Mary Allen
The Swiss cat psychologist Rosemary Sher explains how keeping cats in an apartment can be species-appropriate. With your tips, you can also create a cat-friendly apartment with lots of variety for your velvet paw.
Many still have concerns about keeping a cat only in the apartment. The Swiss cat psychologist Rosemarie Sher explains what to look out for when keeping cats purely as an apartment.
How Much Space Does a Cat Need?
R. Sher: At least a two-room apartment. The number of square meters is less important than the division into different rooms, which offer more variety and retreat options than a studio of the same size.
Should You Set Territory Boundaries for the Cat?
R. Sher: There shouldn’t be any taboo areas, except for the stove. Your territory already has limits because it is an apartment. And it’s also good if the cat is allowed into the bedroom and allowed to sleep on the bed. From the cat’s point of view, the bed has all the characteristics of an optimal place to sleep: it is warm, dry, has an elevated position and there is a hiding place under the covers. And of course, she appreciates the physical contact with her social partner.
Unfortunately, the most interesting room is usually made inaccessible to the cat: the lumber-room. The human disorder there corresponds to the biological order outside! Such creative chaos is good for the cat because it provides variety. Order is something static, and from a cat’s perspective, it’s not great when everything is cluttered. It is also much more interesting for them when the bed is not made. If you work, you shouldn’t put away your nightclothes in the morning – cats love olfactory communication, while we humans are quite overeducated.
Are Fixed Feeding Times or Flexible Ones More Natural?
R. Sher: Flexible times are more natural. Cats typically eat several smaller meals throughout the day. The owner should therefore not feed according to the clock, but according to his own daily rhythm: at least three meals a day, up to five. The first meal after getting up, those who work, give the next one after coming home. It is important that the cat gets the last one, the bedtime treats when the human goes to bed. The flexible bedtime treat also prevents you from being tied down at the weekend. It can happen that a cat’s time from dinner at 6 p.m. to breakfast is so long that it puts a puddle on the owner’s bed covers in the early hours of the morning. That’s why the bedtime treat.
How Does the Apartment Become a Cat Habitat?
R. Sher: Something new is often important. Because this provides variety, the cat remains flexible and can deal better with any stressful situations. Cardboard boxes offer many possibilities for this. Boxes in all sizes and shapes – they are multifunctional. As for hiding places with the entrance on the side, i.e. places without visual contact with the social partner, they should be as deep as possible and have the shape of a cave. A transport basket is not an ideal hiding place because it is transparent and not deep enough to relax. Of course, open cupboards are also well suited, but boxes are more varied.
A new box once a week brings variety to the indoor cat’s world of smells. This encourages them to explore. Of course, the boxes must not smell of soap or other strong odors. The cats use the largest possible hiding spots, while small ones ensure action when they squeeze in. Boxes also encourage hunting: when a cat tears a box to shreds, it behaves as if it were tearing a bird. And the resulting cardboard landscape is creative chaos – which costs nothing.
A scratching post that reaches up to the ceiling is suitable as furniture because it is not only good for scratching but above all for climbing – an important activity. Caves are less important, but the hammocks are. It has to be at least one, but preferably two. The climbing scratching post should be in front of the window and offer a view. A piece of natural wood – made of softwood like elderberry – on the balcony is good scratching furniture. Either set up as a trunk or lying on the ground, because cats like to scratch vertically as well as horizontally. A window seat or balcony (be sure to secure it) plays an important role in exploring and hunting behavior. They also make interesting noises.
The World Outside is Full of Noise and Movement. How to Create a Replacement?
R. Sher: A change in background noise is not bad. Occasionally music or a tape of nature sounds can be played. Working people can leave the radio on. Movements: The replacement prey, toy mice, etc., must move or be moved, so the cat owner must play along and set the prey in motion. In general, however, I would like to state that many owners play too little with their cats and that the employment opportunities for cats are so limited that indoor cats should be kept together with a suitable conspecific as a social partner! They can cover other needs than we humans: sociability and they speak the language of cats.