Cats absolutely need to exercise, especially if they live in an apartment. Exercise allows him to avoid having many diseases, directly by exercising his muscles and his alertness and in addition by avoiding obesity which causes many diseases.
Having an active cat is therefore essential for it to be in good shape and to extend its life expectancy and avoid many diseases. So here’s what you can do to prevent illnesses in your cat through regular physical activity.
Exercising Your Cat: Everything You Can Do
If your cat needs exercise, here’s everything you need to put in place so your cat can exercise normally.
The question of duration
An activity of 10 to 15 minutes a day is essential for cats, obviously if they have access to the outdoors, these 10 to 15 minutes will be largely spent in spring and summer, but not during cold periods and for the indoor cats, almost never.
As for kittens, they will exert themselves a lot naturally, but for older cats and especially for large cats, exercising will be more difficult and it will be necessary to go gradually.
So here’s how to get him to spend 10 to 15 minutes a day:
Stimulate your hunting instinct
If cats like to play, it’s because games stimulate their natural predatory instincts, which is why young kittens spend their time scratching and biting for fun. But in adulthood, he will not necessarily want to play naturally.
So start by putting in place the right tools:
- The food puzzle: the food puzzle is ideal for cats, especially for older cats, as it allows them to both stimulate their minds to eat but also to move a little, with moderate effort suitable for large cats. A food puzzle forces them to exert themselves so they can eat.
- Toys for them to play independently: Like a wheel for cats or fish or electric mice which will inevitably make them exercise because these objects will stimulate your cat much more than simple balls and it will be able to play independently if you do not have no time.
- A reward system: When your cat spends 10-15 minutes, reward it with something it likes like white fish (obviously in small amounts).
- Give him foods that will give him energy : As said before and that will boost his energy, especially if he is old. In this case, animal protein, salmon oil in winter and enough vitamins A and D.
- Give him a place to exercise : If you have enough space, you can give him a space with hiding places and obstacles so that he can exercise when he is there.
- Stimulate him if he doesn’t want to play : At nightfall, cats are naturally active, so take advantage of this moment to stimulate him, you can start by activating a laser towards his paws, allowing him to start effortlessly. The idea is to start with very small efforts and then increase the pace.
- Adapt the effort to older cats : For example, by limiting the work on its joints and by adapting to its physical abilities in general.
Indoor cat vs outdoor cat
If your cat has access to the outside, you can put a GPS collar on it, which in addition to ensuring its safety will allow you to know if it is exercising enough during the day or even at night. So if your cat gets enough unnecessary exercise during the day, he should play at night.
If your cat is only in the apartment, it is vital that your cat can exercise 10 to 15 minutes a day so that he can have a healthy physical condition.
Diseases prevented by physical activity
In fact, physical activity has an impact on almost all diseases, ranging from minor physical problems to the most dangerous diseases for cats such as heart problems or kidney failure.
Cat and exercise: The final word
If you want your cat to exert itself, you now know how to do it and especially why it has to do so.