Environmental enrichment for cats is supported by a growing evidence base. Understanding what types of enrichment provide genuine benefit allows owners to make evidence-based investments.
Evidence-based enrichment provides genuine behavioral and physiological benefit rather than merely aesthetically appealing environments. Interactive play that involves stalking, chasing, catching, and killing-sequence completion is more welfare-impactful than passive toys that do not engage predatory sequence. The absence of enrichment in indoor cats is not neutral — it creates a welfare deficit that accumulates over time into behavioral problems and stress-related disease. Enrichment research is establishing which specific interventions provide the greatest welfare benefit relative to cost and effort, allowing owners to prioritize high-impact activities. The five minutes of daily interactive play is the most welfare-efficient enrichment investment available for indoor cats.