A Richer Life Indoors: Building a Home Your Cat Finds Interesting

Your cat doesn't need a bigger flat. She needs a taller one. 🐈

The single best upgrade for most indoor cats is vertical space. A cleared bookshelf top, a shelf above the radiator, a chest of drawers that bridges sofa to windowsill — build a route upwards, not just one perch. Make sure every high spot has two ways down, so nobody ever feels cornered.

Play like prey, not like a toy shop. Real prey runs away, hides behind a chair leg, goes still, then bolts. Short bursts of five to ten minutes beat one long session, and let her actually catch the thing every few minutes. Play that never ends in a capture is just frustration with feathers on it.

Then make dinner a job. A bowl is gone in ninety seconds; the same biscuits in an egg box or scattered along her climbing route can take twenty minutes of proper thinking. Count it as part of her daily food, not extra — indoor cats put weight on quietly.

The full guide has more on windows, scent, scratching posts and why a cardboard box is never a consolation prize.