Modifying a general home to a cat-friendly home means transforming the living space into an environment that promotes the health, happiness, and well-being of your cat. Cat-friendly home modification can improve physical and mental growth rates. Cats are genetically wild animals, in this case, they have to perform their daily activities to keep themselves good and active. They need an environment that is suitable for their regular activities at home. So, cat-friendly home modification is required for every cat owner, both for themselves and their cats.
Cats have some natural instincts like catching prey, curiosity for new objects, scratching objects, scraping bodies, and so on. These instincts and needs can be fulfilled only by creating facilities at home. These facilities are cat toys, food stations, workout stations, personal space, hiding space, a potty station with litter, etc. Providing cat-friendly homes with appropriate accommodations can enrich the bonding with your cats, and the cats lead a very happy life with a well-accommodated cat-friendly home that can provide great mental support to your cats.
Why Cat-Friendly Home Modifications Matter
Cats are instinctively wild animals, they like to eat prey by catching them, and for this reason, they try to climb and hide to aim for the target. Cats are too curious to know the unknown object. For this reason, they look at something new too attentively and scratch them. They also scratch on objects for playing and grabbing. These behaviors can not be controlled but you can provide the necessary environment for your cat to utilize their instinct. An enriched environment can improve the connections between the environment and your cats. Generally, a cat-friendly home is very different from an ordinary home. Cats that live in a general house can be stressed because they can not perform their activity as well as possible. They will be limited in their activity with time. To escape from this situation homes should be re-decorated with huge items which is cat friendly. In general, there is limited space for hiding cats in an ordinary home. But cats generally like to hide to secure themselves from predators. They do not want to be disturbed during their sleeping or rest time. Without working out cats can be sick like ovulation, diabetes, stress out, etc. For this reason, you have to set up a workout station. Cat-friendly home modification can also save your furniture and other household items from damage. Some daily used household items are harmful to cats or feline friends. These items and your favorite cat can both be safe in a cat-friendly modified home.
A cat-friendly home can enhance the harmony between pets and humans. You can save your valuable time by modifying your home into a cat-friendly home. A cat-friendly home can help to organize everything in your limited time. You don’t have to spend more time on your cat care. Cat sicknesses are relatively reduced in cat-friendly homes due to good management.
The sectors for making a cat-friendly home:
We can divide the stages for making the cat-friendly home into safety measures, environmental bonanza, and creating a comfortable living space. These are briefly described below:
Safety measures:
- Cat-proof home:
Cats are like human babies. So, you have to treat your cat, the same as your baby. Just as you would childproof a home for a baby, you must cat-proof your home for your cattish comrade.
– Secure open spaces like windows or balconies to protect your cat. you may install a cat patio or secure netting for balconies. Assure windows have strong shields to prevent falling.
– Cats may chew on electrical cables because of their curious nature. For this reason, you have to hide cables and strigs or use cable protectors or tape cable with walls.
– You have to hide or store safely medicines, daily used household cleaners, pesticides, and certain human foods that are harmful if swallowed by cats. Make sure to keep these products out of reach.
– Give off Toxic Plants from your home decoration. Some common decorative plants are toxic to cats, such as lilies, poinsettias, and philodendrons. Nominate cat-safe plants like spider plants or cat grass.
- Safe Spaces and Hiding Spots:
Cats are very selective for their own realm to feel strengthened. Cats need their radical territory to feel secure.
– Privacy: Assure quiet & calm, enclosed spaces where your cat can retreat, such as covered beds or cardboard boxes.
– Multiple Levels: Cats enjoy surveying their territory from different heights. Multi-level structures can satisfy this need.
– Cat Trees and Shelves: Provide vertical spaces like cat trees or shelves where your cat can climb and observe its surroundings.
Environmental Bonanza:
1.Play and Drill:
Indoor feline friends need regular drills to stay healthy & playful and prevent obesity.
- Interactive Toys: Use laser pointers, balls, and wand toys to engage your cat in active play. Use rotating toys to keep them interesting. Exchange toys to keep them enthusiastic.
- Puzzle Feeders: These provocate your cat’s mind and encourage physical activity by making them work for food.
- Scheduled Playtime: Make sure to schedule playtime by setting aside dedicated time each day for interactive play sessions.
2.Scratching pads and posts:
Scratching is a natural behavior for cats that helps them mark territory, stretch, and keep their claws healthy.
- Scratching surface variety: Provide various textures like sisal, cardboard, and carpet to find what your cat likes.
- Hard scratching posts: Make sure the posts are long enough to fully stretch and stabilize so that they don’t tip.
- Strategic placement: Place scratching posts near sleeping areas and entry points to encourage use.
3.Sensory Stimulation
To keep mentally fit your cattish friend, stimulates your cat’s senses to stay mentally engaged.
- Window views: Set up perches near windows so your cat can see birds and other outdoor activities. Bird feeders outside the window can attract wildlife to monitor your cat.
- Cat TV: Some cats like to watch videos of birds, fish, and other animals.
- Catnip and silvervine: These plants can be exciting for cats, providing scent richness. Offer dried catnip or silvervine toys.
4.Rotation of Toys and Activities
To keep things fresh, regularly rotate the toys and activities available to your cat.
- New toys: To keep things exciting, introduce new toys periodically to maintain your cat’s interest.
- Diverse game: Change the type of play to include different games and challenges.
Creating a Comfortable Living Space:
1.Maintain room temperature
Cats are very sensitive to environmental temperature changes.
- Make room temperature Comfortable: Ensure the cat’s room is kept at a comfortable temperature, the room shouldn’t have very hot or extremely cold temperatures.
2.Bedding
Cats are highly selective in their sleeping place.
- Comfortable Beds: Provide soft, warm beds in various locations to give your cat options for resting.
Key Areas to Focus on When Modifying Your Home
Vertical space:
cats are predatory animals. They like to catch prey by suddenly attacking with enormous energy. Height also gives a clearance view for cats and helps them to feel free. Vertical space not only gives improvement in strength but also helps in the growth of mental health. For creating vertical space you can use cat trees, wall shelves, window perches, hanging shelves, and so on.
Private retreats:
cats need a secure space to spend private time where they will feel safe. You can fill this need by making cat caves in many places like under furniture, on the cat tree, etc.
Litter box areas:
every cat that lives in the home should have to be potty trained. Otherwise, It will do the potty anywhere at home. Which can increase the chance of being sick for both you and your cat and waste your time cleaning the space. Set up a litter box in the corner or a suitable place in the room for your and your cat’s wellness.
Scratch-resistant Furniture:
alter your old furniture of your room with scratch-resistant furniture. Or can cover your old furniture with a protective layer made of scratch-resistant material like microfiber. It not only reduces the risk of injury but also economically helps you.
Enrich the simulations: increase the amount of stimulation for your cat’s wellness. You can provide rotating toys to keep your cat engaged. You can use puzzle feeders to satisfy their hunting instinct. In this case, you have to change the puzzle feeders with time. Or have to increase its difficulty level.
Budget-Friendly Cat-Friendly Home Modifications:
Affordable DIY Options:
you can reuse household items like cardboard boxes for play or making stimulating items or making caves. You can use the rope to wrap the leg of your furniture for making the scratch post. Old blankets can be used for making cushions for your cat.
Thrifty Shopping for Cat Accessories:
find less expensive deals on high-quality products that can save your money. You should have chosen versatile items that serve multiple purposes.