Caregiver Perceptions of What Indoor Cats Do "For Fun"

In a survey conducted to determine enrichment activities for indoor cats in the caregivers' homes, 304 indoor-cat caregivers answered structured interviews about their cats' use of windows and other "fun activities." The survey asked caregivers about durations of window use, what...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied animal welfare science 2005, Vol.8 (3), p.199-209
Main Author: Shyan-Norwalt, Melissa R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Husbandry - methods
Animal Welfare
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Cats - physiology
Cats - psychology
Environment
Housing, Animal
Humans
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:In a survey conducted to determine enrichment activities for indoor cats in the caregivers' homes, 304 indoor-cat caregivers answered structured interviews about their cats' use of windows and other "fun activities." The survey asked caregivers about durations of window use, what cats watched through the windows, and in what other fun activities cats freely participated. The results indicate that, of 577 cats, 84.3% looked out windows a total of 5 hr or less a day, that cats observed 14 different categories of outdoor stimuli, and that cats participated in 17 categories of "other" fun activities. These results suggest that cats use windows and sunlight much less often than the welfare community may expect but that caregivers (owners), when possible, should consider providing access to these.
ISSN:1088-8705
1532-7604
DOI:10.1207/s15327604jaws0803_4