cm cat scratch pad installed as a bridge over a door

The cat pads are fully carpeted in your choice of beige or grey.

They are 20cm wide and available in two standard lengths of 53cm or 92cm (approximately). Custom orders are welcome too.

Naturally, they are made in New Zealand and available exclusively from CATFENCE.NZ

» How to buy

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You may wonder why your cat is doing this and how to stop it. In this article, we will explore the reasons behind this behavior and provide some tips on how to prevent it.

Why do cats scratch furniture?

Scratching is a natural and instinctive behavior for cats. They scratch to stretch their muscles, mark their territory, and sharpen their claws. In the wild, cats scratch trees or other rough surfaces to remove the outer layer of their claws and keep them healthy. Indoor cats may not have access to suitable scratching surfaces, so they may resort to furniture, carpets, or curtains instead.

How to stop your cat from scratching furniture

There are several ways to prevent your cat from scratching furniture. Here are some tips to try:

1. Provide suitable scratching posts

Invest in a few scratching posts that are tall enough for your cat to stretch out and sturdy enough to withstand vigorous scratching. (We recommend Big & Strong cat climbing posts.) Place them in areas where your cat spends most of their time, and encourage them to use them by sprinkling catnip or treats on them.

2. Trim your cat’s claws

Regularly trimming your cat’s claws can help reduce the damage they can do to furniture. It is best to start this when they are kittens so they can get used to it. We trim our cats’ claws every three weeks. If you’re unsure how to do it, ask your veterinarian or a professional groomer for advice.

3. Deter your cat from scratching furniture

There are several ways to deter your cat from scratching furniture, including:

• Applying double-sided tape or aluminium foil to the areas they scratch. Some cats don’t like the texture or sound of these materials and will avoid them.
• Using a citrus-scented spray or a spray that contains a bittering agent, which will discourage your cat from scratching.
• Placing a scratching post in front of the furniture they usually scratch.

4. Provide outdoor activities for your cat

Although some cats seem perfectly happy indoors, others will constantly remind their owners that they prefer the outdoor life.

Outdoor activities can be a great way to keep cats active and stimulated, which can help reduce their desire to scratch furniture. Consider installing a cat fence system to keep your cat safe and secure while they explore the outdoors.

Conclusion

Scratching is a natural behavior for cats, but it can be destructive to furniture. Providing your cat with appropriate scratching posts, trimming their claws, and using deterrents can help prevent this behavior. Additionally, providing outdoor activities for your cat can help reduce their desire to scratch furniture. With patience and persistence, you can train your cat to scratch appropriate surfaces only, and you’ll enjoy a harmonious relationship with your furry friend.

Image by Александр Смирнов from Pixabay

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Writing in a recent issue, Molly Kelsey looks at the best ways to keep your cat safely in your garden (while keeping other cats out).

Molly, aka the Cat Counsellor, shares our belief that contained cats are happiest when they have a rich environment including the things they enjoy. As she says:

• Cats love mint, honeysuckle and catnip. Plant some in a soil bed away from plants you don’t want dug up or slept on.
• Solid A-frame plant trellises can make great climbing structures for cats. Make sure they are stable, with no loose nails, and won’t tip over.
• Consider added hiding places such as crates that can be hidden with ground cover plants overtop.
• Ensure there is a nice sunny spot for sunbathing and other important jobs. Some cats will appreciate a dedicated outdoor litterbox – this can help reduce them using your garden beds.

Thanks Molly for a timely and useful article – and for helping let cat owners know that cats can be safe and happy at home (with help from catfence.nz). 🙂

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Cat containment is a contentious topic in the media and Sarah says it is important to remember it’s not about demonising cats for the impact they can have on our environment – it’s also about keeping cats healthy and safe.

“Cats allowed to free-roam can lead to predation of wildlife, including native wildlife, disruption of wildlife behaviour, spreading disease like toxoplasmosis, which is a threat to our endangered marine mammals and can be transferred to humans as well, but cats are also at an increased risk of injury or harm to themselves,” says Sarah.

The study aimed to examine which factors best predict engagement in cat containment, and whether there are unique audiences of cat owners in New Zealand that differ significantly in the set of factors that predict their behaviour.

Sarah surveyed 395 New Zealand cat owners using a Lucid Marketplace online sample. Responses came from a broad audience.

“Our findings were that respondents rarely intended to perform or engage in cat containment, which is what we expected based on previous research. From all the factors assessed, people’s engagement in cat containment and intentions to engage in the future were influenced by a broad range of factors, not just one,” she says.

Factors included if someone had the physical and psychological capability to engage, the social and physical opportunity to participate and the motivation to engage. This includes if someone had positive interpersonal influences (a vet that supported cat containment for example), whether they had the time or resources available to modify their home or environment, were concerned about the negative consequences related to free-roaming cats and believed that cat containment is beneficial for cats.

