Enrichment is about meeting your cat’s mental, physical, and emotional needs. Well-enriched cats are more confident, less anxious, and less likely to develop behavior problems as they grow.

Proper enrichment helps to:

  • Prevent boredom and stress
  • Reduce anxiety-related behaviors
  • Encourage healthy exercise and weight control
  • Support normal hunting and play instincts
  • Improve the human–cat bond

We recommend daily interactive play:

  • Aim for 2–3 short play sessions per day (5–10 minutes each)
  • Use wand toys, feather toys, or toys that mimic prey movement
  • Let your kitten stalk, chase, and pounce
  • End play with letting your kitten catch the toy and with a small meal or treat to complete the “hunt–eat–rest” cycle

Types of Enrichment

Environmental Enrichment

  • Cat trees, towers, or shelves are essential for climbing and vertical space
  • Window perches for safe bird- and squirrel-watching
  • Provide cozy hiding spots (boxes, tunnels, covered beds)
  • Allow access to multiple rooms when safe

Food & Foraging Enrichment

  • Puzzle feeders or treat balls
  • Scatter feed small portions of kibble across the floor or spread some wet food along a cookie sheet
  • Hiding treats around the house for supervised “treasure hunts”

Sensory & Novelty Enrichment

  • Rotate toys weekly to keep things new and interesting
  • Offer catnip or silvervine chew sticks (not all cats respond)
  • Try cat TV- there are many different nature options on YouTube for cats
  • Introduce new safe textures (paper bags without handles, cardboard boxes, large pieces of packing paper)
  • Occasionally change cat furniture layout and toy placement

Social & Routine Enrichment

  • Maintain a predictable daily routine
  • Provide positive human interaction on your cat’s terms
  • For multi-cat homes, ensure enough resources for each cat (litter boxes should equal your number of cats plus one, food bowls, water dishes, resting spots)