Mary Allen
On average, outdoor cats have a shorter life expectancy than indoor cats because they are more exposed to outdoor hazards such as traffic, other animals, feline rivals, and infectious diseases. Nevertheless, there are a few special features to consider when it comes to the health of indoor cats.
Just like people, indoor cats can suffer from the so-called civilization diseases. These are health problems caused by an abundance of resources and too much convenience. These include, above all, being overweight and the associated health consequences, as well as psychological problems caused by boredom. The following tips will keep your indoor cat physically and mentally fit, happy and healthy.
Avoid Obesity in Indoor Cats
Indoor cats can be compared to people who have office jobs – and are therefore indoors for most of the day. If you don’t take active countermeasures with exercise in your free time, you will have difficulties maintaining your weight and staying fit in the long term. It’s a similar story for indoor cats who can’t go outside and act out their hunting behavior. If a well-filled bowl is always freely available, the fur noses quickly eat more than they need and gain weight. Obesity in cats promotes various diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney failure, or joint pain.
So avoid obesity in your indoor cats by playing with them, giving them plenty of climbing opportunities, and strictly limiting food portions. Plus, cat grass should be on your socialites’ menu. You can also tie it all together by making your cats “work” for their food. Food-filled toys or automatic feeders that only release food when your kitty completes certain tasks keep her busy and fun. You can also hide small portions of food anywhere in the house so that your cuddly friend has to look for them first.
Mental Health: Don’t Let Boredom Set In
Feeding games have another benefit for the health of indoor cats: they keep boredom at bay. People who are not challenged enough can suffer a so-called bore-out – a burn-out from boredom. Cats are no different than us bipeds; if they are bored too often, they become ill and develop behavioral disorders. In addition to food games, intelligence games for cats are also a wonderful anti-boredom tip.
It is also advisable not to keep indoor cats alone. Ideally, they will have a mate to play with while you are at work or away. Fur noses are also very curious. Set up your cuddly balls in a cozy place on the windowsill so they can watch “cat TV”. If available, the balcony can be converted into a cat playground or you can build a nice enclosure on the terrace where your house tiger can let off steam.
Climbing Opportunities & Hiding Places
In addition, as many climbing opportunities, hiding places and passageways as possible ensure exercise, fitness, and activity. Some cat owners convert their entire house so that small tunnels, bridges, viewing platforms, scratching posts, and sleeping places for their cats are available everywhere.
Encourage Indoor Cats to Drink
Another possible danger for indoor cats is that they drink too little. Before your cat drinks from the toilet or enjoys water from flower pots, you should offer her alternatives. A cat drinking fountain, for example, provides fresh, running water and entices many lazy cats to drink. You can also place drinking bowls with fresh water in different places around the house – don’t forget to change the water every few hours so that it doesn’t taste stale or harbor germs.
Do Indoor Cats Have To Be Vaccinated & Neutered?
It is a misconception that only outdoor cats should be vaccinated and neutered. Indoor cats can also become infected with contagious diseases that you bring inside with your street shoes, for example. This applies in particular to cat flu and cat disease. However, indoor cats do not need all of the vaccinations recommended for outdoor cats. The risk of rabies in an indoor cat is negligible, making vaccination unnecessary. In principle, only cats who outdoors need to be vaccinated against leukemia, which is transmitted by the feline leukemia virus.
Unless you intend to breed with your indoor cats, you should also have them spayed, even if they don’t go outside. The castration reduces the production of sex hormones so that your female cat does not suffer from being in heat and your tomcat becomes calmer and does not mark the apartment with urine.