The findings enabled Sarah to segment cat owners into four distinct audiences. The groups were labelled engaged: 6%, receptive: 17%, ambivalent: 48% and opposed: 30%.

“Each audience differed significantly in the set of factors predicting their behaviour and also performed cat containment to significantly different extents. The engaged segment participated in cat containment the most and believed it is beneficial to cats. In comparison the opposed segment participated the least and were the least concerned about the negative impacts of free-roaming.”

Cat containment could include keeping cats inside (or keeping cats inside at night), cat enclosures, escape-proof fenced yards, and supervising cats outside.

Sarah says it is important to look at cat management in New Zealand.

“Broadly speaking, in future I’d like to see a rethink on what it looks like to be a responsible cat owner. An important part of this is bringing people on the journey and changing attitudes. I don’t think it is just about putting rules and regulations in place at a council level, you have to change people’s beliefs and attitudes, educate them about the issue, and give them the tools and resources to make it easy to engage.”

“Key contributions from the research are that now we understand the main causes of people’s decisions to participate or not, interventions can be designed that actually address these things for different audiences of cat owners.”

Sarah has decided to keep her cats at home, building them a ‘catio’ which gives them access to the house and outside.

Sarah completed a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington and a Master of Science in Marketing at the University of Bath. She is now completing her Master of Science in Psychology at the University of Canterbury, supervised by Psychology Professor Don Hine, and intends to enroll to complete a doctorate.

She says her background in marketing has provided valuable skills in social marketing, audience segmentation and behaviour change.

“Some ideas to increase engagement in cat containment based on these findings is to educate people about the prevalence of roaming-related cat injury, use influencers on social media as role models to build positive associations with keeping cats at home and environmental restructuring – making tools easily available for cat containment.”

– University of Canterbury

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But experts agree that this is simply untrue. The Government of Victoria puts it this way:

Contrary to popular belief, cats don’t have to roam. Providing their basic needs are met, cats can enjoy longer and healthier lives when safely contained to the property.

Serious problems can occur if cats are allowed to roam outdoors, particularly at night (around 80% of accidents involving cats happen at night). Roaming cats can get hit by cars, injured in fights, catch fatal diseases (eg feline AIDS) or become lost.

Roaming cats can also kill native wildlife – even well fed cats will hunt. Roaming cats can annoy neighbours too, by spraying, fighting, yowling and digging in gardens.

Source: Cat confinement – enclosures and fencing

The rest is really just common sense. Your cat’s environment – whether it’s indoors only or an indoor/outdoor combination with cat fencing – should incorporate the following:

• Space – room to exercise and to offer variety so they don’t get bored
• Security – so the cat cannot get past the boundary, and cannot injure themself in trying
• Comfort – such as shelter from the sun and rain, a nice bed, litterbox, food and water
• Stimulation – cat toys, things to climb on, maybe another cat to play with 🙂
• You – yes, you need to spend time with your cat, playing and giving affection. And it’s good for both of you!

The post Does my cat need to roam to be happy? appeared first on CATFENCE.

1. a secure area from which your cat cannot escape,

2. lots of things for your cat to do so that they get exercise, get social interaction and don’t get bored

Fortunately, neither of these things is hard to do.

The first one, can be addressed through a cat containment system, such as Oscillot®.

For the second, there are many things you can do, and we’ll talk about a few ideas over the coming weeks.

The simplest idea is something called “Cat TV” – and you don’t even have to plug it in!

Just create an area where your cats can watch the world outside – from a safe distance.

Ingrid King has a great blog post about this called Birdwatching: Environmental Enrichment for Indoor Cats. That’s her video above too.

[4 Jan 2018]

The post Quality of life for your cat – part 1 appeared first on CATFENCE.

When you keep your cats at home using the Oscillot system, you may find that they expect you to keep them amused.

We recommend lots of cat toys, climbing posts and cuddle time.

And if you don’t mind, serve them dinner on demand. 🙂

[31 Mar 2017]

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At Cat Containment Systems we believe that cats should be non-roaming, but that doesn’t mean they should never leave home.

You may want to take your cat in a carrying cage when you travel or just to visit the vet.

But cats also enjoy walking. The key is make sure they stay with you, and what better way than with a little leash training. It’s so simple, you don’t even have to be human to do it (check out the video above!).

One of our Siberian kittens now lives in Wellington where she can be seen exploring the city with her human friend Helen, the two of them connected via a leash.

The post The leash-trained cat appeared first on CATFENCE.

Cats need exercise. If you decide not to let your cats roam (yay!) there are a couple of approaches you could take:

1. Build a home gym for your cats (as in the video above – which is actually pretty funny)
2. Let your cats roam in their own backyard – with an Oscillot fence system (not as funny, but pretty darned clever)

24 July 2016

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