Play & Enrichment
Keeping Your Cat Curious, Active & Engaged
Play and enrichment give cats opportunities to express natural behaviours, stay mentally stimulated and enjoy more variety in their everyday lives.
Play & Enrichment Essentials
Simple, practical ideas to help keep your cat curious, active and engaged every day.
Interactive Play
Playing together with appropriate toys — wand toys, chasers and pouncers — encourages chasing, pouncing and other natural feline behaviours. Short, regular play sessions give cats an outlet for their instincts and help strengthen the bond between cat and human.
Independent Play
Safe toys and activities can give cats opportunities to entertain themselves throughout the day. Rolling balls, kicker toys and sturdy solo-play items let cats bat, chase and wrestle on their own terms when you're not available to play.
Climbing & Vertical Space
Cat trees, sturdy shelves and other safe elevated spaces allow cats to climb, observe and rest above floor level. Vertical space gives cats more of their environment to use and can help them feel secure while watching over their home.
Scratching & Stretching
Scratching is a natural behaviour that helps cats stretch, maintain their claws and mark their space. Providing suitable scratching surfaces — vertical posts, horizontal pads and different textures — in useful areas of the home supports this everyday behaviour.
Scent & Exploration
Safe opportunities to investigate new scents, objects and environments add interest to a cat's day. A new cardboard box, a leaf or twig brought indoors, or a gently introduced new space can give a curious cat something worth exploring.
Puzzle & Food Enrichment
Appropriate puzzle feeders, food balls and food-based activities can add mental stimulation to everyday routines. Making a cat work a little for part of their meal encourages problem-solving and brings natural foraging behaviour into the home.
Rotate Toys & Activities
Rotating available toys and activities rather than having everything out all at once helps maintain novelty and interest. Putting some toys away and bringing them back out later can make familiar favourites feel new again.
Follow Your Cat's Preferences
Cats have individual play styles — some love to chase, others prefer to pounce, climb or observe. Noticing which activities your cat enjoys most, and following their lead, makes play and enrichment more rewarding for both of you.
Pepki Paws Tip 🐾
You don't necessarily need more toys to create more enrichment. Rotating favourite toys, adding a cardboard box or creating a new safe place to explore can make an ordinary day more interesting.
Keep play safe
Choose toys and enrichment activities appropriate for your individual cat. Supervise activities when necessary and remove damaged toys or items that could present a hazard.