Enrichment for cats at NAO Catterries

Making a cat feel comfortable at the cattery is always top priority - they are the customer after all!

Ways to improve their lives

We know that keeping cats indoors increases their safety and lifespan, but it does come at a cost: many indoor cats don't get the mental and physical stimulation they need. The good news is there are many ways to enrich an indoor cat's life, even in a small space, and feline enrichment doesn't have to be expensive or complicated.

What is enrichment for cats?

Enrichment is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the action of improving or enhancing the quality or value of something." When applied to cats, it means to improve or enhance the quality of their lives. Enrichment for cats is providing outlets for them to act on their natural instincts to run, climb, play, and hunt. It also means giving them activities that challenge them both mentally and physically.

By providing your cat with several types of enrichment to exercise both their body and mind, we are helping them to live their healthiest and best time while they are staying with us. Not only that,but the relationship and bond between us and your cat will become stronger while they are staying with us.

The types of cat enrichment provided at NAO Catteries

Cat enrichment comes in many forms. There are games, cat toys, and enrichment activities that your cat can do while they are with us together, and others your cat can enjoy by themselves.

When coming up with enrichment ideas, we consider all your cat's senses. They have options to act on sight, smell, touch, hearing, and even taste. The good news is many enrichment ideas are simple, please see below what we provide during their stay with us .

Environmental enrichment

Environmental enrichment for cats includes things that enhance your cat's living quarters, allowing them to act on their natural instincts and desires. Here are several ways we provide your cat for enrichment:

At Nao catteries taking the above information into consideration, while they are with us, we ensure that we provide the following for enrichment:

  1. Provide plenty of scratching surfaces. Cats have an innate need to stretch, flex, and scratch. Cat scratchers allow them to act on those instincts and needs without destroying your furniture. It's best to have a variety of surfaces too - scratching posts, horizontal scratchers and scratchers made from cardboard.
  2. Provide vertical space. Cats like to be up high, so it's important to provide surfaces and space for them that allows them to climb up and get that bird's eye view.
  3. Hang on to those cardboard boxes. It's no secret that cats love boxes - even if those boxes sometimes seem too small for them to fit in. Boxes give them a place to hide, play, and even scratch and bite. The good news is they are easy to come by too! We also provide hiding tunnels which they seem to absolutely love.