Enrichment
Enrichment can take many forms, but the general purpose is the same: to provide mental stimulation and an outlet for our animal's natural desires. Have you seen zoos feed their big cats meat enclosed in cardboard boxes? That's enrichment! It allows animals in captivity to express normal behaviors in an appropriate to humans way. Below are some ideas to use with your foster (or personal) cats. Enrichment with our fosters can help relive stress, slow down eating if they eat too fast, and can help reduce rough play and biting in active, young, or overstimulated animals.
Train Them!
Yes, cats can be trained! It's fun, tires them out, and is a really neat trick to show adopters. Find some good info on how to get started here. Or watch this video on how to train a cat to sit on cue!
Fun Feeders!
Simply put their dry food in a fun feeder instead of a bowl. Cats will use their paws to scoop it out and eat it. This is great for slowing cats who eat too fast, but is enriching for many cats, even if they don't eat fast. You'll want to watch them and make sure they are eating. If they don't "get it", put just a few treats that they love in the feeder and continue to feed them food from a bowl until they understand how the feeder works. There are several options for slow feeders:
Store bought. I love this one
Toilet paper roll. See a few ideas for using a toilet paper roll here.
Empty egg carton. Simply scatter the dry food in the egg cups and let your cat eat from there.
Empty muffin tin. Same as the egg carton- scatter dry food in the cups of the muffin pan and let your cat scoop it out.
Empty coffee cup. Place food in the coffee cup and place the cup on it's side on the floor. The handle keeps it from rolling away, and the cat can fish the food out easily with its paws. This is a good starter one, since it's fairly simple.
Scatter It!
Simply scatter the dry food on the floor of the room. You can also hide a few pieces behind scratching posts, next to legs of furniture, under toys. Searching out food can help to fulfill a cats natural hunting instinct and slow down eating.
Get creative and have fun! Just be sure that your foster is not getting frustrated and is able to get enough food from any of these methods to stay healthy!