As any cat behavior consultant working with cat caretakers to solve cat behavior problems will tell you – it’s not changing the cat’s behavior that is hard; it’s getting the human to change THEIR behavior that is often a challenge.
Research is increasingly looking to identify how we can get pet guardians to follow our recommendations – and I’ve posted on this topic before – which found that caretakers are more likely to follow advice that does not seem too “severe”, when the advisor has respected credentials, and when there are social norms that encourage the behavior change.
In 2024 I was super excited to work with one of my favorite orgs, International Cat Care, to complete and publish research designed to understand why people might not play with their cats every day, and test the impact of an intervention designed to increase how much people play with their cats. Play is an important behavior for cats, as it is associated with good welfare, and allows them to express a natural, cat-specific behavior – hunting – but without the carnage.
We recently published two papers on this work, both of which are open access, if you’d like to read the original manuscripts yourself. I’m going to break down what we did and found in each study, starting with the first study first!
The Behavior Change Wheel
Both studies utilized a framework known as the Behavior Change Wheel. This model helps groups design interventions that help change behaviors in individuals or groups of people. It specifically assesses the impact of an individual’s Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation to change. In relation to daily play with a cat, Capability would include knowing how to move the toy, or why play is helpful for your cat, as well as having the physical ability and energy to play. Opportunity would include having the time to play and also having resources (such as being able to buy or make toys) that would help facilitate play. Motivation would include the desire to play, and finding playing with one’s cat enjoyable.
What are the barriers to daily wand toy play with a cat?
In the first study, “Identifying barriers to providing daily playtime for cats: A survey-based approach using COM-B analysis,” 1599 cat caretakers completed surveys about their practices related to playing with their cats with a wand toy (frequency of play, recency of play and how they played). We also asked them to select if different barriers to play were relevant for them, and asked them knowledge-based questions about play (for example, correct ways to move a wand toy).
Results of the first survey
47.5 % of participants used a wand toy with their cat regularly, 40.5 % said they used a wand toy to play with their cats occasionally. 5.4 % had a wand toy but did not use it and 6.6% did not have a wand toy. Most participants had played with their cat in the last two weeks, with 29.3% playing with their cat with a wand toy daily.
Our results suggested that those who played more frequently with their cat also had higher knowledge of cat play behavior. They also identified fewer barriers to play than those who did not play regularly with their cat.
The most common barriers to daily play included:
- Being too mentally (22.7%) or physically tired (22%)
- Forgetting to play with their cat (19.3%)
- Having no time due to work (22.7%) or hobbies (10.4%)
- Not making play a daily habit (39.3%)
- Life getting in the way (28.3%)
- Thinking their cat prefers other toys (23%)
Notably, those who did not play with their cats were more likely to endorse that they did not know the benefits of daily wand toy play for their cat.
What the study means for cats and humans
Greater knowledge about cat play behavior was related to providing more regular play for a pet cat. In addition, barriers did appear to have a real-world impact – those who play regularly report fewer barriers than those who did not. Many participants did not feel like they knew what the benefits of play for their cat were – meaning there is plenty of room for education about the importance of playtime for cats!!
Despite the fact that almost all participants in this study considered themselves to be experienced cat owners, the majority of cats were not receiving daily wand toy play. By understanding the common barriers to play, we can better address these barriers with cat owners to ensure good welfare for their pet cats!
Takeaways
- More education is need around the importance of interactive playtime for cats
- Cat owners may experience barriers to daily play, including being too tired, not having enough time, and not remembering to play with their cat
- Cat owners who have greater knowledge and experience fewer barriers are more likely to play with their cats on a regular basis!
In my next blog post, I’ll describe the results of our follow-up survey following an intervention designed to encourage daily play with a cat. Stay tuned!
References:
Delgado, M., Marcinkiewicz, E., Rhodes, P., & Ellis, S. L. (2024). Identifying barriers to providing daily playtime for cats: A survey-based approach using COM-B analysis. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 280, 106420.
Michie, S., Van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel: a new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science, 6, 1-12.
I try to play with my cat but I often hurt and it is hard to be moving around. I wish I could see videos of people playing with older cats.