Is He Enriched Enough?
As the weather turns, I think about Zero and having him come outside with us for meals. He still enjoys it but now and then, from the darkness of the yard, over there at the end of his rope, I hear the tiniest little mew as I take the last few bits of my dinner. He, of course, has options. Zero could always come closer to the propane heater, or into the shed where we eat if we also need cover from the rain. Zero is not very savvy and I’m afraid doesn’t understand rain. Sometimes I don’t think he really even notices it, he just realizes he’s a little wet once we get inside. The goal is to make sure he’s getting his fill of cat enrichment.
Thinking about bringing him outside in the cold makes me smile. I wonder if at some point he will start to refuse. I’ve been more diligent with putting his sweater on when it’s particularly cold. He seems to love it outside so much. But if he does refuse, I wonder how I can provide him with more cat enrichment inside our house. He’s changed so much since moving. He bites my leg less (huge) and I think he is generally more tired from being active and outside. I think inside he gets bored and that’s why he always wants to eat.
The chaos of moving is the perfect thing for Zero because it really does enrich his life. This little guy has so many things to see and look at and discover. He goes downstairs and looks at the tools and the pieces of whatever Random Guy is fixing, he baps around screws and zap straps and chases spiders and bugs that get inside. He goes through boxes when he can, and if he can’t, he sits on them to ensure they have the integrity we – as a family – require in a box. We always have something to unpack or organize or even craft (Halloween is coming up and this has become one of many priorities). Zero is always ready to craft and inspect any new thing.
A Small Enrichment Moment
Last week, Random Guy installed a new temporary closet in the bedroom, with a dowel for hanging and above it, a shelf where we have fabric containers to separate items. The night he set it up we went to bed and said goodnight. As the light was flicked off, Zero came up on to the bed and stared at the shelf for a long time. I could tell he was going to jump so the light went back on. We watched as he flew through the air, landing on the side of one of the fabric shelves.
We watched as he clung to the edge of it for what seemed like several seconds, his little pudgy body hanging like the clothes on hangers below. At last the fabric container gave way as his balance disappeared. It then flipped it over toward him and they fell to the ground together. I let out a scream and the small audience took a decent amount of time to laugh at the misfortune. I got up to check on Zero, who was cleaning the embarrassment off his back in the dining room.
I now know to keep a hole in the shelf, so he has a place to sleep and hangout. I removed one of the containers to accommodate. I have dreams of taking on some cat enrichment diy and creating him his own shelves and covering them in carpet so that he can climb and scratch and be himself from the highest point of the house. I think adding more enrichment to a cat’s life is important so that he can be as happy as possible.
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