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MAKING YOUR CAT CONTENT IN YOUR URBAN HOME
The key to a catıs contentment resides in its home.
For many of us, life in the city is like living in an urban jungle, but for many cats itıs a quiet, peaceful and harmonious existence.
With more than one in four Australian households owning a cat, and increasingly that household is an inner city terrace house or a high rise apartment, cats are learning to live harmoniously in our urban environments. Carefully planned home interiors can offer a way to help keep cats content indoors.
Channel 10-newsreader and Sydney celebrity Jessica Rowe, lives with her cat Audrey, in an urban dwelling in Sydneyıs inner beachside suburbs.
"Audrey has always been an indoor cat. She loves living near the beach, and checking out the view from the balcony," says Ms Rowe. "I make sure she has plenty of things to play with, and we just enjoy hanging out together."
No matter what size your home is, you can provide your cat with a happy and contented life indoors by taking note of these tips.
(i) Ensure that the cat is kept in a safe area ie. an area without sharp objects, access to cars.
(ii) Maximise space available to cats - keep all doors between rooms open for maximum space indoors.
(iii) Environmentally enrich your home with toys and scratching posts to stimulate your cat.
(iv) Offer a view of the outside world through a window or glass door, as cats are better equipped to cope with loneliness and boredom when they can see outside.
(v) Secure your home with acoustic separationı this will ensure that if your cat does meow, it will not annoy neighbours.
A cat can adjust to all types of urban housing. A terrace house or apartment offers a cat a stimulating outlook to the street. Two and three storey dwellings provide a cat with more opportunities for observation, and internal stairwells also add to environmental enrichment. Multi-dwelling developments may offer a roof top garden or a ground floor courtyard for a cat to explore.
Warehouse conversions normally have high windows overlooking
the different floor levels and small pockets of open space, all of which
a cat will enjoy.
There are also many simple yet effective play-inducing toys that will help keep your cat occupied when living indoors. These include balls and toys suspended on string from the ceiling, scratching posts, climbing objects and cardboard boxes.
Correct breed choice is another important element to consider, when bringing a pet into an urban environment. For a comprehensive guide to breed selection, Petcare Information and Advisory Service offers Selectapet, a service that helps people choose the right breed of cat or dog for their lifestyle and living environment.