How to Entertain an Indoor Cat

Keeping cats indoors is becoming more common and acceptable over the years. Indoor cats are protected from dangers, such as poisons, cars, dog attacks, and viral infections from other stray or outdoor cats. However, they also have a tendency for behavioral issues and/or obesity. Most indoor cats lack physical activities and environmental interactions --- whether it is with their surrounding or with people or other animals. Simply put, the safe sedentary lifestyle of indoor cats is often boring.

But it does not have to be that way. With minor adjustments to your home or routine, you can provide your indoor cats with a safe but interesting life.

1) For some cats, plants are a triple sensory stimulation powerhouse --- touch, taste, and smell. Add some cat-friendly greens to your home. You can try catnip, grass shoots ("cat grass"), or rosemary. Most cats enjoy rubbing their face against the plants or nibbling on the leaves. Check with the Animal Poison Control Center to know which poisonous plants to avoid. If your cat vomits after eating the plants, remove the plants and call your family veterinarian for advice.

2) Visual stimulation can be achieved with viewing windows. However, you may need to keep stray or outdoor cats from view in case they trigger unwanted behavior and redirected aggression from your cats. If a window seat is not possible, you may try a DVD for cats.

3) Physical activities. Cat trees provide excellent avenues for cats to climb and view the world from above. Staged treat hunts engage cats mentally and physically. Interactive toys such as the feather wands and laser pointers (follow the warnings and precaution) are also great ways for you to spend time with your cats.

eBay has a list of 10 simple toys for your cats. Remember to always supervise your pets whenever you introduce a new toy. And be especially careful with the twine and string suggestion.

You are doing one of the best preventative health measures for your cats by keeping them indoors. Your cats' basic needs --- food and shelter (safety) --- are already met. You can up it a notch and enrich their lives with one of the above addition. Start with an easy one. Try a cat teaser (feather wand) or a laser pointer. It may bring the spark back into your older cats' eyes and entertain your younger cats (and you) for hours.

Here's Woodpecker and the laser pointer.