Hi everybody! Molly from Cat Behavior Solutions, here with your Bonding Tip of the Week. This week’s bonding tip is: treat your cat at the end of each prey play session.
As we said last week, prey play is when you use a toy to simulate a cat’s natural hunting sequence. This is really good and necessary for your cat, since in the wild, they would spend hours staring, stalking, chasing, and pouncing at their prey. But part of that hunting sequence—the most important part!—is catching and killing the prey.
It looks a little different in the wild, though. After wrestling with their prey for a little while, your cat would deliver a killing bite. (I’ll leave what that looks like to your imagination.) And that bite releases a little boost of serotonin in their brain, which is why we let the cat catch the toy when playing.
What will make that “kill bite” even better is if your cat actually reaps the reward. After the cat bites the toy, go ahead and give them a treat, so they’re really completing that hunting sequence by “consuming” the “prey” that they’ve just killed. Now, in our house, we do that with Lick ‘n’ Lap, because that happens to be Pico’s favorite, but any one of your cat’s favorite treats will work.
So, have fun this week bonding more with your cat, and give them that treat after prey play. Until next time, keep calm and purr on.
For more information on Vitakraft Cat Treats Please visit https://www.vitakraft.us/cats/ to learn more about Vitakraft’s collection of small-batch cat treats packed with healthy and flavorful ingredients in the shapes, tastes, and textures your favorite feline will love. Plus, find the best tips for cat owners to strengthen the bond with their cats.
For more information on Molly DeVoss, Cat Behaviorist go to:
Website: www.cattalkradio.com Instagram: @MollyDeVoss Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catbehaviorsolutions/ Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cat-behavior-solutions-dallas
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