Environmental enrichment for indoor cats
- PMID: 21882164
- PMCID: PMC3922041
Environmental enrichment for indoor cats
Abstract
Recommendations to cat owners to house their cats indoors confer the responsibility to provide conditions that ensure good health and welfare. Cats maintain their natural behaviors, such as scratching, chewing, and elimination, while living indoors, and they may develop health and behavior problems when deprived of appropriate environmental outlets for these behaviors. This article divides the environment into five basic "systems" to enable identification of features that may benefit from improvement. It also addresses practical means of meeting cats' needs in each of these systems.
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