Is Your Kitty Bored?

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Ever find yourself saying, “What the heck? That darn cat is at it again. There goes another roll of toilet paper shredded to pieces. What has gotten into her?” Well your misbehaving Mabel may just be bored. If your cat does not have enough physical or mental stimulation, they may search for inappropriate ways of getting attention or entertaining themselves.

Some other signs of boredom may be:

• Kitty climbing the curtains or knocking things off of counters to get your attention. They have a way of knowing what inappropriate behavior is and seek to irritate their guardians with it.
• Excessive sleeping. Cats usually sleep for about 16 hours a day, but a bored cat may sleep for longer periods of time.
• Excessive grooming. A cat will spend about 4 hours a day grooming themselves, but a bored cat may become obsessive about grooming, even to the extent of pulling out their fur.
• Picking on another pet in the household.
• Depression. Kitties can become lethargic and uninteresting in things. They may take to excessive eating out of boredom.

How to conquer boredom

• Have you ‘catified’ your house? Catification is about creating cat-friendly environments that cater to a cat’s natural instincts to climb, perch, rest, play, and own their space. The TV cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy has some great ideas of how you can deck out your house for your fur baby. Check out his web site at http://jacksongalaxy.com.
• Spend time playing with your kitty every day.
• Have plenty of toys around that she likes to play with.
• Make sure kitty has places to look out the window.
• There should be several types of scratching posts available.

Some symptoms of cat boredom may actually be indicative of behavior or medical issues. If you have tried some of the methods to engage your cat in healthy activity and they still are not responding, then it may be time for a trip to the vet or a call to your local cat behaviorist. Dr Marci Koski is a local cat behaviorist in the Portland/Vancouver area www.felinebehaviorsolutions.com or email her at marci@felinebehaviorsolutions.com. Marci will be able to help you get to the bottom of what is happening in Fluffy’s world.

For more cat related tips and advice, please visit the Furry Friends web site at www.furryfriendswa.org