9539 Liberty Road, Frederick, MD 21701 • (301) 898-4009 Gentle, complete veterinary care for the felines in your family

What’s a Food Puzzle? Cats are safer indoors without dealing with the risks of getting outside. However, there is much to explore out side and it is a big challenge to provide enough “environmental enrichment” inside to keep them stimulated and prevent problems that may arise out of boredom. Cats are intelligent animals with instincts for the mental and physical challenge of catching their meal. When we offer their food exclusively in a bowl, they miss out on this natural creative exercise -in short, we make it too easy for them. Make a food puzzle for your cat! There are many options, but the basic goal is to create a challenge your cat must solve before he can eat. Here are three things you can make with a similar theme, each in increasing difficulty. Small amounts of dry food are hidden inside each one. Easy: With an exacto knife, cut a hole in a tennis ball. Most cats will play with a ball and quickly realize that food falls out when it is rolled. Intermediate: Take a paper towel or toilet paper tube and cover the ends with juice caps or milk caps. Cut holes in the sides for pieces to fall out when rolled. If the caps are not glued on, some will quickly figure out how to take one off and empty the tube from the end. Some cats will just tap the tube while others will tear it completely open. Difficult: Easy for you, but tricky for your cat: a cardboard egg carton is ready to go if it already has holes as pictured. Make it a little easier for your cat by enlarging the holes. Advanced: Use a small box (4” cube is shown) and cut small holes. Since it does not roll, this will challenge cats more to turn or flip it to get pieces out. You will find that the hole size should be about 3-4 times the size of kibble so that pieces come out easily without pouring out. Other variations include hiding the food puzzle itself or putting in where they have to climb to reach it. For beginner cats, putting a few pieces in a paper cup that they need to knock over can be a good start. With time, you will find that you need to be more and more creative to offer a decent challenge for your cat. All cats should be fed canned food for at least half of their diet, but since it will spoil when left out, it will not work well for most puzzles. Food puzzles are a great activity when you are away for an extended period. Be sure to vary the exercise as much as you can, and ask yourself, “How can I challenge my cat today?’