Looking After Cats: Play, Climbing, Toilets and Grooming
A cat that is fed and warm is not automatically a content cat. Hunting, climbing, a clean place to toilet, and a coat that does not tangle are daily needs, not extras. The good news is that most of this care is simple: a wand toy, a tall perch, enough large litter trays, and a brush used before mats form.
How to play with kittens and cats
Play is practice hunting. A good session follows the same shape as a stalk: something moves at a distance, the cat creeps, then there is a short chase and a pounce. Wand toys and fishing-rod toys are the easiest way to do this without using your hands. Hands and feet should never be the toy. A kitten that learns that skin is fair game becomes an adult that bites ankles.
Kittens need many short bursts rather than one long workout. Five to ten minutes, several times a day, is usually enough before they flop. Keep the toy low and slow at first, then dart it behind a chair or under a cushion so they have to search. Let them catch it. A hunt that never ends is frustrating. When they have the toy, praise them, then offer a small treat or a meal so the sequence finishes the way a real hunt would: catch, then eat.
Adult cats still need play, often once or twice a day, even if they look sleepy on the sofa. Move the toy along the floor more than in the air; most house cats are ground hunters, not birds of prey. Puzzle feeders, treat balls and a cardboard box with a hole cut in the side count as play too. Rotate toys every few days. A mouse that has sat in the same corner for a month is furniture. The same mouse, hidden in a drawer and brought out on Thursday, is news.
Older cats and stiff cats still play, just lower and shorter. Drag a toy slowly along the floor rather than asking them to leap. Watch the tail and the ears. A lashing tail, flattened ears or a sudden walk-away means stop. Play should end while the cat is still interested, not when it is cross.
Why a cat tree is healthy
Cats are built to use height. A perch lets them watch the room, rest where feet and dogs cannot reach them, and leave a tense moment without a chase across the floor. Feline welfare guidance treats vertical space - shelves, window seats and cat trees - as part of a normal home, not a luxury. Cats denied high resting places are more likely to look stressed and, in a shared house, more likely to quarrel over the same sofa.
Climbing is also exercise that does not pound the joints the way endless running on a hard floor can. It keeps shoulders, back and hind legs working. A sisal post on the tree gives a legal place to scratch, which sheds the outer claw sheath and stretches the body. Put the tree near a window if you can. Birds, leaves and passing dogs are free television.
In a multi-cat home, one tree is a prize to be guarded. Several levels, or a tree plus a couple of wall shelves, let cats pass above one another instead of meeting head-on in a doorway. A route with more than one way down matters. A cat that feels trapped on a dead-end perch will not use it.
Large litter trays, and more than one
Toileting is one of the most common sources of stress in a multi-cat house, and it is also one of the easiest to fix. Behaviourists usually suggest one tray per cat, plus one extra: two cats, three trays; three cats, four. Spread them through the home. Two boxes side by side often count as one place, because a cat that is blocking the doorway is blocking both.
Size matters as much as number. A tray should be long enough for an adult cat to step in, turn, and dig without shoulders and tail pressed against the walls. Many commercial “hooded” boxes are too small for a large breed. A big open storage tub, with a low entrance cut in one side, is often better. Covered boxes hold smell in, which people like and many cats do not.
Scoop at least once a day, twice if several cats share the set. A full litter change every week or two, and a wash of the tray itself with mild unscented soap, keeps the habit reliable. Cats that avoid a dirty box are not being difficult. They are refusing a toilet you would refuse too. Keep trays away from food and water, and away from the washing machine if it startles them mid-visit. Quiet, obvious, large and clean is the whole recipe.
Grooming, and how often
Cats wash themselves constantly, but they cannot manage every coat on their own. A short-haired cat usually needs a brush once to three times a week, and more in spring and autumn when the undercoat dumps. A medium coat benefits from a brush most days if it tangles. Long hair - Persians, Maine Coons, many mixes - needs a short daily brush and a comb through the belly, armpits, behind the ears and the breeches, where mats hide. Five calm minutes beats a monthly battle.
Start with a soft slicker or a rubber brush for short hair, and a wide-tooth comb for long hair. Work with the lie of the coat. If you hit a mat, do not yank. Hold the skin at the base and tease the clump apart, or ask a groomer or vet before it pulls the skin. Check nails every two to four weeks and trim the clear tip only, never the pink quick. Glance at eyes and ears once a week. Most cats never need a bath. Wash only for something sticky, oily or medically advised, and keep it short.
Senior cats groom less as joints stiffen. A weekly brush then becomes kindness as well as coat care: it removes loose fur they would otherwise swallow, and it is a chance to notice weight loss, lumps or a dirty back end.
A few facts worth knowing
- Food, water and the litter tray should live in different places. Many cats will not drink beside their meal, and almost none want to eat beside the toilet.
- A wide, shallow water bowl - or a fountain - often gets more use than a deep cup that brushes the whiskers.
- Scratching posts are not only for claws. Cats scratch to stretch and to leave a scent mark. A post they like saves the sofa more reliably than a scolding.
- One hunting session before breakfast or supper often settles a cat that yowls at dawn. The play uses the energy; the meal closes the hunt.
- Cardboard boxes are not a joke. A box is a hide with one obvious exit, which is exactly the kind of den a cat trusts.
- Boredom looks like naughtiness. Plants stripped, curtains climbed and 3 a.m. races are often a hunt with nowhere else to go.
None of this requires a perfect house. A wand, a tall scratching post, trays big enough to turn around in, and a brush by the back door will change a cat’s week more than another bag of toys left in the cupboard.
