Furbabies
Cat Care Site

Indoor Cats

The Basics

It is never too late to make your cat a totally indoor cat. Just bring him/her inside and over a short period of time he/she will readily adapt to a new life indoors.

There are many activities that indoor cats may do which we find unacceptable - climbing curtains, scratching furniture, urinating in flower pots, eating houseplants, and stalking peoples ankles. These are all natural cat activities. To prevent problems, you need to provide your indoor cat with ways to perform these activities in ways which are acceptable.

Natural instincts can be exercised safely inside with adventure playgrounds, toys, climbing towers and plenty of play sessions. A cat doesn't need to be outside to have fun.

Training

Rewards are the key to training your cat, but make sure you don't overfeed him or her. If your cat eats dry food, measure out the daily amount and set part of it aside as treats to use for training. If your cat is fed canned food, give it a little less to make up for the treats in training.

Basic training.
Positive reinforcement is the best method of training. Reward your cats good behaviour (behavior). When your cat behaves as you want it to, give it a food reward.

Lure the cat into doing what you want it to do, as it does it, give a verbal command for the action, then give a reward.

Teach the cat to take treats from your hand.
Place a small amount of food on the floor, when the cat eats it, put your hand on the floor with food in your palm. Soon the cat will be eating from your hand. Then train the cat to take food held between your thumb and index finger.

Train the cat to come to its name.
Keep saying the cats name as it approaches you, then give a reward. With practice the cat will associate the behaviour (behavior) with your voice and come when you call its name.

Playtime

Play is very important for cats. It is their natural way of learning about their home environment and a way to release energy.

Provide entertaining things for your cat to do so it won't get bored. This will reduce the likelihood of your cat creating its own games (climbing curtains, scratching furniture, knocking ornaments off shelves).

Provide your cat with a variety of toys that it can stalk, chase, grab and bite.

Buy or build a cat tower/cat gymnasium - a play area that allows climbing and jumping. Place food treats on the platforms to encourage the cat to climb and investigate.

For more game and toy suggestions, see the Playtime page.

Behaviour Problems Indoors

When the cat scratches, climbs or stalks people, saying "no" isn't enough. You need to show your cat where it is allowed to do that activity and train it to use that activity center.

Climbing Curtains

Provide the cat with a climbing tower with several platforms.
Startle the cat with a loud noise or a squirt from a water gun if it starts to climb the curtains.
Give the cat a food reward when it climbs the cat tower.

Eating Houseplants

Provide the cat with greenery (cat grass or catnip) to reduce the likelihood of the cat chewing houseplants.
See the Houseplant Chewing section for more information.

Scratching Furniture

Provide the cat with a scratching post. It should be at least as tall as a cat standing on its hind legs with its front legs outstretched.
Reward the cat with treats when it uses the scratching post.
Minimize the damage done by scratching by regularly trimming your cats claws.
Using claws is a natural behaviour (behavior) - teach your cat to control the use of its claws, please don't remove them.
See the Scratching section of this site for more information.

Stalking Ankles

Play stalk and pounce games with your cat.
Provide cat toys for the cat to "pounce" on.
Startle the cat with a loud noise or a squirt from a water gun if it stalks your ankles.

Outdoor Enclosures

If you live in an apartment building, you could convert your balcony into a cat conservatory by enclosing it with wire mesh.

If you have room in your garden you could build a caged in area for the cats.

References

Fogle B, Natural Cat Care, London: Dorling Kindersley, 1999

Gair A, Caring For Your Cat, London: Harper Collins, 1997

Page S, The Complete Cat Owners Manual, Australia: Readers Digest, 1997

Stewart R, Envirocat, Melbourne: Hyland House, 1997

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