5 Ways you can protect cats’ mental health

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5 Ways you can protect cats mental health
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• May is Mental Health Awareness Month! For those
  of us with cats in our lives, we know well the
  power of a warm, purring ball of fur curled up in
  your lap to reduce stress and improve mental
  wellbeing. 

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• It isnt just our cat person bias, either. Cats
  are increasingly proving to excel as therapy
  animals for people who face depression, anxiety,
  PTSD, and many other health and developmental
  conditions. They are chosen to visit retirement
  homes, hospitals, schools, and more to bring
  their unique charm, warmth, and a calming sense
  of normalcy to all who encounter them.
• Plus, people caring for outdoor cats know how
  enjoyable and peaceful it can be to interact with
  and observe community cats in their daily lives
  with their feline families.
• So this month, lets honor everything cats do to
  improve our mental healthby doing all we can to
  improve THEIR mental, emotional, and physical
  wellbeing!
• Here are 5 ways you can improve cats mental
  health

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1. Spay or neuter all cats

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• Spay and neuter is the kindest and most important
  thing you can do for a cat! Spay and neuter,
  especially at an early age, removes the stresses
  of mating, pregnancy, and birth from cats lives
  forever. Plus, it can protect them from certain
  kinds of reproductive cancers and other diseases!
• For community cats, spay and neuter through
  a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program not only
  provides all the benefits above, but helps ensure
  they are not impounded in a shelter. Shelters are
  incredibly stressful environments that take a
  toll on every cats mental health, but especially
  for community cats, who are generally not
  socialized to people. Additionally, unadoptable
  community cats are still likely to be killed in
  the many shelters that still lack humane policies
  and programs.
• Cat mental health rule 1 is spay and neuter,
  ASAP!

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• Enrich your cats everyday experience

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• If there is something many of us learned in
  recent years, its that spending a lot of time
  inside can lead to a whole lot of boredom and
  ennui. Lets make sure our indoor cats have
  plenty of activities and the right environment to
  challenge their minds and tap into their
  instincts!
• Enrichment not only stimulates a cat mentally,
  but also has great physical benefitsstaving off
  obesity and other health risks.
• Invest in or create your own food or treat puzzle
  for cats to solve. Make sure cats have plenty of
  toys to run, pounce and chase and consider some
  cat grass for them to chew on. To give them a
  taste of the outdoors, try playing nature videos
  on a tablet or TV. To go even further, build a
  shelf or place a cat tree near a window so the
  cats can see out. If you really want to take it
  to the next level, you can even build a catio!
• For community cats, building an outdoor
  shelter is a great way to ensure they have a
  safe, comfortable place to rest. You can also
  customize their outdoor home to give them
  enriching ways to play and hide! We have some
  ideas you can try here.

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1. Microchip every cat

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• As we said above, animal shelters are incredibly
  stressful environments for cats, from cramped
  living spaces to the unfamiliar and overwhelming
  sights, sounds, and smells. Its important to
  make every effort to keep cats out of shelters
  and with the families who love themhuman or
  feline.
• Thats why MICROCHIPPING is so critical! This
  tiny technology is the size of a grain of rice
  but has the power to reunite a cat with her
  familyand save her life! Microchipping our cats
  and registering the chip with our information is
  the best way to protect a cat should she ever be
  lost or picked up by animal control. A quick scan
  and shes on her way home!
• Yes, community cats can also be microchipped as
  part of a TNR program! Register the chip with
  your information as their caregiver or with the
  information of the TNR group or rescue.
• Protecting physical healthcheck. Protecting the
  emotional and mental health of cats and their
  familiesdouble check!

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1. Protect cats from declawing

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• Since 1990, Alley Cat Allies has advocated to ban
  cat declawing all around the nation and the world
  and shared the truth of what this cruel procedure
  really entails. Weve rallied advocates to
  support the successful bans on declawing in New
  York, Maryland, and cities across the countrybut
  there is still far more work to do.
• The truth is that declawing is far from a nail
  trim. It is the surgical amputation of the last
  joints of a cats toes and is virtually always
  nontherapeutic, meaning it has no medical
  benefit. In fact, declawing can cause permanent
  physical and mental harm to cats.
• The pain and discomfort of the procedure inhibits
  many of cats natural behaviors like scratching
  and climbing. Without their claws, cats can also
  feel unsafe and experience issues with walking
  and balancing. Declawed cats are often in so much
  pain that they avoid the litter box or bite to
  defend themselves. These are two of the most
  common reasons cats are taken to animal shelters,
  where the majority will be killed.

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• To protect cats mentally and physically,
  declawing must come to an end. Join us to
  advocate for worldwide declaw bans, and to defend
  those that are under attack. When we learn that a
  declaw ban bill is on the table, we share how you
  can take action in support in our Action Center.

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• Learn how to speak cat

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• If we want to give back all the mental and
  emotional support cats give us, the best way to
  do so is to understand the language of cats!
  Cats have unique ways of communicating how they
  feel and how their day is going. Some of those
  tells can only be truly understood by other cats,
  but there are plenty of signs we humans can look
  out for!
• Not only can a crash course in cat communication
  help you meet the mental and emotional health
  needs of your cat, you can also catch physical
  problems early when youre on the lookout for
  changes from their normal behavior. Connecting
  with a cat on her terms is like speaking her love
  language!
• Our Cat Behavior Webinar series and our Visual
  Guide to Cat Body Language will give you some
  valuable insight into how to speak cat. You can
  also learn the unique ways cats interact with us
  in our in-depth Cat Socialization Continuum Guide.

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