How to Spoil Your Cat

Spoiling Your Cat

Develop a brushing ritual with your cat. Your cat will love the rhythmic, front-to-back motion of you brushing her coat. In addition to being a way to spoil your cat, brushing her coat serves several practical purposes: stimulating her skin, cleaning her fur, spreading natural oils throughout her coat, and preventing tangles. If you have never brushed your cat before, keep the first session short (5 to 10 minutes). You can lengthen the amount of time as she becomes more comfortable with you brushing her. Cats can have individual preferences with what type of brush they prefer, so you may have to try several types of brushes (e.g., bristle brushes, slicker brushes) to figure out which type your cat likes best. Brush her when both of you are relaxed. If you’re stressed out, or if she’s feeling tense, the grooming session will not be enjoyable for either of you. Short-haired cats require less brushing (once a week) than long-haired cats (once a day). Be extra gentle when brushing her chest and belly.

Spend quiet time with your cat. Cats enjoy their peace and quiet. Sharing some quiet time with her can be enjoyable and relaxing for the both of you. Try gently petting her when she is resting peacefully in your lap. Just be sure not to pet her belly—your cat may interpret this as an attack and respond by trying to swing at or bite you.

Create multiple sleeping spots for your cat. Your cat loves to sleep! You can spoil her by providing her with comfortable places to sleep throughout your home. Ideally, these places should be in quiet areas of your home that do not have many distractions. Set up the sleeping area with comfortable bedding, such as a cat bed or mat. You can purchase these at your local pet store.

Provide your cat with multiple scratching posts. Scratching is an important aspect of your cat’s overall health—it keeps her nails filed down, gives her exercise, and allows her to stretch her muscles. Giving her multiple areas where she can scratch will make your cat happy and can keep her busy when you are not able to play with her. Consider purchasing scratching posts with different textures (sisal, corrugated cardboard, carpeted) and orientations (horizontal and vertical). This will add variety to your cat’s scratching activities. Place the scratching posts in areas where your cat likes to frequent to decrease the distance she has to go to scratch. The scratching posts should be sturdy, as well as tall or long enough (about 2 feet) for her to stretch out her entire body when she scratches. Do not throw away the scratching post when you think it looks too old and worn. That is actually just the way your cat wants it! Cat trees are another fun way to spoil your cat. You can find these at your local pet store.

Give your cat plenty of toys to play with. Giving your cat a toy or two to play with will not be sufficient to spoil her. Rather, you should give her what seems like a never-ending supply of toys. Fortunately, you do not have to spend a fortune—simply rotate the toys out on a regular basis (about once a week) so that she doesn’t become used to any one toy for long. To stimulate her natural instinct to hunt, try hiding the toys in different places of your home. To add a new twist to her playtime, download some cat-friendly games on your tablet that your cat can play.

Add creativity to your playtime with your cat. Your cat can certainly entertain herself, but she still needs plenty of interaction with you. Getting creative during her playtime can make the experience fun and enjoyable for both of you. For example, hide behind your couch and poke your head around the corner until she sees you. Immediately go back into ‘hiding’ and wait for her to stealthily come up next to you—this activity mimics her hunting for prey. You can also dim the lights during her playtime to mimic her natural tendency to be active in the dark. Aim to play with her for about 10 to 15 minutes twice a day.

Create an interesting visual experience for your cat. A simple way to make this happen is to place comfortable perches in your home’s windows. Depending on the view from your home, your cat could be entertained for hours by looking out of the window. If you have a yard, place a bird feeder or bird bath in your yard so that your cat can watch birds come and go. You can also put in a cat video for your cat to watch when you are not home. These videos can feature a cat’s typical prey (rodents and birds).

Give your cat the occasional tasty treat. Treats are a great way to spoil your cat. However, you should not give your cat treats every day for several reasons. First, many cat treats provide little to no nutritional value. Secondly, giving your cat treats every day may cause her to like her treats more than her regular food. Feed your cat treats no more frequently than two to three times per week. Do not treat your cat with human food. Catnip and cat grass are healthy cat treats and can be found at your local pet store. Do not allow your cat to beg for treats. This is bad behavior and should not be rewarded with food or extra attention.

Spoiling Your Senior Cat

Place multiple litter boxes throughout your home. Senior cats can have a difficult time getting around, which means that they may have trouble walking to their litter box. In addition, older cats can develop urinary tract problems that may make it challenging to get to the litter box in time. Placing litter boxes in the places where your cat spends most of her time will help prevent accidental urination or defecation. Litter boxes with low walls are easier for a senior cat to step into and out of.

Maintain a consistent, stress-free routine. In addition to decreased mobility, your senior cat may also be losing her vision and hearing. Because of this, she may start to feel insecure in her ability to navigate her environment. By maintaining her consistent schedule of feeding and playtime, you can help her feel safer and more comfortable in her environment.

Massage your senior cat. Massaging your senior cat can help loosen her stiff muscles and joints and stimulate her blood circulation. In addition, massaging her can help her feel more connected to you—something that is very important to older cats. Also, massaging your senior cat gives you an opportunity to gently examine her all over and identify lumps and bumps that may require closer examination by your veterinarian. Be gentle when you massage your cat. To massage your cat, make small circles with your fingers. Start behind her ears and slowly work your way down her neck. Continue to massage her down her back. Make sure to avoid massaging areas that may be painful for your cat.

Groom your senior cat. With potentially stiff muscles and joints, your senior cat may not be able to groom herself as well as she used to. Be sure to use a soft brush when you brush her, since the skin of older cats is more sensitive than a younger cat’s skin. Maintain your senior cat’s nails if she will let you. Her nails may need to be filed more frequently (every few weeks) if she cannot use the scratching post as much as she used to. You should file her nails gently, and don’t file them too short! Cat’s nails tend to curve under towards the foot pad when they grow too long, which would be very uncomfortable for your cat. Begin filing her nails when you notice that she can no longer use the scratching post to prevent her nails from growing too long.

Change your senior cat’s diet. Your senior cat has different nutritional needs than a younger cat. When she is 7 to 9 years old, begin transitioning her over to a senior cat diet from an adult maintenance diet. This will help ensure she receives the proper balance of nutrients. Transition to the new diet over 5 days: day 1 (20% new diet, 80% old diet), day 2 (40% new diet, 60% old diet), day 3 (60% new diet, 40% old diet), day 4 (80% new diet, 20% old diet), day 5 (100% new diet). Depending on your senior cat’s medical condition, she may also need dietary supplements (e.g., probiotics, fatty acids). Consult with your veterinarian before making any changes to your cat’s diet.

Place additional bedding in your senior cat’s sleep area. Your senior cat will definitely appreciate some extra padding when she sleeps. In addition to achy joints, your senior cat may have also lost some muscle mass that would make sleep very uncomfortable.