Cars or coyotes are not likely to be a threat to truly indoor cats. However, indoor cats do require an enriched environment, and that may start with what cats do every day: Eat.
How we feed our cats is just as important as what we feed our cats. Veterinary experts are beginning to converge on the idea that we should be feeding our cats in a far more enriching manner than leaving out food 24/7 or feeding cats as we do ourselves, twice a day “sit down meals.”
Elizabeth Bales, VMD invented a solution to best mimic natural feeding for indoor cats, called the The NoBowl Feeding System™.
NoBowl objects are like little mice, which kibble is deposited into. The objects consist of a soft outer skin to simulate prey and plastic inner container which holds 1/5 of the cat’s daily ration. There are two holes on the back of each the five NoBowl™ objects or “mice.” When the cat rolls a NoBowl “mouse,”, food is dispensed. The idea is to hide the NoBowls, ultimately teaching cats to hunt indoors.
Winn is dedicated to improving the lives of cats through the funding of critical cat health studies. One such study just recently awarded a grant is:
Foraging behavior under threat and enrichment in confined cats. (W17-033)
Principal Investigators: Melissa Bain, DVM, DACVB, DACAW, Tony Buffington, DVM, PhD, DACVN; University of California-Davis; $24,780.